A new study challenges the long-held belief that ancient copper smelting practices were harmful to workers and the environment. Analysis of two copper production sites in Israel's Timna Valley, one dating back to King Solomon's era, revealed that pollution levels were extremely low and concentrated only around smelting furnaces.
Copper production associated with the mines of the Biblical King Solomon may not have harmed the workers involved—nor present a threat to locals in the present day.This is the conclusion of a new study which overturns a decades-old hypothesis about the harms of ancient smelting practices. 'We demonstrate that this is not true,' said paper author and archaeologist professor Erez Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University—adding that the pollution is highly localized.
'It's likely that only those working directly at the furnace suffered from inhaling toxic fumes, while just a short distance away the soil is entirely safe.' In their study, the researchers analyzed two major copper production sites in the Timna Valley of Israel, one from the Iron Age—and King Solomon's era—and a second nearby that is roughly 1,500 years older. At both sites, the team collected hundreds of soil samples for chemical analysis, the results of which allowed them to create high-resolution maps of local heavy metal presence. They found that pollution levels around the copper mining sites of the Timna Valley were extremely low—and concentrated only where there were once ancient smelting furnaces. 'For instance, the concentration of lead—the primary pollutant in metal industries—drops to less than 200 parts per million just a few meters from the furnace,' Ben-Yosef said.'By comparison, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency defines industrial areas as safe for workers at 1,200 part per million and residential areas as safe for children at 200 parts per million.' According to Ben-Yosef, the heavy metals are also effectively trapped in the form of slag—stony waste matter from the furnaces—and other industrial waste, meaning that they are unable to cause harm by leaching into the local environment. The findings match those previously recorded from the Wadi Faynan region of Jordan
ANCIENT COPPER POLLUTION ENVIRONMENT KING SOLOMON TIMNA VALLEY
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