Geological and Archaeological Park at Timna

Cambrian sandstone exposures at Timna Park, southern Israel.

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL — Our last stop on our shabbat trip today was at Timna Park north of Eilat, Israel.  Here we saw a combination of geology and archaeology.  The porous sandstones exposed in the cliffs have been mineralized along fault and joint planes by a green copper ore.  The world’s oldest underground copper mines, dating back 6000 years, are here, along with hundreds of more “modern” mines hand-dug by Egyptians between the 14th and 12th centuries BCE.  The sandstone itself is rich with geological information, including cross-bedding, channels, and a very prominent honeycomb weathering.

Micah Risacher and Andrew Retzler at Timna Park.

Micah and Andrew are well protected in this complicated part of the world! No worries.

Blogger’s note: We have only limited internet access on this trip, so we may not be answering our personal email very often.  I send these posts in pre-written bursts when we get some internet time.

About Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson is a Professor of Geology at The College of Wooster. He specializes in invertebrate paleontology, carbonate sedimentology, and stratigraphy. He also is an expert on pseudoscience, especially creationism.
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2 Responses to Geological and Archaeological Park at Timna

  1. Elyssa Krivicich says:

    Nice pictures. Did you take them into the mines? I still remember crawling into one of the holes.

  2. Mark Wilson says:

    Hi Elyssa! Too hot for an extended stay this time. We loved the views, though!

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