One of the major debates in the study of biblical archaeology is whether a single king ever reigned over ancient Israel in the 11th through 10th centuries BCE. According to the Bible, Kings Saul, David, and Solomon did just that; their kingdom split in two after Solomon’s death. While there is extensive corroborating evidence for these two successor monarchies, it has been impossible to prove or to disprove the existence of the original united monarchy. Excavations of the ancient copper mine in Timna, near Israel’s border with Jordan, presents some new evidence. Phillippe Bohstrom writes:

Until the collapse of Mediterranean civilizations in 1200 BCE, Cyprus had been the main regional source of copper. After the collapse, the mines in the eastern Negev came to the fore. . . . If David and Solomon were historical figures, they would have wanted to control [these] mines. . . . The sheer scale of copper production at Timna and [nearby] Faynan would have required the support of a major polity, scholars . . . agree.

For one thing, the mines needed external assistance. Separating copper from ore required maintaining charcoal fires at about 1,200 degrees Celsius for eight-to-ten hours (using blowpipes and foot bellows). No food was available in the barren reaches of the desert where the mines were: there had to be a procurement and import system, as well as one for wood to make the charcoal. Supplies would have traveled as much as hundreds of kilometers. . . . Supporting Timna’s massive mining operations, therefore, required long-distance trade, or in other words, complex economic activity involving a bureaucratic apparatus.

Archaeologists have indeed found evidence of imports from afar (and cloth) dating to the time of David and Solomon. Next to five-meter-high fortification walls, the archaeologists found slingstones, a variety of seeds, fish bones, and donkey bones and dung preserved well enough to be analyzed: it shows the draught animals at Timna ate hay and pomace, the pulp from pressing grapes, olives, and suchlike, imported from the Mediterranean coast, more than 200 km away. . . .

Not one single shard of Egyptian pottery has been found associated with the 10th-century BCE copper operations, [suggesting that it is unlikely the mines belonged to the pharaohs, as some as hypothesized]. Moreover, in the early 10th century, the great Egyptian civilization was in decline, together with most of the rest of the Levantine empires.

On Tuesday, a Hizballah drone attack injured three people in northern Israel. The next day, another attack, targeting an IDF base, injured eighteen people, six of them seriously, in Arab al-Amshe, also in the north. This second attack involved the simultaneous use of drones carrying explosives and guided antitank missiles. In both cases, the defensive systems that performed so successfully last weekend failed to stop the drones and missiles. Ron Ben-Yishai has a straightforward explanation as to why: the Lebanon-backed terrorist group is getting better at evading Israel defenses. He explains the three basis systems used to pilot these unmanned aircraft, and their practical effects:

These systems allow drones to act similarly to fighter jets, using “dead zones”—areas not visible to radar or other optical detection—to approach targets. They fly low initially, then ascend just before crashing and detonating on the target. The terrain of southern Lebanon is particularly conducive to such attacks.

But this requires skills that the terror group has honed over months of fighting against Israel. The latest attacks involved a large drone capable of carrying over 50 kg (110 lbs.) of explosives. The terrorists have likely analyzed Israel’s alert and interception systems, recognizing that shooting down their drones requires early detection to allow sufficient time for launching interceptors.

The IDF tries to detect any incoming drones on its radar, as it had done prior to the war. Despite Hizballah’s learning curve, the IDF’s technological edge offers an advantage. However, the military must recognize that any measure it takes is quickly observed and analyzed, and even the most effective defenses can be incomplete. The terrain near the Lebanon-Israel border continues to pose a challenge, necessitating technological solutions and significant financial investment.