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Experimental Bloomery Iron Smelting in the Study of Iron Technology in the Southern Levant

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“And in Length of Days Understanding” (Job 12:12)

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

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Abstract

Iron production is often considered one of humankind’s most significant technological advances. While the identification of ironworking remains has improved our understanding of this practice in the early Iron Age in the southern Levant, several major technological and sociopolitical aspects remain unanswered. Particularly significant is the source of the raw material. Several geological iron-rich ore deposits are known in the southern Levant. However, archaeological evidence for exploitation in antiquity derives solely from the Mugharet el-Wardeh ore deposit in modern Jordan. To identify the use of other ore sources, a reliable provenancing method for ferrous metals is required.

This paper describes the use of experimental bloomery iron smelting in order to investigate some of the technological aspects of iron production, particularly the role of raw materials and provenance. A series of systematic smelting experiments were conducted under carefully controlled scientific conditions. Several aims were put forward for the experiments, the main one being to establish a provenancing method for archaeological iron based on osmium isotopic analysis. The experiments were run by professional and experienced iron smelters, utilizing ore deposits from the Negev region in southern Israel in two types of furnaces: the shaft-tap** furnace and the bowl furnace.

I share some of the decisions made while planning and conducting the experiments and their implications for the results obtained. I then summarize several significant contributions of the experiments to interpreting the archaeological record, as gleaned from previous field and analytical observations.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    When joining the European Research Council (ERC) sponsored program entitled “Reconstructing Ancient Israel – The Exact and Life Sciences Perspective” (2009–2014) granted to Israel Finkelstein (Tel Aviv University) and Steve Weiner (Weizmann Institute of Science).

  2. 2.

    This was made possible with the support of the Israel Science Foundation.

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Acknowledgments

This research and the ability to carry out the experiments were made possible by the support of the Israel Science Foundation research grant awarded to the author (grant no.1047/17, titled “Early Iron (Iron Age I-IIA) Smelting in the Southern Levant; Technological Aspects), for which I am sincerely thankful.

I would like to thank Prof. Tom Levy (UCSD) for his initial inspiration and long-distance support over the years, and Dr. Jane Humphris for introducing me to the magnificent Jake Keen and Lee Sauder without whom none of this would have been so productive, fun, and pleasant. Many people contributed to the research and subsequent analysis, in particular Dr. Ivan Stepanov, Dr. Michael Brauns, Dr. Naama Yahalom-Mack, and Vanessa Workman. I am also grateful to Maria Eniukhina and Lina Maria Campos Quintero for their valuable help in sampling, documentation, and photography during experiments, and to Yoav and Tamar Hanan for providing their backyard and iron workshop for the smelting experiments, and for their hospitality during these two seasons. A special and warm-hearted thanks are due to my private blacksmith and enthusiastic partner, Etay Spector, who was there to enjoy the charm of smelting and support me when needed. Thanks also goes to Brady Liss for his valuable comments and suggestions for improvements in this manuscript. Finally, I would like to add a special acknowledgment to my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Naama Yahalom-Mack for walking along with me for more than 20 years in the fields of archaeometallurgy, providing inspiration, endless hours of brainstorming, guidance, and fruitful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Archaeology and the Land of Israel Studies and The Department of Chemical Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

    Adi Eliyahu Behar

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  1. Adi Eliyahu Behar
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Correspondence to Adi Eliyahu Behar .

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  1. Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Cultures, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel

    Erez Ben-Yosef

  2. Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Ian W. N. Jones

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Behar, A.E. (2023). Experimental Bloomery Iron Smelting in the Study of Iron Technology in the Southern Levant. In: Ben-Yosef, E., Jones, I.W.N. (eds) “And in Length of Days Understanding” (Job 12:12). Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-27330-8_61

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