Biblical mystery solved as 5,500-year-old factory is discovered in Israel

 

The ruins of an ancient blade factory unearthed in Israel may offer the clearest evidence yet of the Canaanites, a people long described in the Bible. 

 Archaeologists in Kiryat Gat, about 40 miles south of Tel Aviv, uncovered the first-ever Canaanite workshop in the region. The factory contained long flint blades and massive stones used to shape and mold weapons with precision.

Researchers also discovered hundreds of underground pits, some lined with mud bricks, that served as storage areas, dwellings, workshops and even ritual spaces.

The scale and sophistication of the site reveal that the Canaanites had organized settlements, specialized crafts and thriving trade networks.

This glimpse into their daily lives offers a tangible link between the archaeological record and the society described in the Old Testament.

The Bible portrays the Canaanites as the original inhabitants of the Promised Land before the Israelites arrived and conquered the territory.

Experts with the Israel Antiquities Authority said the discovery sheds light on the

beginnings of urbanization and professional specialization in the ancient land.

'The most impressive findings discovered at the site are large flint cores, from which extremely sharp, uniformly shaped blades were produced,' IAA shared in a Facebook post.

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

'The production technology was extremely advanced and included the use of a kind of crane to exert precise pressure on the flint.'

The team noted that this also marked the discovery of a never-before-seen technology during that time period. 

IAA's prehistorians Dr Jacob Vardi said: This is a sophisticated industry, not only because of the tools themselves, but also because of what is not found.

'The waste fragments, the debitage, were not scattered outside the site, perhaps to better protect and preserve the professional knowledge within the group of experts. 

'Today, we understand that this site served as a center, from which Canaanite blades were distributed across broad regions in the Levant.' 

In the Early Bronze Age, humans used tools made from natural raw materials: flint, bone, stone and ceramics. 

However, in this period, the Canaanite blades were the main cutting tools. 

'An advanced industry was revealed at the site, requiring an extremely high level of expertise,' Dr Vardi said.

Only exceptional individuals knew how to produce the Canaanite blades. 

'This is clear evidence that already at the onset of the Bronze Age, the local society here was organized and complex, and had professional specialization.' 

Archaeologists explained that the ancient tools aligned with the material culture of Canaan during Abraham's era, referring to the time period known as the Middle Bronze Age (roughly 2100-1900 BC), when the biblical patriarch Abraham is said to have lived and migrated to Canaan.

Abraham, the revered ancestor of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, is known in the Bible for his unwavering faith in God and the covenant to establish a new nation in the land of Canaan.

Moses, described in Scripture as a descendant of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, later led the Israelites out of Egypt toward the Promised Land that was originally home to the Canaanites.

The Canaanites are mentioned several times in the Old Testament, including the books of Genesis, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Joshua.

In the book of Joshua 3:10, God tells the Israelites that he will drive out the Canaanites before they arrive in the Promised Land.

The Israelites fought a series of wars against the Canaanites and ultimately took over most of their land - this conquest took place in the second half of the 13th century BC.