EZION-GEBER — GLUECK 459 



The fuel for firing the refinery was obtained in all probability in 

 the form of charcoal from the wooded hills of Edom.^' Layers of 

 crushed ore were placed between layers of lime in thick pottery 

 crucibles on top of a base of hard-baked, loosely packed clay debris. 

 Piles of charcoal were then packed around and above the crucibles 

 in the open furnace rooms of the refinery, and the rooms fired in 

 successive order at proper intervals of time. In this wise do we 

 reconstruct the method of refining the ores and firing the furnaces. 



In view of the now-established character of the important smelter- 

 refinery of Ezion-geber: Elath, which was used and reused in one 

 form or another throughout practically the entire history of the site, 

 it is possible to understand why the builders of ancient Ezion-geber 

 chose the site they did for the founding of their fortified industrial 

 establishment. They had in mind the needs of the large refinery 

 they were planning to erect. After careful examination they chose 

 the one site in the center of the south end of the WadI el-'Arabah, 

 where the winds blew strong and constantly from an almost unvary- 

 ing direction. They needed a constant draft from a known quarter 

 to fan the flames in the furnaces of the refinery. Without these 

 strong winds, for the sake of which they were willing to endure 

 frequent sandstorms, they could not have erected such a large and 

 elaborate refinery, and would have had to rely completely upon the 

 hand-bellows system in vogue previously. The comfort of better 

 water and a more protected location for the founding of their city 

 was dispensed with by its builders in order to enable them to harness 

 the elements for their industrial purposes. 



Incidentally, the shore line in front of Tell el-Kheleifeh is free of 

 the rocks which make the east and west ends of the north shore 

 dangerous for boats. It was on such rocks, according to I Kings 

 •22 : 49 that the fleet of Jehoshaphat, which he had had constructed 

 in order to sail to Ophir in Arabia for gold, came to grief. Sol- 

 omon's fleet, which made the trip to Ophir and back once every 3 

 years, according to I Kings 10 : 22 and II Chronicles 9 : 21, may have 

 previously experienced a similar fate. The ships of both fleets were 

 probably no larger than the small sailboats in which the fishermen 

 put forth from 'Aqabah today. The requirement in Solomoai's 

 time was not a harbor with a deep draught for ships, but one which 

 had a sandy bottom enabling ships to be dragged on shore. The 

 main anchorage for Solomon's fleet may even have been farther to 

 the east, approximately at the position on the shore line facing 

 Aila, where, as we shall point out, some of the free residents of 

 Ezion-geber : Elath may have tented. Solomon's ships brought back 



" Idem, p. 10 ; Explorations in Eastern Palestine. Ann. Amer. Schools Oriental Ree., 

 vol. 15, pp. 26, 44, 1934-35. 



