Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

METALS, METALWORKING

Jabal Hamrat Fidan (Site 120, Area C), a Pre-pottery Neolithic settlement involved in the procurement
and exchange of copper ore and gateway to the Faynan district of southern Jordan, largest
source of copper ore in the southern Levantine mainland (Jabal Hamrat Fidan project)

Elements having a shiny luster that may be shaped to form tools and weapons. Stable metals such as gold and copper occur in a pure or native state. These metals were the earliest to be widely exploited. Most are chemically reactive and are found combined with nonmetals such as oxygen and sulfur in stable rock ores. The acquisition and shaping of metals was a complicated process which required determination and technical expertise. Metals were thus valuable in antiquity. OT lists identify known metals in descending order of their value as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead.

Gold is the first and most precious metal mentioned in the Bible (Gen. 2:11-12). Its distinctive luster which does not tarnish, together with its great malleability, contributed to its use in the decoration of ceremonial items (Exod. 25) and jewelry (Gen. 24:22; Exod. 28:22). Gold is easily melted, but it was rarely cast in molds because of its scarcity and subsequent value (Exod. 32:4). Typically gold was hammered out into a thin foil between layers of leather and impressed upon surfaces of base metal or wood which subsequently glittered as in the case of the interior walls and carvings of Solomon’s temple (1 Kgs. 6:20-36).

Silver has long been valued for its reflective luster and used as a medium of exchange. Abraham purchased land in Machpelah for a weight of 400 shekels of silver (Gen. 23:14-16) long before silver was minted into coinage (Matt. 26:15). Silver was raised to form drinking vessels and other utilitarian objects used by the wealthy (Gen. 44:2) and was cast or hammered over base materials in the manufacture and decoration of idols (Judg. 17:1-4; Acts 19:24).

Copper is a ductile metal which was early utilized by metallurgists. Available in the Levant (Deut. 8:9), it was used mainly for decorative work and containers until tougher cuprous alloys like arsenical copper and bronze were developed. Copper alloys were used by the Israelites in sacred construction (Exod. 27:2-19; 1 Kgs. 7:15), for weaponry (2 Chr. 12:10), and a variety of tools. The Israelites used copper objects as a means of exchange (Ezek. 27:13), and eventually copper became the metal of small coinage (Mark 12:42).

Iron is a utilitarian metal commonly found in Canaan (Deut. 8:9). This metal was known prior to its extensive utilization in the period of the Israelite monarchy. Iron supplanted bronze when the refining process was improved along with the product. The Israelites employed iron tools in masonry (Deut. 27:5; 1 Kgs. 7:9), carpentry (2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 22:3), agronomy (1 Sam. 13:20), and weaponry.

Tin is rarely mentioned in the Bible. It was generally imported to the Levant, where its primary importance was as an alloy in the manufacture of bronze. While used with copper, and not readily available from local sources, it was listed after iron as a part of the Israelite plunder in the Transjordan (Num. 31:22) and a commodity for which the Israelites traded (Ezek. 27:12).

Lead is a dense but soft grey metal. Its weight was a positive attribute that led to its use in sinkers for fishing nets (Exod. 15:10) and as weights (Zech. 5:7). The softness of the metal also made it a possible writing surface for permanent documents (Job 19:24). Its low melting point made it a useful flux in the refinement of silver and a cheap component incorporated in alloys used for coins and cutlery.

Metalworking and metalworkers were not uniformly held in high regard among the Israelites, and certainly not as highly as they were held by other peoples. Those who worked in nonferrous metals and made finely finished products were held in renown (1 Kgs. 7:13; Exod. 31:2-6). The working conditions of those who processed ore and hammered hot metal were not glamorous (Isa. 44:12). The Israelites recognized that all smiths were mere mortals (Isa. 54:16). Writers of OT history and ancient generals recognized metallurgy as a strategic craft producing necessary tools and weapons (1 Sam. 13:19; 2 Kgs. 24:14; Jer. 24:1). Israelite prophets castigated metalworkers who formed hapless idols (Jer. 10:9, 14; Isa. 40:19; 41:7; 46:6-7) but also depicted God as a metalworker who shaped and refined his people through their national experience (2 Kgs. 24:14). Metalworking is depicted in the Bible as being formatively shaped by Tubal-cain (Gen. 4:22).

Archaeologists find metalworking to provide a crude chronometer as the prominent utilitarian metals proceeded from copper, to bronze, to iron with the development of metallurgical technology. The utilization of native metals for ornamentation is artifactually evidenced as early as the 8th millennium and throughout the Neolithic period when most tools were made of hard stones. Metal tools supplanted lithics as they possessed superior qualities to stone. The acquisition of metals required the location and collection of metal-rich ores. Ore was then crushed, ground to a powder, and heated to extract the metal. Pyrotechnology was important in the extraction process which is the initial task of metalworkers. Simple fires were hot enough to melt gold and for the sintering of copper. Bowl-shaped, clay-lined furnaces with air forced through blow pipes facilitated the smelting of copper in the Early Bronze period. The molten copper could be separated from the lighter nonmetallic slag which floated above it. In the Late Bronze period shaft furnaces with bellows forcing a draught were developed which were hotter and produced larger quantities of copper. In these furnaces the molten slag could be drained off. In the Iron Age the use of charcoal was important, in that it created heat and carbon monoxide, making a reducing atmosphere which helped to purify iron. These furnaces were not hot enough to liquefy iron, but they were hot enough to melt away impurities and produce iron blooms. After basic extraction processes, furnaces were still important in the refinement of metals. At times, materials such as iron oxide in copper production and lead oxide in silver production would be added to act as a flux, drawing impurities from molten metals. Refined metals were at times alloyed to produce items which required metals of certain characteristics either in manufacture or in the final products. Bronze, a mixture of copper and tin, e.g., is superior in casting and produces a tougher product. Gold mixed with silver produces a tougher but cheaper product.

The physical shaping of metal is the second part of metallurgy. Initially techniques included cold hammering, grinding, and polishing. From ingots of ductile metals containers could be raised by hammering and plate metal could be formed which could be decorated in repoussé. In addition to chasing designs on surfaces, they could also be burnished with hard, smooth stones. On complex vessels decorative spouts and handles were put in place either by rivets or soldering with a softer metal alloy. Casting of liquefied metals was an option known in the 4th millennium. Simple open molds cut into stone or shaped in clay allowed for the mass production of objects like bronze axe heads. The lost wax method of casting and core casting of large objects made possible the manufacture of metal objects of complex shape with an economy of work and valuable metal. In the working of refined metals, heat continued to be important in annealing, welding, shaping, and tempering metals. In the development of both the extraction of metals and its physical manipulation the ingenuity of peoples from the past is exhibited.

Robert W. Smith

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

METALS, METALWORKING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)