Ancient 5,500 year old factory 'confirms key part of the Bible'

An ancient 5,500-year-old factory has been discovered, confirming a key part of what is mentioned in the Bible.

In Israel, about 40 miles south of Tel Aviv, a factory where they used to make blades which dates back 5,500 years has been uncovered.

According to the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), the Canaanite workshop was discovered at the Nahal Qomem archaeological site near Kiryat Gat in July.

“The most impressive findings discovered at the site are large flint cores, from which extremely sharp, uniformly shaped blades were produced,” the IAA said.

“The blades themselves were used as knives for cutting and butchering, and as harvesting tools, like sickle blades.”

Among the remains of the factory were hundreds of underground pits and large stones that were used in the shaping and moulding of the stoneware to create weapons.

They also found long flint blades and flint cores from which the blades were produced. Some of the artefacts are going to be displayed at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem.

Flint bladesIAA

The Canaanites were described in the Bible as people who lived in the area before the Israelites. The discovery is believed to be linked to the “Canaanite blade industry”.

Archaeologists believe the tools line up with the Canaan’s material culture in the Abrahamic period and show how advanced the technology was for the time.

Discovery of a pitIAA

According to excavation directors, Dr. Martin David Pasternak, Shira Lifshitz and Dr. Nathan Ben-Ari: ”Although evidence of the Canaanite blade industry has been discovered in the country’s center and north, there are almost no known workshops for their systematic production.

“The discovery of a sophisticated workshop indicates a society with a complex social and economic structure already at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.”

Flint coreIAA

The IAA claims “only exceptional individuals” would have had the skills to create the blades.

“This is clear evidence that already at the onset of the Bronze Age, the local society here was organised and complex, and had professional specialisation,” said the organisation.

“The discovery of a sophisticated workshop indicates a society with a complex social and economic structure already at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.”

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