King Solomon's copper-and-gold palaces 'may have existed'

Amman, Nov 25 (ANI): A UCSD professor of anthropology has uncovered evidence that suggests that King Solomon's splendid, copper- and gold-adorned palaces - as described in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) - may very well have existed.

Thomas Levy has pioneered three highly sophisticated digging excavations in an area called Khirbat en-Nahas, located in southern Jordan.

Levy found thousands of tons of slag, a by-product of smelting ore, and different types of blowpipes in Jordan. Using the process of radiocarbon dating, his team discovered there was industrial-scale metal production of copper precisely in 10th century BC.

"It would have been like the Pittsburg of Palestine," SDNews.com quoted Levy as saying.

There are two sides to the King Solomon debate, he said. First, there are those who "minimize the historicity of the Old Testament, saying there was no Solomon because during the 10th century there were no societies capable of creating a kingdom, only petty nomads."

On the other side, there are those who maximize the content of the Old Testament, he said.

"We don't have proof that we have found Solomon's mines, but what we have proof of is that there were kingdoms in the 10th century," said Levy.

"I think he existed." (ANI)