Ancient technology and punctuated change: Detecting the emergence of the Edomite Kingdom in the Southern Levant

Abstract

While the punctuated equilibrium model has been employed in paleontological and archaeological research, it has rarely been applied for technological and social evolution in the Holocene. Using metallurgical technologies from the Wadi Arabah (Jordan/Israel) as a case study, we demonstrate a gradual technological development (13th-10th c. BCE) followed by a human agency-triggered punctuated “leap” (late-10th c. BCE) simultaneously across the entire region (an area of ~2000 km2). Here, we present an unparalleled, diachronic archaeometallurgical dataset focusing on elemental analysis of dozens of well-dated slag samples. Based on the results, we suggest punctuated equilibrium provides an innovative theoretical model for exploring ancient technological changes in relation to larger sociopolitical conditions—in the case at hand the emergence of biblical Edom–, exemplifying its potential for more general cross-cultural applications.

Up the Wadi: Development of an Iron Age Industrial Landscape in Faynan, Jordan

“…This understanding is further supported by the excavations and stratigraphy in Areas B and C, where crushed slag is only directly associated with the earliest occupation of the site. There is also substantial evidence for the gradual improvement of copper production over the course of habitation at KAJ and in Faynan more generally (Ben-Yosef et al 2019;Liss and Levy 2015). Given the site seems to have been abandoned, it is also possible the inhabitants simply did not reach the crushing step for some of the slag prior to leaving KAJ.…”

“…The 10th-9th centuries B.C. are associated with a more intensive phase of production, evidenced by a new archaeometallurgical assemblage including larger tuyères and tap slags (Ben-Yosef et al 2019;Ben-Yosef 2010;. However, KEN is only one component of the Iron Age industry in Faynan.…”

“…These excavations also contextualized KAJ in the development of metallurgy in the Wadi Arabah more generally. Recent research suggests Faynan was potentially one component of a larger metallurgical and sociopolitical system that encompassed the entire Arabah valley, particularly, both Faynan and Timna (Ben-Yosef et al 2019). The trajectory of this system during the Late Bronze and Iron Ages was detailed and divided into four developmental phases (Phases 0-3) by Ben-Yosef and colleagues (2019, fig.…”

“…assemblages and trends in technological changes between Timna and Faynan suggest they were now part of a unified political entity, potentially the Edomites (for detailed discussions, see Ben-Yosef 2010;Ben-Yosef et al 2019, 8-12). Phase 2 is identified by the introduction of defensive elements and abandonment of unprotected smelting sites in both regions at roughly the beginning of the 1st millennium B.C., and Phase 3 (beginning approximately around 925 B.C., following the campaign of Sheshonq I) is associated with major reorganizations of metal production, a new archaeometallurgical assemblage, and an improved efficiency in smelting (Ben-Yosef et al 2019). Following this schema and the excavation results, KAJ is associated with production Phases 1 and 2 in the Wadi Arabah: the beginnings of copper production in Faynan and its development in the Early Iron Age.…”

Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel)

“…The site was tightly dated to the late 11 th –first half of the 10 th century BCE (early Iron Age) based on the results of excavations in several areas. These include a dozen of radiocarbon dates from short-lived materials (mostly date seeds [ 64 ]), the study of pottery typology [ 65 ] and other considerations [ 66 ]. In addition, as part of the current study we sent a fragment from one of the dyed items (no.…”