 The Bible relates that King David conquered Israel’s neighbor,
the ancient kingdom of Edom: “He put garrisons in Edom
and all the Edomites became servants to David.” (2 Samuel
8:14) But until results from an archeological project headed by
UCSD Professor Thomas Levy were
announced this winter, there had been
no physical evidence that Edom even
existed in the 10th century B.C., during the time of King David.
Many secular scholars, especially from European universities, believe
The Bible is just a collection of folklore and theology and assume
many dates and statements are inconsistent. Some academicians and
religious thinkers had declared that no Edomite state existed prior
to the 8th century B.C.
 In the summer of 2002, Levy, an
anthropological archaeologist, joined up with Russell Adams (McMaster
University) as co-principal
investigator and Mohammad Najjar of the Department of Antiquities
of Jordan (DOAJ) as co-director, to excavate at the site of Khirat
en-Nahas (or “ruins of copper,” in Arabic) in the rugged
lowlands of southern Jordan. The work was carried out as part of
the UCSD Middle Eastern Archaeological Field School with 40 undergraduate
and graduate students and a crew of 30 local Bedouin workers. Khirat
en-Nahas had been largely ignored by
archaeologists because of the logistical
difficulties of working in this hyper-arid region. Using high-precision
radiocarbon dating, the new research demonstrates two major phases
of copper production—during the 12th to 11th centuries B.C.
and the 10th to 9th centuries B.C.
The team found evidence
of massive fortifications and industrial-scale metal production
dating from these
periods, as well as over 100 buildings. Egyptian scarabs of a walking
sphinx and a hunting scene provided additional evidence of metal-working
activities at the site.
 The carbon dating was carried out
in laboratories in Oxford, England, and Groningen, Netherlands.
The results push back the beginnings
of Edom 300 years earlier than the current scholarly consensus,
and show the presence of complex societies, perhaps a kingdom,
much earlier than experts thought. Previous investigations of Edom
had been carried out in the Jordanian highlands and had put the
rise
of the Edomite kingdom during the 8th to 6th centuries B.C. The
new work corroborates the Biblical account of Edom’s existence
alongside ancient Israel.
“We were excavating at Khirbat en-Nahas,
hoping to examine the role of
metallurgy in the rise of the Edomite kingdom,” says Levy. “Little
did we know we would be lending important data to a controversy
rooted in the historical accuracy of the Hebrew Bible. Such is
life.” 
— Barry Jagoda
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