His field was paleomagnetism, the investigation of changes in the earth’s magnetic field over time, and specifically the mysterious “spike” of the tenth century B.C., when magnetism leapt higher than at any time in history for reasons that are not entirely understood. It was the kind of place unimportant enough to be entrusted to someone with fresh credentials and no experience leading a dig.Īt the time, Ben-Yosef wasn’t interested in the Bible. It wasn’t the Jerusalem of Jesus, or the famous citadel of Masada, where Jewish rebels committed suicide rather than surrender to Rome. The site wasn’t on Israel’s archaeological A-list, or even its B-list. When the Israeli archaeologist Erez Ben-Yosef arrived at the ancient copper mines of Timna, in 2009, he was 30 years old. Egyptian temple at the base of the cliffs upended historians’ understanding of the site. This article is a selection from the December issue of Smithsonian magazine BuyĪ rock formation known as Solomon’s Pillars. Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine now for just $12
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