David, Salomon and the copper industry : The organization of the copper industry in Edom during the Iron Age, and its connection to the biblical kings David and Solomon

According to historical sources and pottery chronology, the Iron Age in southern Levant spans between approximately 1200 to 587 BC. This roughly 600 years’ period encompass ancient Israel and its neighbor’s history as it is described in Old and New Testament, i.e. “Biblical archeology”. The aim with this paper is to investigate how the copper industry was organized in biblical Edom, i.e. presently southern Jordan, during Iron age, and if this organization could be related to the biblical kings David and Solomon. The methodological departure will be maximalist, which sees the Bible and archeology complementing each other in getting an image of the history, the society, and the religion of these areas in ancient times. Archeologists of this school argue that some of the biblical narratives are more or less correct, as long as archeological evidence does not dismiss them. For theoretical concepts there will be used a typology of chieftain and early states where the notion of chieftain is used to characterize social complexity in stateless societies while the model of early state capture more complex societies. Two approaches will be discussed. The first one is represented by Israel Finkelstein and his team who suggest that one should lower the dates of the assemblages of Iron Age from late 1100 century to 1000 century BC in a Low chronology. The second approach is argued by Thomas Levy and his team. He wishes to focus on the role of metallurgy in Edom and states that we have proof that complex societies were active 900- 800 BCE and 300 years before the scholars first assumed, during David and Solomon’s time, High chronology. This will shed a new light on Old Testament´s narrative.