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Home , Ammon, Edom, Horites, Sela (Edom)

& Copper The Emergence of Ancient ’s Rival

Thomas E. L e v y a n d M ohammad Najjar

Did King do battle with the Edomites? The Bible says he did. It would be unlikely, however, if Edom was not yet a sufficiently complex society to organize and field an army, if Edom was just some nomadic Bedouin tribes roaming around looking for pastures and water for their sheep and goats. Until recently, many scholars took this position: In David’s time Edom was at most a simple pastoral society.1 This gave fuel to those scholars who insisted that ancient tal duby

/

Israel (or rather, ) likewise did not albatross develop into a state until a century or more

24 B i b l i c a l archaeology review • july/august 2006 july/august 2006 • Bi b l i c a l archaeology r e v i e w 25 EDOM AND COPPER photo by mohammad najjar mohammad by photo photo by thomas e. levy e. thomas by photo

after David’s time. Ancient Israel, they argued, explore the role of early mining and metallurgy on r PILES OF RUBBLE (opposite) bestride the outline of a large e

v was just like the situation east of the —no i square fortress and more than 100 smaller buildings at social evolution from the beginnings of agriculture R n

complex societies in Ammon, or Edom. a Khirbat en-Nahas in the Edomite lowlands of Jordan. The and sedentary village life from the Pre-pottery

d r

According to this school of thought, David was o Neolithic period (c. 8500 B.C.E.) to the J

massive black mounds are slag, a waste product of the not really a king, but a chieftain of a few simple SEA copper-smelting process, indicating that large-scale copper (1200–500 B.C.E.) in Jordan. But archaeologists

tribes. And of course Judah was not really a state MEDITERRANEAN production occurred here at the time of the site’s occupation. don’t always find what they are looking for, and H because it never reached the level of social com- A Radiocarbon dating of the slag mounds shows that copper what we have found has certainly thrown us into Gaza plexity that is the hallmark of a state. MOAB production took place here during the 12th–9th centuries the deep waters of Biblical history. U D A The land of Edom figures largely in the Hebrew J B.C.E. and no later. By 2002 we had surveyed and sampled metallur- DEAD SE W adi ujib Bible; it is mentioned no fewer than 99 times. But M / N. gical sites in the area. In the cool of fall that year, Qitmit Arnon Standing guard for the entire site, this gatehouse (above) just how much reliable history is embedded in controlled the sole entrance into the massive Iron Age fortress we decided to mount a major archaeological expe- these Biblical references? at Khirbat en-Nahas. Confirming Nelson Glueck’s earlier sug- dition at the largest Iron Age site in the region: Edomite lowland site W This is rapidly becoming a contentious issue adi Khirbat en-Nahas (“ruins of copper,” in ). Hasa gestions that a gateway lay buried here, archaeologists recently Edomite highland site / Naha among archaeologists. Much of the debate centers y l Z Khirbat en-Nahas is located along Jordan’s e ere discovered a typical four-chamber gate (only two of the l d Edomite expansion site l on our recent excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas in the a chambers have been excavated). The entrance was through a Wadi al-Guwayb (wadi is Arabic for a dry stream other site V lowland region of Edom in southern Jordan, around a valley; the Hebrew equivalent is nahal ). The Wadi v Busayra passage on the far side of the two exposed gate chambers on a 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of the . r al-Guwayb drains into the Wadi (Nahal A the western side of the site. Large amounts of charcoal here M Hatzevah / Our project represents the first attempt to apply radio- Khirbat Arava, in Hebrew), which today separates modern

h and at other structures on the site were dated by precision

N a carbon-dating methods on a large scale to Edomite b en-Nahas radiocarbon dating, which fixed the date of early construction Jordan and Israel south of the Dead Sea. The Wadi a r

sites relevant to debates in Biblical archaeology. A Arabah, in turn, is part of the greater African Rift Tawilan of the fortress in the tenth century B.C.E., just as Glueck had i E D O d that extends from Tanzania and Olduvai Gorge in a Umm -Biyara suggested decades before. 0 20 mi W PRECEDING PAGES: The barren landscape of Edom glows with Africa, home of some of the earliest fossil evidence

a reddish hue, which may be how the Edomites got their for early humans, up through the and Gulf name; it means, literally, “the red ones.” Though archaeo- We have discovered a degree of social complexity When we decided to work in the lowlands of of , to the Jordan Valley and beyond. logical excavations in the highlands suggested that Edom in the land of Edom that demonstrates the weak Edom (in what is referred to as the Faynan dis- Edom occupies the territory of southern Jordan did not develop into a state until the late-eighth or seventh reed on the basis of which a number of scholars trict) back in 1997, we had no idea—or intention—of (south of the adjacent ancient kingdoms of Ammon century B.C.E., more recent excavation in the copper-rich have scoffed at the idea of a state or complex getting involved in the minefields that characterize and Moab). As early as Genesis we learn that , Edomite lowlands has shown that Edom was a complex chiefdom in Edom at this early period—and, by controversies in Biblical archaeology. This was to ’s twin brother, is the ancestor of the Edomites; society centuries earlier, as reflected in the Bible. extension, a state in Judah. be an anthropological archaeology expedition to the text adds that Edom is in the hill country of

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“THE BEDOUIN the land of Edom and requested permission from A DRASTIC CHANGE TRIBES OF EDOM” the king of Edom: in elevation occurs Busayra are recorded in the Allow us, then, to cross your country. We will between the highland notes of an Egyptian not pass through fields or vineyards, and will not site of Busayra and frontier official drink water from wells. We will follow the king’s Khirbat en-Nahas in from the time of highway, turning off neither to the right nor to the lowlands. This the left until we have crossed your territory. 3-D satellite image (c. 1224–1214 B.C.E.). shows the drop from Though this earliest (Numbers 20:17) areas more than 1,200 mention of Edom in meters (almost 4,000 the Papyrus Anastasi The Edomite answer was a peremptory “no”: feet) above sea level might suggest that “And Edom went out against them in heavy force, (shown in blue) to the Edomites were strongly armed. So Edom would not let Israel cross regions below sea only a nomadic their territory, and Israel turned away from them” level (shown in pale people at that time, (Numbers 20:20–21). A standard Bible dictionary, green). The higher OSIA Biblical references and however, states that “No archaeological evidence of C annual rainfall and NI recent archaeological a fortified and organized [Edomite] settlement in , Khirbat en-Nahas richer soil of the 3

evidence indicate this time has yet been found.” This statement may TIONS Copper Production Site plateau have led some C that the Edomites now have to be modified. scholars to focus PRODU developed into a rela- According to the Biblical chronology, several cen- on highland settle-

tively sophisticated turies after , , David and ROHR ments to write the

OF culture in the early all fought the Edomites (1 14:47; 2 Samuel history of Edom, but Iron Age, beginning in 8:13–14; :14), as did later kings. The major the lowlands are rich OURTESY

the 12th century B.C.E. military action, however, was between David and the C in copper ore, and The fact that the Edomites. He campaigned there early and often— recent excavations and ancient Egyptians supposedly during the early tenth century B.C.E. highlands are composed of precipitous rock walls Some of the seasonal drainages include the Wadi surveys there show took the trouble Is all this entirely fictional? of Nubian sandstone that are so rugged that ascent Dana, Wadi Ghuwair and Wadi Ashaqer among that the ability to of even mentioning The earliest mention of Edom appears not in sometimes requires technical climbing equipment.5 others (that turn into the Wadi Faynan and then produce and control these nomads means the Bible, but in Egyptian records from the time The prophet , who is generally thought the Wadi Fidan), as well as the Wadi Musa (coming copper was a crucial they were no doubt a of Pharaoh Merneptah (c. 1224–1214 B.C.E.) in the to have lived during the last half-century of Israel’s down from ). As the descent approaches the element in the devel- formidable people. Papyrus Anastasi VI, where an Egyptian frontier nationhood (c. 640–587 B.C.E.), provides a graphic semi-arid zone, the annual rainfall drops to 200 to opment of Edomite official notes: portrait of an Edomite highland settlement: 300 millimeters (8–12 inches). In the desert zone, it society. reaches 25 to 150 millimeters (1–6 inches). We have finished letting the Bedouin tribes of Edom The horror you inspire has deceived you, and While the highlands boast a narrow corridor of pass the Fortress [of] Mer-ne-ptah Hotep-hir-Maat the pride of your heart, you who live in the good agricultural land on the rugged plateau, the low- .. . to keep them alive and to keep their cattle alive.4 clefts of the rock, who hold the height of the lands contain one of the richest sources of a natural hill. Though you make your nest as high as the One of the reasons that Edom has been archaeo- substance in the eastern Mediterranean: copper ore. eagle’s, I will bring you down from there. logically misunderstood even by scholars is because In recent studies concerning the emergence of of what we refer to as a “highland bias.” Geo- (:16) the kingdom of Edom, emphasis has focused on the graphically, Edom can be divided into three parts. Edomite plateau. To understand the emergence of the trustees of the british museum

© The first two parts are in southern Jordan, mostly Much of this plateau is covered with relatively the Edomite kingdom, we are told, we must look to southeast of the Dead Sea: (1) the highlands; and rich, reddish-brown Mediterranean soils with 200 the rise of the Assyrian empire in the latter half of Seir (Genesis 36:9). Egyptian texts indicate that the (2) the lowlands. The third part is west of the to 600 millimeters (about 8–24 inches) of average the eighth to the seventh centuries B.C.E. and the land was called Seir before it became Edom.2 Arabah in what is now the of modern Israel, annual rainfall, making it highly desirable land it facilitated, especially the spice trade with Edom is a Semitic term for “red.” According which Edom conquered in the eighth to sixth cen- suitable for dry-farming 6—a typical Near Eastern Arabia. Unfortunately, the role of copper production to the Bible (Genesis 25:25), Esau emerged red turies B.C.E. and was the locale of many Edomite agricultural pursuit as early as the Neolithic period. and its control has often been unappreciated by from Rebekah’s womb; presumably, this is how the wars.* But this part of Edom came later and is not In winter, however, conditions in the highlands can scholars. Our work at Khirbat en-Nahas, however, Edomites got their name. They are, literally, the involved in our present inquiry. be brutal, with freezing temperatures and snow. demonstrates that control of copper production “red ones.” The name might also have something The Edomite highlands are a mountainous plateau A remarkable change occurs in the geology, was perhaps the single most important factor in to do with the red hue of the spectacular barren that includes such well-known sites as Petra** and topography, climate and vegetation as one descends the birth of the Edomite state, and it came about landscape in the sandstone mountains of Edom. lesser-known ones linked to the Edomites. The from this high plateau to the lowlands. The drop in considerably earlier than previously thought. On the ’ way from to the elevation is particularly dramatic—more than 1,600 We were not the first to investigate Khirbat en- *See Itzhaq Beit-Arieh, “Edomites Advance into Judah,” “Promised Land,” presumably at the end of the BAR, November/December 1996. meters (5,000 feet), to below sea level. Major wadis, Nahas. We were preceded by a number of famous Late around the time of Ramesses II **See Philip C. Hammond, “New Light on the ,” rich in history, cut deeply through the Edomite scholars. John Lewis Burckhardt reached Petra (c. 1279–1213 B.C.E.), wanted to pass through BAR March/April 1981. plateau and flow westward to the Wadi Arabah. disguised as a Bedouin on August 22, 1812. At the

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PIONEERS IN THE HOLY LAND. Riding on camelback for more (or Qaus-gabri) is usually associated with the king of Edom into the end of the Iron Age (eighth– than 13,000 miles, Czech anthropologist and orientalist Alois mentioned in two contemporary Assyrian inscrip- seventh centuries B.C.E.). Musil (photo, left) carried out a topographical and historical tions. This is not necessarily the case, because it Moreover, Bennett’s analysis is based only on survey of Edom in the early 20th century, which included was a common practice in the ancient East—espe- evidence from highland sites. It is our contention, identification of the massive fortress at Khirbat en-Nahas cially in the royal families—to name sons after their however, that the key to understanding Edomite (see photo, p. 26). forefathers, so -Gabr of the seal might be much state formation lies in the lowlands, near the A student of William Foxwell Albright, American archae- older than the one mentioned in the Assyrian sources of rich copper ore. ologist Nelson Glueck (photo, below left) conducted extensive annals. References in the Assyrian records provide There is no better place to study the area full surveys and technical studies of Ammon, Moab and Edom in an absolute date for the Qos-Gabr mentioned there: of copper ore than Khirbat en-Nahas. Although we the 1930s and 1940s, which are still required reading for anyone the seventh century B.C.E.7 On this basis, Bennett were not the first to work here,9 our work has been wishing to do archaeological work in Jordan. Glueck correctly and other scholars dated the pottery assemblage in the most comprehensive and has naturally used identified Khirbat en-Nahas as the central Iron Age mining and which the Qos-Gabr seal impression was found to methodologies not available to earlier investigators. smelting site in the region, and, based on pottery sherds col- the seventh century B.C.E.8 They dated earlier and Thus, our intensive systematic foot surveys along lected from the surface, he dated the major period of activity later ceramic assemblages in relation to that, con- the wadis around the site identified 13 previously to the tenth century B.C.E.—a date finding new support from cluding that there was no early Iron Age occupation unknown Iron Age copper mines. Some of the gal- the recent excavations and carbon dating at the site. in Edom at all, that is, nothing from the 12th to 9th leries in these mines penetrate 65 meters (200 feet) centuries B.C.E.—in Biblical terms, the time of the into the hillsides. Many have air ducts dug more Israelite entry into , the United than 8 meters (25 feet) from the surface to bring series of remarkable and extensive archaeological and the early years of the Divided Monarchy. air into these underground networks. surveys in Ammon, Moab and Edom between 1932 There are problems with the dating based on this In two wadis near Khirbat en-Nahas we found and 1947. Traveling by camel, donkey and on foot, single Edomite seal impression. Most important, the more than 90 sites.10 The most-frequently repre- Glueck discovered more than 1,500 of the most pottery assemblage found with the seal impression sented archaeological period at these sites, based important archaeological sites in Jordan. Glueck of Qos-Gabr was unstratified. Therefore, it cannot on the pottery, is the Iron Age. made some serious errors, but his technical studies reliably be used as a benchmark, even for relative Giving credit where credit is due, Nelson Glueck, and surveys were of the highest quality in those dating purposes, especially when it is used as the although examining only the larger Iron Age sites in days and are still essential reference works for any lynch pin to date all Iron Age ceramic assem- the area, suggested that Khirbat en-Nahas was the archaeologist working in Jordan today. blages in Edom. Moreover, no radiocarbon analysis center of mining and smelting sites in the vicinity. As Glueck was getting started with his survey, a (Carbon-14 dating) was performed on the organic Based on the pottery sherds he collected, he sug- German engineer and explorer named Fritz Frank substances in the assemblage at Umm el-Biyara or gested that the most important periods of activity had already visited a number of important sites any other highland site that would have provided were during and shortly after the reign of King including Khirbat en-Nahas, as well as numerous an unbiased external dating control. Despite these Solomon.11 Glueck’s observations in the 1930s were copper mines around the Wadi Arabah. By the shortcomings, some scholars forced the chronology based solely on the relative chronology afforded 1980s, technical studies of metallurgy at this and other sites in the region were carried out under Andreas Hauptmann of the German Mining Making Metal Museum in Bochum. The first step in making copper metal is production at Khirbat en-Nahas. Even the Since the 1960s, Edomite archaeology has been mining the ore. In ancient times the ore slag was crushed after smelting so that dominated by the work of British archaeologist was then crushed in grinding stones and every minute piece of metal that had Crystal Bennett. She worked exclusively on the heated at the bottom of a furnace in been trapped in the slag was collected, highland plateau, however. Bennett’s surveys and heat-resistant clay crucibles covered with put in crucibles and re-melted in a fur- excavations at highland sites have established a charcoal. Using blow tubes, or tuyeres, nace. The hot metal was then poured benchmark for understanding Edomite history. air was forced into the furnace chamber into simple open “molds”, about 80 However, her work is deeply flawed in two respects. so that temperatures reached 1083° Cel- centimeters by 15 centimeters (31.5 by 6 First, the dating of these highland sites is based on sius (1981° F) and the ore was smelted. inches), etched by hand into the ground a single seal impression and is unreliable. Second, Smelting is the process by which ore (see photo at right). The result was the the emphasis on highland sites largely ignores the turns into metal. A percentage of the production of metal ingots, strikingly social character of Edomite society as reflected in ore is converted to metal; the remainder similar in shape to Iron Age ingots, that beginning of the 20th century, the Czech orientalist the lowlands. These seemingly minor points have is converted to almost worthless slag (a could be stored for later re-melting and Alois Musil (1868–1944) rode over 20,000 kilometers important historical ramifications. waste product composed of impurities use in casting copper objects. It is likely levy e. thomas by photo (13,000 miles) by camel, carrying out, among other During Bennett’s work at Umm el-Biyara, that are separate from the metal). that the process I observed in is things, a topographic and historical survey of Edom. located high up on a small mesa overlooking Petra, In 2005, I went to southern India to virtually identical to the activities car- The American archaeologist Nelson Glueck (1901– her team discovered an Edomite seal impression study a traditional metal workshop with ried out in the four-room workhouse 1971)—who had studied under William Foxwell inscribed qws g [br]/mlk ‘ [dm], “Qos-Gabr King of similarities to the ancient process, which at Khirbat en-Nahas thousands of years Albright (1891–1971), one of the founding fathers of Edom.” To date, this is one of only a few examples helped me to understand ancient metal ago. —T.E.L. scientific archaeology in the region—carried out a of an Edomite king’s seal impression. This Qos-Gabr

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“QOS-GABR, KING OF gatehouse and other structures at the site, which, After what may have been a brief abandonment en-Nahas fortress. These could date as early as the EDOM” is the name fortunately, included large amounts of charcoal, an phase in the gatehouse area, a second metal- Late Bronze Age (c. 1400–1200 B.C.E.) or to various inscribed on the seal organic substance that can be radiocarbon tested. processing layer (our stratum A2a) was super- times in the Iron Age. While only future excava- that created this The Jordan Department of Antiquities allowed us imposed on the first. This represents a late- tions will determine this, the dating of these towers impression. Discovered to export the charcoal samples to the Oxford Radio- ninth-century B.C.E. phase of metal production.13 could be important for testing our historical recon- at the Edomite carbon Accelerator Unit in England. Working in the According to :20, the Edomites revolted struction of Iron Age Edom. highland site of Umm shadow of the major Iron Age excavations up on the against Judahite rule in the mid-ninth century at Overall, however, our excavations at Khirbat en- el-Biyara, this bulla highland plateau, we assumed that the dates might the time of King Jehoram (also called Joram). It is Nahas push the dates of the Iron Age in Edom (clay seal impression) be late in the Iron Age—in the eighth, seventh and possible that the abandonment of the tenth-century back by some 100 to 400 years, from the currently is the only known evi- perhaps sixth centuries B.C.E. Instead, the results B.C.E. fortress and the intensification of metal pro- accepted 8th to 7th centuries B.C.E. to the 12th to dence of an Edomite lend support to Glueck’s original dating of the early duction in the ninth century B.C.E. at Khirbat 9th centuries B.C.E. king’s seal. Since period of the site to the tenth century B.C.E., the en-Nahas is a reflection of self-rule following the The application of high-precision radiocarbon Qos-Gabr (or Qaus- time of the kingdoms of David and Solomon, in Bib- Edomite revolt.14 dating to the Iron Age deposits at the site has now

P lical terms. The lowest stratum (our A4a), resting In addition to the fortress, the ten-hectare (24- drawn us into discussions concerning historical

gabri) is mentioned in . two Assyrian inscrip- BIEN on bedrock before the gate was founded, was dated acre) site was covered with walls that we were best aspects of the Bible. As we should have known, K O

tions that can be W by radiocarbon to the late-11th or early-10th century able to see from a French Puma helicopter, courtesy you can’t do Iron Age archaeology in our region S K

reliably dated to the I B.C.E. Above this is our stratum A3—the surface con- of the Royal Jordanian Air Force. From the air, we without reference to the Bible. seventh century B.C.E., nected to the original gate structure—which dates to could see hundreds of wall lines representing the Heretofore, Iron Age archaeology in Edom has the date of this seal by pottery sherds collected from the surface. With the early 10th century B.C.E. The gate is therefore collapsed buildings of the workers who once pro- focused on the highland plateau, far away from impression, along with the exception of his unpublished excavations at contemporaneous with similar 10th- and 9th-century cessed copper ore at the site. Did these buildings this rich mineral-resource zone. Consequently, the the relative dating of Tell el-Kheleifeh near Aqaba, there simply were B.C.E. fortifications in what is today the Negev of also date to the Iron Age? Metal workers during importance of copper production and its control A SKILLED ARTISAN pottery found with no stratified contexts of pottery assemblages from modern Israel. the early part of the Iron Age, c. 1200–900 B.C.E., in the formation of the Edomite kingdom was may have created it, was the basis on excavated sites in Jordan at that time. Now our To confirm the Carbon-14 results from Oxford must have had the organizational skill, as well as widely undervalued. This “highland-centric” view this metal figurine, which archaeologist excavations at Khirbat en-Nahas are providing University, we processed additional charcoal samples the technical knowledge, to mass produce copper of archaeology in Edom misled many archaeologists perhaps depicting an Crystal Bennett support for many of Glueck’s insights. at the Centre for Isotope Research in Groningen, the on a scale that turned out thousands of kilograms of Edomite king or deity. mistakenly concluded The most important structure we excavated Netherlands, where we received similar dates.12 For black copper slag waste so clearly visible from the Measuring just 1 x 1.2 that Edom was not at Khirbat en-Nahas was a large fortress 73 by 73 each charcoal sample, we cut out and tested the out- air and on the ground. inches, it was found in occupied before the meters (about 240 x 240 feet) with existing walls ermost one or two tree rings, closest to the bark. Even before the founding of the gatehouse and the ninth-century col- eighth century B.C.E. up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) high, already identified by This insured that we were dating only one or two the fortification walls, significant metallurgical activ- lapse layer of one of Glueck and, before him, Musil. This makes Khirbat of the most recent growth rings rather than a clump ities took place in the area during the 12th to 11th the gate’s guardrooms en-Nahas one of the largest Iron Age fortresses in of 30 to 100 rings. Had we not done this, we would centuries B.C.E. From the earliest level of a worker’s (see photo, p. 27). the deserts of Jordan, Israel and Sinai. We sunk our have injected an error margin of 30 to 100 years into building that we excavated in Area S (Stratum S4), first probe into the area that Glueck long ago sug- our dating samples—something we had to avoid in we obtained a radiocarbon date from K . S gested was the gateway to the fortress. Again, Glueck order to attain sub-century dating, which is crucial the 12th to 11th century B.C.E. M IT H , U proved correct; the gateway indeed lay buried there. for solving Biblical archaeology problems. This dating is confirmed by S C D

In our excavation of the gate complex, we identified In the strata just above this (our A2b and A2a), Egyptian scarabs from our L E V A seven separate strata. The gatehouse initially com- reorganization of metal production occurred, and excavation dating to this N T I 15 N prised a typical four-chamber gate, like those found the gatehouse went out of use in the mid-ninth period. E

A

R at many Iron Age sites such as Megiddo, Beersheva century B.C.E. The main passage or roadway The gatehouse (and C H

A

E

and Ashdod in modern Israel. We excavated only through the gate was carefully blocked up with presumably the for- O

L

O

G

two of these gate chambers, but we plan to sample a fill of rubble and sealed in place by well-con- tification walls) were Y

L A

more in the future. Each of the four guardrooms— structed walls at each end of the passage. The then constructed at B

O R

two on each side—was approximately 3 meters (10 guardrooms lost their original function. Blocking the beginning of the A T

O R

feet) square. The passage between the guardrooms the old gate were large globs of liquid slag—runoff tenth century B.C.E. By Y was approximately 3.7 meters (12 feet) wide. All of from the smelting furnaces—that had formed thick the middle of the ninth the pottery associated with this massive structure rock-like sheets containing organic material, which century B.C.E., however, dated to the Iron Age. could also be tested by radiocarbon. Charcoal and the gatehouse and fortress But how early was the date in the Iron Age, which other metallurgical debris with testable organic had gone out of use, and extends from about 1200 B.C.E. to the destruction of material were recovered in carefully stratified con- the area was used for intensive ancient Israel by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E.? texts in the blocked-up gate. smelting and metal-working activities. The only way to firmly anchor the material The radiocarbon dates confirm that during Then, after a relatively brief abandonment of the culture assemblages of Edom in a reliable chro- the mid-ninth century B.C.E., the gatehouse and area, the gatehouse and its immediate surroundings nology is through the application of objective, high- probably the fortress ceased to have a military were again used but for a non-military purpose: precision radiocarbon dating. That is what we have function, but they were part of large-scale metal copper smelting operations. tried to do with the stratified assemblages from the production activities at the site. Four large towers stand southeast of the Khirbat

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y ously during the Early Bronze Age (c. 3600–2000 r o t a B.C.E.)—was resurrected. Control of lowland-Edom r o b a copper production at the beginning of the Iron Age l

y g provided a catalyst for the emergence of Edom as a o

l

o

e “super chiefdom,” if not as a state supported by a

a

h

c complex copper-mining and processing apparatus.

r

a

e In this context, the Biblical references to the

n

i t

n Edomites, especially their conflicts with David and sub-

a

v

e l

sequent Judahite kings, garner a new plausibility. a d

s

c

u

1 h

t E.g., Israel Finkelstein and Neil Silberman, The Bible i

m

s

. Unearthed (NY: Free Press, 2001), p. 68 (“Archaeological inves-

k tigations indicate that Edom reached statehood only under Assyrian auspices in the seventh century B.C.E. Before that period it was a sparsely settled fringe area inhabited mainly by pastoral nomads.”) and p. 40 (“From the Assyrian sources we A CHARIOT OR HUNTING SCENE is depicted on this Egyptian know that there were no real kings and no state in Edom before the late eighth century B.C.E. Edom appears in ancient records as scarab found at Khirbat en-Nahas. Scarabs provide important a distinct entity only after the conquest of the region by chronological links to Egyptian history. Although the date of . . . The archaeological evidence is also clear: the first large-scale this particular scarab is relatively broad (150 years), its con- wave of settlement in Edom accompanied by the establishment of large settlements and fortresses may have started in the late nection to the 20th–21st Dynasties in Egypt (c. 1150–1000 eighth century B.C.E. but reached a peak only in the seventh and B.C.E.) provides additional evidence that the lowlands of early sixth century B.C.E.”). 2 photo by thomas e. levy e. thomas by photo Edom were already occupied during the early Iron Age. Seir is used for Edom in the mid-14th century B.C.E. in an el- Amarna text (el-Amarna letter 288, line 26) (See Kitchen, K.A. 1992. “The Egyptian Evidence on Ancient Jordan,” in P. Bien- kowski, ed., Early Edom and Moab—The Beginning of the Iron Age in Southern Jordan (Sheffield: J.R. Collis Publications, p. 26) and in an Egyptian list from the time of Ramesses II (first half of the 13th century B.C.E.) found at ‘Amarah West (H.W. Fairman, whether Edom or Israel was a state or a chiefdom, “Preliminary Report on the Excavations at ‘Amarah West, 1938– but whether, based on the archaeological evidence, 39,” Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 25 [1939], pp. 139–144). Deu- teronomy 2:12 states that “Seir was formerly inhabited by the UNCOVERING A FOUR- to suppose that the Iron Age in Edom began even before the writer’s own country. There is these societies had the levels of social complexity ; but the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, wiping ROOM WORKHOUSE in the 7th or possibly 8th centuries B.C.E. Our therefore no reason to doubt the historicity of this needed to field armies, construct monumental them out and settling in their place.” 3 surveys and excavations have now pushed that almost off-hand Biblical remark. It most probably buildings and carry out technologically intensive S.v. “Edom” in David Noel Freedman, ed., Eerdmans Dictionary at Khirbat en-Nahas, of the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000). excavators found more date back to the 12th to 9th centuries B.C.E., reflects a historical process—namely that a complex industrial activities. In these terms, whether a 4 For the Papyrus Anastasi VI, see J.B. Pritchard, Ancient Near than 350 grinding and back to Nelson Glueck’s discussions of more than society or an archaic state of some kind evolved in society is a super chieftain or a petty kingdom is Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament, (3rd. ed.) (Princeton: 60 years ago of early Edomite interaction with Edom before there was one in ancient Israel. The relatively unimportant. Princeton Univ. Press, 1969), p. 259. This is the same pharaoh asso- pounding tools, indi- ciated with the famous Merneptah or Israel Stele (See H. Shanks, cating that copper was neighboring polities such as Israel. Bible is telling us that Edom may have developed a What seems clear is that, at least by the beginning W.G. Dever, B. Halpern and P.K. McCarter, Jr., The Rise of Ancient processed here in large Can we say definitively that the kingdom of complex society bordering on statehood as early as of the Iron Age, Edom was a complex society with Israel [Washington, D.C.: Biblical Archaeology Society, 1992]). 5 For an outstanding guidebook to all the wadis of Biblical Edom, quantities as early as Edom had its origins in the lowlands of Edom the Late Bronze Age (c. 1400–1200 B.C.E.). the ability to construct major buildings, defend Moab and Ammon, see I. Haviv, Trekking and Canyoning in the the ninth century B.C.E. and that control of copper was the chief cat- Anthropologists, archaeologists and historians have itself with strong fortifications and create a techno- Jordanian Dead Sea Rift (Israel: Desert Breeze Press, 2000). 6 Charcoal in the early alyst for the rise of social complexity? Not yet. struggled mightily to define and identify from archae- logically sophisticated organization to draw copper Jordanian School Atlas (: Royal Jordanian Geographic 16 Centre, 2001). levels below this building However, the excavations and radiocarbon dates ological remains what makes a state-level society. from ore and thereafter to manufacture objects 7 Piotr Bienkowski, “The Edomites: The Archaeological Evi- and from different slag from Khirbat en-Nahas have drawn the lowlands They are doggedly looking for the litmus test that with it. If it could do this, there is no reason to dence from ,” in Diane V. Edelman, ed., You Shall mounds at the site was into the center of the debate. will distinguish a state from a chiefdom. When the doubt that it could also field an army. Not Abhor an Edomite for He Is Your Brother: Edom and Seir in History and Tradition, Archaeological and Biblical Studies 3 radiocarbon-dated to the We may look with new eyes at the reference Bible mentions a king, we tend to assume we know Edom was always a kind of tribal society, even (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995), pp. 44–45. 12th–11th century B.C.E., to Edom in Genesis 36:31: “These are the kings how he ruled, how much territory he controlled and at its most advanced period, when highland sites 8 M.F. Oakshott, “A Study of the Iron Age II Pottery of East who reigned in the land of Edom, before any whether he could field an army. However, it isn’t so like Busayra and Umm el-Biyara were occupied in Jordan with Special Reference to Unpublished Material from thus demonstrating that Edom” (Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, 1978); M.F. Oakshott, “The the Edomites conducted king reigned over the Israelites.” This indicates simple. In fact, the anthropological record teaches the eighth to sixth centuries B.C.E. But it was also Edomite Pottery,” in J.F.A. Sawyer and D.J. A. Clines, eds., , significant metallurgical that, for the Biblical author, Edom was a state us that societies in which “chiefs” and “kings” func- a complex society quite early in the Iron Age, if not Moab and Edom: The History and Archaeology of Late Bronze and with kings (or very-high-ranking chiefs) even tioned fall along a continuum of complexity that toward the end of the Late Bronze Age. Looking at Iron Age Jordan and North-West Arabia (Sheffield: JSOT Press, activities in the lowlands 1983); S. Hart, “The Archaeology of the Land of Edom” (Ph.D. for hundreds of years before ancient Israel. Historical reality can often cannot be easily divided into neat categories. Thus, a broader canvas, when the center of eastern-Medi- thesis, Macquarie University, 1989). before they settled the be found in the Bible’s snippets, in its minor the dividing line between a complex chiefdom and terranean copper production in Cyprus collapsed, 9 Our work has built on the pioneering archaeometallur- clauses that are almost footnotes. This statement a petty kingdom is unclear. And trying to make this along with the rest of civilization* at the end of gical investigations in the Faynan region by Professor Andreas highlands. Hauptmann (German Mining Museum) and Mohammad Najjar does not support a particular point of view. distinction on the basis of a mute archaeological the Late Bronze Age (c. 1400–1200 B.C.E.), Edom’s (Department of Antiquities of Jordan) and Volkmar Fritz’s initial There is no advocacy behind it or many of the record is even harder. copper production—which had flourished previ- soundings at Khirbat en-Nahas. The 2002 excavations at Khirbat other statements concerning Edom, such as the With regard to the Edomites that the Bible says en-Nahas were carried out under the auspices of the University *See Avner Raban and Robert R. Stieglitz, “The Sea Peoples of California, San Diego and the Department of Antiquities of revolt mentioned earlier. On the contrary: It gives David fought and interacted with, as well as David’s and Their Contributions to Civilization,” BAR, November/ Jordan (DOAJ) as part of the Jabal Hamrat Fidan Regional Edom a “state” or complex society with a “king” role as king of ancient Israel, the question is not December 1991. continues on page 70

34 B i b l i c a l archaeology review • july/august 2006 july/august 2006 • Bi b l i c a l archaeology r e v i e w 35 DAJ388-03_7.25x10.qxd 4/21/06 11:21 AM Page 1

Edom and Coppper GERINGER continued from page 35 Archaeology Project. We are grateful to Dr. Fawwaz al-Khraysheh, director general of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan, for his support, the ART LTD. Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature in Jordan for permitting us to work in the Dana Nature reserve where Khirbat en-Nahas is located, Dr. Pierre Bikai, then director of the American Paintings Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman Hawaiian • Philippine for his logistical support. The senior principal investigator of the project was Professor Thomas • Indonesian E. Levy (UCSD); co-principal investigator and ceramics specialist, Dr. Russell B. Adams (Ithaca • Vietnamese University); and co-director, Dr. Mohammad Najjar (Department of Antiquities of Jordan). The fol- • California • American lowing individuals served as key staff members of • Western the project: Dr. James D. Anderson, senior surveyor (North Island College, BC); Professor Andreas Hauptmann, archaeometallurgist (German Mining Museum); Neil Smith, Geographic Information Specializing in Systems (GIS) and ceramics analyst (UCSD); Adolfo Muniz, digital archaeology coordinator D. Howard Hitchcock and archaeozoologist (UCSD); Yoav Arbel, field Tavernier supervisor (UCSD), Lisa Soderbaum, field super- Brains Conquer Beauty visor; Elizabeth Monroe, field supervisor; Anthony Le Mayeur Arias, Boomer (Goa); Malena, Victoria Sears, Scientists break code to create perfect gemstones with even Amorsolo Beccah Landman, assistant field supervisors; Lynne Murone-Dunn and Stacie Wilson, field lab super- more fire and brilliance than mined diamonds. 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Finally, 1-800-654-2017 toll-free in U.S. conservation (Germany); and Alina Levy, Financial the simple truth is that diamonds are just After several additional steps, our scientists we employ the most talented jewelry designers 1-808-295-2216 (USA). We are grateful to all these individuals for compressed crystallized carbon.The laboratories have finally created a gemstone that looks to provide our customers with the dazzling their help. at DiamondAura were created with one even better than the vast majority of mined elegant styles that we proudly offer.Once 10 Sixty-four sites along the Wadi al Guwayb and twenty-seven sites along the Wadi Jariyah. mission in mind: Design classic jewelry with diamonds. Frankly,each time we see one, we you have had the opportunity to wear your 11 Nelson Glueck, The Other Side of the Jordan scientifically perfect gemstones at a cost that have difficulty believing the result ourselves. 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