Copper metallurgy: a hidden fundament of the theology of ancient Israel? (original) (raw)
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The cultural dimension of metallurgy - The case of ancient Israel
Though metallurgy is approached today as no more than a technical domain, it had a central cultural importance in the past. This point is illustrated here by the deep metallurgical background of the cult of YHWH, the god of the Bible. This is reflected by the outstanding status of the smiths in Ancient Israel, by the central importance of metallurgy in the Biblical myths of origin, by the symbolism of the Jerusalem temple, by the strong metallurgical affinities of YHWH, revealed by his volcanic theophany, his residence in mining areas and his celestial domain envisioned as a giant furnace. These features reveal that the Israelite religion emerged as the extension to an entire people of beliefs previously belonging to the Canaanite metalworkers. This means that a substantial part of our cultural values are rooted in metallurgical traditions that remain to be rediscovered, investigated and clarified.
The Religious Dimension of Copper Metallurgy in the Southern Levant
2019
The emergence of metallurgy was an important factor in the development of Ancient Near Eastern societies. Metal became the raw material for the production of tools, utilitarian implements, jewels, items of prestige, objects of art, and ritual artifacts. Its imperishability opened up new possibilities with respect to the concentration of wealth and power [...] Despite these considerations, metallurgy is rarely approached as an important factor in the development of the Bronze Age religions, in comparison with the sun, atmospheric elements, fertility, crop production, water and the subterranean universe...
A Metallurgical Perspective on the Birth of Ancient Israel
Entangled religions, 2021
The re-emergence of the copper industry in the Arabah valley between the twelfth and ninth centuries BCE stimulated wealth and economic development across the whole Southern Levant. Combining this reality with the metallurgical background of ancient Yahwism provides a material basis for the spread, from the early Iron Age, of the worship of YHWH in ancient Israel and neighboring nations, especially Edom. These findings strengthen the Qenite hypothesis of the origin of the Israelite religion. They also suggest that an official cult of YHWH, replacing a traditional esoteric dimension, is the main novelty of the Israelite religion. The claim of YHWH's intervention in history, apparently absent from traditional Yahwism, is the other theological novelty advanced by the Israelites. This article suggests that both innovations are rooted in a desert-shaped form of Yahwism especially adapted to the way of life and the environment of Northwestern Arabia, the land of Biblical Midian.
YHWH, The Canaanite god of metallurgy?
During the Antiquity, south-eastern Canaan was as a very important center of copper smelting, but the identity of the Canaanite god of metallurgy remains unknown. Some biblical writings suggest a south-Canaanite origin of Yahweh, but no details are provided concerning his worship prior becoming the god of Israel. It is tested here whether Yahweh was formerly the Canaanite god of metallurgy. The following observations corroborate this hypothesis: (i) Yahweh was worshiped by the Edomites, and especially by the Kenites, a small tribe regarded as the Canaanite smelters; (ii) the Israelite cult of Yahweh was associated to copper and to a bronze serpent, a typical symbol of metallurgy; (iii) the melting of copper is considered in Ex. 4 as the specific sign of Yahweh; (iv) a parallel exists between Yahweh and the god of metallurgy worshiped in Egypt (Ptah), Mesopotamia (Ea/Enki) and Elam (Napir), all of them being a mysterious lonely deity; (v) fighting the (other) gods is common to Yahwism and to antique metallurgical traditions. These data suggest that, before becoming publicly worshipped in Israel, Yahweh was formerly the god of the Canaanite guild of metallurgists
Asia Anteriore Antica, 2023
The archaeological discourse on the development of metallurgy in Anatolia, the Levant and, more generally, the Eastern Mediterranean region has extensively focused on crucial aspects such as procurement routes, technological developments, manufacturing strategies, and socioeconomic connotations of metal consumption. On the other hand, potential symbolic and ritualistic aspects permeating mining and metal-making activities have rarely been taken into consideration, largely due to the ephemerality of such traditions and practices in the material record. Extensive studies have analyzed the ritual dimensions of iron and copper metalworking across different belief systems and social structures, from pre-industrial sub-Saharan Africa to pre-classical Andean cultures, from Bronze Age Central Europe to China. Drawing on the contemporary anthropological and archaeological debate on the subject, this contribution identifies and analyzes recurrent semantics of ritualization in metalworking processes, looking at different lines of epigraphic and material evidence from the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. The aim is to discuss patterns of correlation between belief systems, ritual behavior, and socioeconomic organizations and to prompt more comprehensive analyses on the complementary technological and symbolic aspects of ancient metallurgical practices.
In this brief review of ancient metallurgy in the Bronze and Iron Ages, emphasis is placed on the considerable contribution made by various teams carrying out archaeometallurgical research in Israel and Jordan. Archaeometallurgical studies in the southern Levant have striven to contextualize the socioeconomic role of metallurgy in Bronze-and Iron-Age societies by carrying out large-scale stratigraphic excavations, integrating high-precision radiocarbon dating, increasing sample sizes, and conducting site surveys aimed at solving questions concerning ancient mining and metallurgy.
PLoS ONE, 2014
The beginning of metallurgy in the ancient Near East attracts much attention. The southern Levant, with the rich assemblage of copper artifacts from the Nahal Mishmar cave and the unique gold rings of the Nahal Qanah cave, is regarded as a main center of early metallurgy during the second half of the 5 th millennium CalBC. However, a recently discovered copper awl from a Middle Chalcolithic burial at Tel Tsaf, Jordan Valley, Israel, suggests that cast metal technology was introduced to the region as early as the late 6 th millennium CalBC. This paper examines the chemical composition of this item and reviews its context. The results indicate that it was exported from a distant source, probably in the Caucasus, and that the location where it was found is indicative of the social status of the buried individual. This rare finding indicates that metallurgy was first defused to the southern Levant through exchange networks and only centuries later involved local production. This copper awl, the earliest metal artifact found in the southern Levant, indicates that the elaborate Late Chalcolithic metallurgy developed from a more ancient tradition.