Located near the modern-day Israeli city of Eilat, the Timna copper mines were used first by the ancient Egyptians, and then by the Edomites, to provide the metal that was used for making bronze. A group of Israeli scientists, by analyzing the slag left over from the copper-smelting process, have come upon a new theory about why the mines went into disuse. Nathan Steinmeyer writes:

Nicknamed King Solomon’s Mines, Timna is located in the Arava Valley, twelve miles north of the Gulf of Aqaba and within the most arid region of the entire Negev Desert. Utilized since the Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500-3300 BCE), the Timna mines were one of the most important sources of copper in antiquity. Yet in the 9th century BCE, mining at Timna came to a sudden halt, not to be restarted for nearly 1,000 years.

Although earlier theories as to the halt of copper production focused mainly on outside external factors, such as the 9th-century campaign of [the Aramean king] Hazael into Canaan, a new study by a Tel Aviv University team posits a different idea—that the overexploitation of the already poor Timna ecosystem led to extreme environmental degradation, which in turn made continued mining financially unviable. The ecological effects of this event can still be seen in the area around Timna, where acacia trees and other desert flora are all but absent.

The team found that for much of the 11th through 10th centuries BCE, the main sources of fuel were acacia trees and white broom bushes. Both of these grow throughout the region, and acacia is frequently mentioned as being used by the Israelites during their 40 years wandering in the desert (Exodus 25:10). . . . Yet this mass-scale smelting would have required far greater quantities of acacia and white broom than the area around Timna was capable of producing.

Calling the proposal to depopulate Gaza completely (if temporarily) “unworkable,” Peter Berkowitz makes the case for a similar, but more feasible, plan:

The United States along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE should persuade Egypt by means of generous financial inducements to open the sparsely populated ten-to-fifteen miles of Sinai adjacent to Gaza to Palestinians seeking a fresh start and better life. Egypt would not absorb Gazans and make them citizens but rather move Gaza’s border . . . westward into Sinai. Fences would be erected along the new border. The Israel Defense Force would maintain border security on the Gaza-extension side, Egyptian forces on the other. Egypt might lease the land to the Palestinians for 75 years.

The Sinai option does not involve forced transfer of civilian populations, which the international laws of war bar. As the United States, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and other partners build temporary dwellings and then apartment buildings and towns, they would provide bus service to the Gaza-extension. Palestinian families that choose to make the short trip would receive a key to a new residence and, say, $10,000.

The Sinai option is flawed. . . . Then again, all conventional options for rehabilitating and governing Gaza are terrible.