Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
News

Archaeologists Find Ruins of King Solomon’s Mines

In the Bible, King Solomon was known for his wisdom, but his wealth was pretty legendary, too. According to Kings I, he had 12,000 horses, 1,400 chariots, 700 wives and 300 concubines to be exact — and new research reveals copper may have been how he paid for it. Archeologists from Tel Aviv University claim to have found the location of King Solomon’s mines, and say it was one of the largest copper hubs in the Tinma Valley of Israel.

During the archaeological dig at the mines, the team unearthed a gatehouse and animal pens as well as other organic materials, such as food and clothing, preserved by the dry desert conditions. The new artifacts challenge the previous assertions made of the site’s historical function, according to an article in this month’s Journal of Archaeological Science.

American archaeologist Nelson Glueck, first excavated the site in 1934 and argued that it was a slave camp. But the current team’s scientific research indicate that the valley, commonly referred to as Slave’s Hill as a result of Glueck’s work, was a complex and hierarchical military society, instead.

“The gatehouse and walls also indicate substantial investment in deterrence and defense, reflecting a period of instability and military threat in 10th century BC Timna,” Erez Ben-Yosef, the leader of the archeological expedition, told Sci-News.

Radiocarbon dating and the new revelation of the site as a military society led the team to link the valley to King Solomon’s mines.

“Now, having found evidence of defensive measures — a sophisticated fortification — we understand what must have been at stake for him in this remote region: copper,” said Dr. Ben-Yosef.

Contact Andrea Cantor at [email protected]

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.