SUMMARY: The biblical depiction of ancient Edom as described in the Bible has sometimes been dismissed by minimalist scholars. However, new archaeological research of copper mines in southern Israel and Jordan has confirmed the existence, expansion, and technological sophistication of ancient Edom.
“Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place for gold that they refine. Iron is taken out of the earth, and copper is smelted from the ore. – Job 28:1-2 (ESV)
The Origin of Israel and Edom
The relationship of Jacob and Esau is one of the most storied sibling rivalries in all of history. They were the sons of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham. Not only were they brothers, they were twins whose pre-birth struggles foreshadowed great personal and national conflicts (Gen 25:22). Jacob’s children became the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel while Esau’s descendents would go on to found the nation of Edom.
While there is evidence confirming Israel’s existence in Canaan fairly early in its history, the reality of a developed nation of Edom as early as the Bible claims is something many scholars have doubted in recent decades. This is because there seemed to be no hard evidence to support such a reality. However, new archaeological finds are pointing to a robust nation of Edom in a much earlier period than most suspected.
Jacob and Esau were the answer to their parent’s generational infertility, and their births possessed redemptive significance as did their fathers before them. Their story centered on a grand struggle over an inheritance, which included at its basis covenant blessings and benefits, the greater part of which was Yahweh himself (Hebrews 12:5).
It culminated when in a moment of hunger, Esau carelessly sold Jacob his birthright as the eldest son for a bowl of porridge, and with it the lavish spiritual promises that God had made to their fathers (Psalm 16:5; 142:5; 73:26). Esau continued his reckless appetites as he went on to marry pagan women outside of his family. In a decision confirmed by subsequent decisions, the expected natural birth-order of things was overturned, signifying that God would be a friend of the second-class, and a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Each man experienced a name change connected to his identity and values. Esau was born with a reddish complexion (Gen 25:25), and later confirmed his connection to the visible and superficial when he traded the covenants for the temporal benefit of a red colored meal. He and his progeny came to be identified with this forfeiture, and so were called Edom/Edomites, a word meaning “red.”
Similarly, Jacob was named by an incident at birth where he clasped the heel of his brother, and so was designated by a moniker meaning “supplanter” or “overreacher” (Gen 27:36). His early signature move was his exchange of the red colored food for Esau’s birthright and attendant connections to God.
In time, Jacob’s striving matured from a horizontal focus to more of a Godward orientation – a dispositional reordering memorialized with a name bestowed by the Lord Himself (Genesis 32:28; Hosea 12:3). Thus he and his progeny after him were named Israel, a term meaning “God strives” identifying him as the established steward of God’s covenants of promise, and with whom there was struggle, until he yielded in submission (Gen 32:24-26).
The Problem: Did Edom Exist When the Bible Says it Did?
Esau and Jacob eventually reconciled, but the trajectory of their relationship was set and the future interaction of their descendants would be one characterized by hostility. The connection of the two men and interaction of their posterity is significant to biblical history. For example, the only Old Testament book expressly addressed to a non-Jewish nation is Obadiah, and the nation it addresses is Edom. Even in the New Testament, Esau becomes an archetype of the immoral, godless person who exchanges what is most valuable for momentary gain (Heb 12:15). So, the details of Edom as told in the Bible are important.
However, one of the areas where the Bible has come under attack is with regard to its depiction of Edom as an early, developed nation to the southeast of the Promised Land. Beginning in Genesis 36:31-39, the Bible presents an early Edomite confederacy complete with a list of kings and chiefs. It also accounts for the beginnings of the Amalekites and describes early Edomite-Horite interaction (see also Deut. 2:12).
So Esau settled in the hill country of Seir. (Esau is Edom.) – Genesis 36:8 (ESV)
Later, by the time of the Exodus, an early Edomite Kingdom was already in place, and it wasn’t friendly to Israel. This became evident when during Israel’s arduous journey from Egypt to Canaan, the King of Edom harshly refused to allow them to pass through Edomite territory.
Moses sent messengers from Kadesh to the king of Edom: “Thus says your brother Israel: You know all the hardship that we have met: how our fathers went down to Egypt, and we lived in Egypt a long time. And the Egyptians dealt harshly with us and our fathers… Please let us pass through your land… But he said, “You shall not pass through.” And Edom came out against them with a large army and with a strong force. Thus Edom refused to give Israel passage through his territory, so Israel turned away from him. – Numbers 20:14-21 (ESV)
The fact that Edom responded with a large force that was able to resist Israel shows that they were a large and powerful nation. Later they were regularly at war with Israelite Kings, and even participated in Nebuchadnezzar’s capture of Jerusalem (Obadiah; Joel 3:19; Amos 1:11).
So, Edom features prominently as an actor in the biblical saga. However, the Bible’s picture of an early established Edomite Kingdom has run afoul of some modern critics. Minimalist scholars, who see a minimum amount of valid history in the Bible, have argued that no such early Edomite Kingdom existed and dismiss the biblical description as exaggeration. Their view is that Edom never actually rose above the level of a tribal confederacy to form an independent Kingdom. These perspectives even influence whether one holds to an Edomite or Nabatean origin for the ancient city of Petra, and whether or not it is referenced in Obadiah’s prophecy.
Findings Confirming an Early Edom
However, a team of researchers representing the University of San Diego and Tel Aviv University have ostensibly put the debate to rest. Last month, they published an article in PLOS ONE, an online peer reviewed journal that cemented the existence of the ancient Edomite Kingdom. In the article, they explain that, “Recent archaeological research in the Wadi Arabah, one of the largest copper ore resource zones in the Levant, allowed for investigating in unprecedented detail a continuous record of technological development.”
In the report, they clearly identified early Edomite involvement in ancient copper mining operations with centers in the Timnah and Faynan areas of Wadi Arabah, located near the southern border of modern Israel/Jordan. The result is that Edom’s early sophistication and industrial progress have been conclusively demonstrated to be beyond dispute, and consistent with its biblical portrayal. Their publication is entitled, “Ancient technology and punctuated change: Detecting the emergence of the Edomite Kingdom in the Southern Levant.”
“For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper.” Deuteronomy 8:7-9 (ESV)
Situated in an area rich with copper ore, the sites were home to a long standing operation that produced copper for over half a millennium. The researchers were able to clearly identify large scale industrial activities including mining camps and other features necessary for a support network to allow for large scale operation.
Key to the study was the new evaluation of dump sites in these centers where large amounts of metallurgic slag (waste) was discarded. Over the course of centuries, as copper was extracted from ore, the metallic waste was disposed into mounds along with the spent charcoal that was used for fuel. By excavating the mounds, the researchers were able to document that greater than 100,000 tons of metallurgic slag had been discarded in Faynan, and more than 10,000 tons were discarded in Timna. The result is that they were able to piece together a story of how technological advancements occurred across the region, over a span of 500 years, dating from 1300-800 BC. (See a past Thinker for evidence of woolen textiles made of ancient blue dye from the Timna mining area.)
Dating The Slag for Evidence
Dating the layers sampled from the mounds was possible through a combination of archaeomagnetic analysis of the metallic waste, as well as carbon dating of the spent charcoal scraped along with the slag. The researchers evaluated 154 well-dated samples and were even able to track the development of technological improvements as they were made. This aspect of the project was made possible by documenting alterations in the metallic composition of the waste. As the Edomites improved their techniques, they were able to extract higher quantities of copper from the ore. (See this Thinker Update for more evidence of a copper smelting site from the time of King David.)
As explained in the report, a clear statistical decrease of copper discarded in the slag reveals gains in efficiency. By analyzing the copper content included with the waste, the researchers were able to deduct the kinds of improvements that would have been required to attain the identified outcomes. These include: specific preparations of smelting mixtures to achieve differences in smelt (metal extracted from ore), development of furnaces operated by sack bellows in contrast to wind powered furnaces, changes in blast pipes (tuyères), oven sizes, linings, as well as the development of refractories (oven linings), temper, etc.
Additionally, the researchers were even able to show that changes happened simultaneously between the main centers of Timna and Faynan showing that a clear transfer of information occurred. Collaborations between these two sites, which are over 100 kilometers apart, along with other factors suggests to the researchers the presence of a centralized government.
They state, “While the biblical narrative describes an early, pre-10th century kingdom … the archaeological record has been subjected to conflicting interpretations, even after the publication of the new chronology that clearly demonstrates the flourishing of the region during the 12th–11th centuries. Here, the striking synchronous agreement between the technology in Timna and Faynan, evident as early as the 11th century BCE … suggests that an overarching political body existed in the region already at this time.”
An Evolutionary Twist to the Study
Curiously, one interesting aspect of the report worth noting is its presentation of the idea that although gradual improvements in technology may have been ongoing, the most significant improvements at the mines occurred suddenly, or in “punctuated change” caused by conditions present in the area. This is not a problem. However, it is the researchers’ conception of human innovation as “punctuated change” along the lines of biological evolutionary theory that things start to get a little incongruous.
It is clear that the researchers produced the report not to argue for an Edomite Kingdom, or to document the development of ancient technologies. Rather, the stated goal of the researchers was to use the project as a “case study” to draw a correlation between “human agency-triggered punctuated leaps” and evolutionary theory. They argue that the neo-Darwinian model of new species evolving not by gradual change, but by sudden leaps of advancement (punctuated equilibrium) provides a useful tool in accounting for developments in ancient copper production technologies.
When dealing with objective data, the report is impressive. However, this line of thinking seems odd, since it is clear that the improvements in copper production were the result of intelligent agents actively working to create and invent. The change agents responsible for the advancements, or “leaps,” were in fact ancient Edomites designing, experimenting, and producing technologies to subdue creation. This was an outworking of what theologians refer to as the creation mandate.
Conclusions
It has been unequivocally shown that a society in the Wadi Arabah area was home to a sophisticated copper production industry from 1300-800 BC. Further, that ancient society has been identified as that of the Edomites of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible). Also demonstrated is that copper production was occurring in the area at a time earlier than previously thought, demonstrating the existence of an early, established Edomite Kingdom (as opposed to loose tribal associations as often argued), and thus corroborating the biblical depiction and timeline. These are the kinds of developments that make for really interesting reflection. Questions remain about possible connections to Petra, and these are reasons to Keep Thinking!
TOP PHOTO: Perhaps the most famous location in ancient Edom is the site of Petra, whose cliffs were later carved by the Nabeteans. (By Susanahajer, CC BY-SA 3.0)
NOTE: Not every view expressed by scholars contributing Thinker articles necessarily reflects the views of Patterns of Evidence. We include perspectives from various sides of debates on biblical matters so that readers can become familiar with the different arguments involved. – Keep Thinking!
