A new study from Tel Aviv University (Israel) overturns the prevailing scientific beliefs, showing that King Solomon’s Mines not only did not seriously affect the health of workers in the ancient copper industry, but also pose no health risks to modern residents near the site.
The researchers conducted geochemical studies at copper production sites in the Timna Valley, dating back to the 10th century BC, the era of the biblical kings David and Solomon. The results indicated that the environmental pollution caused by copper production was minimal and strictly localized around the ancient furnaces, without posing a danger to the inhabitants of the region, neither in the past nor in the present.
Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University also analyzed previous studies, finding no evidence to support the idea that the ancient copper industry had polluted the planet.
The study, led by prof. Erez Ben-Yosef, dr. Omri Yagel, Willy Ondricek and dr. Aaron Greener of the Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures was published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The ancient copper industry was a very clean one
“We investigated two major copper production sites in the Timna Valley: one from the Iron Age, associated with the era of King Solomon, and another site nearby, older by about 1,500 years,” explains prof. Erez Ben-Yosef.
“Our study was very extensive. We took hundreds of soil samples from both sites for chemical analysis and created detailed maps of the distribution of heavy metals in the region. We found that pollution levels are extremely low and confined to the sites of ancient furnaces. For example, the concentration of lead, the main pollutant in the metallurgical industries, drops below 200 parts per million just a few meters from the blast furnace. In comparison, the US Environmental Protection Agency considers industrial areas safe at a level of 1,200 parts per million and residential areas for children at 200 parts per million,” the researcher continues.
The new study contradicts a series of papers published since the 1990s that suggested the ancient copper industry was responsible for major pollution.
How safe were the mines in King Solomon’s time?
“We demonstrate that this is not true. Pollution in Timna is very spatially restricted, and only those working directly at the furnaces were exposed to toxic fumes, while a short distance away, the ground is completely safe. In addition, the distribution of copper and lead concentrations in the soil suggests that the metals are ‘locked’ in slag and other industrial waste, which prevents them from infiltrating into the soil and affecting plants or people”, says prof. Erez Ben-Yosef.
“Our findings are in agreement with recent studies in the Wadi Faynan region of Jordan, which also indicate very low levels of pollution. Timna and Faynan are ideal sites for such research as they have not been affected by modern mining and the arid climate has prevented metals from leaching from the soil. In Faynan, a study led by prof. Yigal Erel, from the Hebrew University (Israel), analyzed 36 skeletons of people who lived at the site during the Iron Age, and only three showed traces of pollution in their teeth. The rest were completely clean. We are now offering a similar image for Timna,” he declares.
The ancient copper industry should be looked at differently, researchers say
In parallel with the geochemical study, archaeologists from the University of Tel Aviv also carried out an extensive analysis of the specialized literature, highlighting that the hypotheses about global pollution from the pre-Roman period do not have solid evidence.
“In the 1990s, there was a current that presented ancient copper production as the first form of industrial pollution,” explains Dr. Omri Yagel, one of the main researchers.
“Such claims attract attention and funding, but they needlessly project modern pollution problems onto the past. In addition, the literature often uses the term ‘pollution’ for any trace of ancient metallurgical activities, which has led to the false assumption that metallurgical industries have been harmful since their inception, which is completely false,” states the scientist. , Eurek Alert quote.
“Even when metallurgical production became widespread, integrated into human civilization, only the toxic lead industry caused global pollution, not necessarily other metals. A study in the 1990s claimed that traces of copper found in Greenland’s ice sheets had arrived there through the atmosphere from places like Timna. However, this claim has not been confirmed by further studies. As researchers dealing with today’s serious environmental challenges, such as climate change, we tend to look for similar problems in the past or to assume that environmental damage is an inevitable consequence of human activities since the agricultural revolution. However, we must be cautious. Even if we call a few pieces of slag ‘pollution’, we must not confuse this localized waste with a regional or global pollution”, he concluded.
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Source: www.descopera.ro
