Page 27 - Discover Israel Magazine - UK edition 2019

The Mushroom
trip to the desert
Yoni Shtern
Timna Park, located near Eilat and
its new airport, is most commonly vegetation aids in ensuring their stabilisation.
known for Solomon's Pillars and
The Mushroom (a red sandstone
rock formation). The park has many hiking
trails, which integrate scenic views and
rugged sandstone, along with magnificent
dunes where many children joyfully run and
play, as well as a history of ancient copper
production from the biblical era of King
Judah's reign.
It’s a short drive from Eilat to the park – 20
minutes north of the city on Route 90 and
you are in the heart of nature, surrounded by
tall mountains and impressive Acacia trees.
The park offers a variety of excursions and
entertainment – walking trails, bike paths,
panoramic views, a fantastic restaurant
overlooking the lake, and extreme sports
such as mountain climbing and rappelling.
Coloured sandstones, created by millions
of years of erosion, have been exposed in
the Timna Valley. The dunes leading down
from the mountains, which surround the
Timna Park, Arava region
valley, create landscape forms, and desert
Timna is the ideal place for a coffee break and
a silent, quality retreat within the breathtaking carbon chemistry dating, which confirmed the
desert.
Archaeology and history lovers will enjoy
returning to Timna thanks to the new
archaeological discoveries made there. The
excavation mission of Tel Aviv University,
which was sent to Timna, works on site to
execute research, excavation and scientific
testing. In past years, researchers have been
working on a site known as "The Slave Hill".
This site was surveyed and researched during
the 1850s by researchers who determined
that the area was ruled by ancient Egyptians
during 12-14 BCE. In conjunction with this
finding, Timna was introduced to travellers as
an Egyptian site with Egyptian temples, cults
and industry.
New findings from the Tel Aviv University
research mission recorded archaeological
layers dating precisely to Solomon and
David's reign during 10 BCE. They included
fabrics, which were preserved due to the
dryness of the desert, as well as date and
olive pits. They were tested using advanced
claim that the hundreds of kilns and copper
mining sites of Timna date back to the reign of
David and Solomon, rather than the Ancient
Egyptian rule over Timna and Arava.
"The Slaves’ Hill" is located in close proximity
to the Solomon Pillars, and in walking distance
from most of the popular tourist attractions in
the park. On the hill, there is an ancient path
leading to a gate house structure. It seems
that this hill was used over 3,000 years ago
as the administrative centre of Timna and a
security force was put in place by the central
government of Jerusalem in order to oversee
mining and copper production.
The copper production process is
undoubtedly complex. Firstly, the ancient
peoples needed to determine which layers
of sandstone had a significant concentration
of copper mineral deposits. The next step
required cutting narrow shafts into the ground
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