Skeptics had previously dismissed the biblical account that Edom was active with industrial-scale metal production in the 10th and 9th centuries. British archaeologists in the 1970s and 1980s were the first ones to start excavations in the highlands of Edom.
Skeptics claimed the Bible was heavily edited in the 5th century, long after the events took place. The archaeologists during the 70s and 80s concluded by using ceramic dating methods that Edom did not start until 7th c. BCE. Therefore the copper mines had no connection with the biblical account of Solomon, but a new discovery has brought new light to those assumptions from skeptics. PNAS reports…
“Recent excavations and high-precision radiocarbon dating from the largest Iron Age (IA, ca. 1200–500 BCE) copper production center in the southern Levant demonstrate major smelting activities in the region of biblical Edom (southern Jordan) during the10th and 9th centuries BCE.
“Stratified radiocarbon samples and artifacts were recorded with precise digital surveying tools linked to a geographic information system developed to control on-sites spatial analyses of archaeological finds and model data within innovative visualization tools.”
“The new radiocarbon dates push back by 2 centuries the accepted IA chronology of Edom. Data from Khirbat en-Nahas, and the nearby site of Rujm Hamra Ifdan, demonstrate the centrality of industrial-scale metal production during those centuries traditionally linked closely to political events in Edom’s 10th century BCE neighbor ancient Israel.”
“Consequently,the rise of IA Edom is linked to the power vacuum created by the collapse of Late Bronze Age (LB, ca. 1300 BCE) civilizations and the disintegration of the LB Cypriot copper monopoly that dominated the eastern Mediterranean.”
“The methodologies applied to the historical IA archaeology of the Levant have implications for other parts of the world where sacred and historical texts interface with the material record.”
This is certainly is good news for Christians all over the world, another aspect of science which confirms the biblical account while challenging the skeptics with their re-interpretation of the Biblical accounts of events. Their dating methods was nothing more than to try and discredit the Bible as being a legend or myth.
The battle might be won with this new discovery in archaeology, but the war is far from over. Many researchers generally don’t trust ancient writings like the ones who bright this finding to light ( which has much to do with their beliefs in evolution). But still, there are other dates of events which were set by skeptics (minimalists) and they too could eventually be falsified as well with more modern techniques.
“The 14C dates associated with smelting debris layers from Faynan reported here demonstrate intensive 10th–9th c. BCE industrial metallurgical activities conducted by complex societies.
The analytical approach advocated here argues for an historical biblical archaeology rooted in the application of science-based methods that enables subcentury dating and the control of the spatial context of data through digital recording tools.”
Even if secular researchers did take ancient writings more seriously with archaelogy, it would be still important to conduct more research in this area. Nothing wrong about finding more information about the past especially when it confirms the Bible. Great news indeed!