0 thoughts on “Discovered: “Vast Copper Mine” in Jordan”
You know, it’s interesting how this story is being spun in different news outlets. I read one story where the writers claimed this find cast doubt on the Bible, because (they said) the Bible said Solomon’s mines produced gold and jewels, while these were only copper mines. (I’m not sure that’s true. I find that the phrase “King Solomon’s mines” doesn’t actually appear in Scripture. But it seems to me that the fact that he had copper mines doesn’t mean he couldn’t have other kinds of mines too.)
Other news reports point out that many scholars have openly doubted Solomon’s very existence for years, and that these finds seem to add to the weight of proof of his existence.
They doubted Solomon’s existence? I didn’t know that. Did they doubt David and Saul’s existence too? I remember that the find of a tablet with David’s name on it was the first extrabiblical evidence of his reign, but I didn’t hear that anyone thought he hadn’t really lived.
Yes. Currently a number of prominent historians believe that the whole Saul-David-Solomon epic (and even more its Abrahamic and Mosaic antecedents) is just a national myth, a story later Jews made up to explain their origins and justify their political and military ambitions.
You know, it’s interesting how this story is being spun in different news outlets. I read one story where the writers claimed this find cast doubt on the Bible, because (they said) the Bible said Solomon’s mines produced gold and jewels, while these were only copper mines. (I’m not sure that’s true. I find that the phrase “King Solomon’s mines” doesn’t actually appear in Scripture. But it seems to me that the fact that he had copper mines doesn’t mean he couldn’t have other kinds of mines too.)
Other news reports point out that many scholars have openly doubted Solomon’s very existence for years, and that these finds seem to add to the weight of proof of his existence.
They doubted Solomon’s existence? I didn’t know that. Did they doubt David and Saul’s existence too? I remember that the find of a tablet with David’s name on it was the first extrabiblical evidence of his reign, but I didn’t hear that anyone thought he hadn’t really lived.
Yes. Currently a number of prominent historians believe that the whole Saul-David-Solomon epic (and even more its Abrahamic and Mosaic antecedents) is just a national myth, a story later Jews made up to explain their origins and justify their political and military ambitions.
Here’s a link to a brand new story that touches on the same issue.