Interesting that this ancient mining site has been added. The correct translation from Hebrew is 'Timna' to differentiate it from 'Timnah' which is a Biblical settlement idntified with the archaeological site Tel Batash in the Sorek Valley in Israel. They both sound the same in English but in Hebrew the spelling is quite different.

Have you been there, Carnkie? I visited the place many years ago, but that was when I was when I was a grungy backpacker with no interest in industrial archaeology! ::)

Plus, this should not be in the Europe forum; Israel is in Asia.

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Thanks for your comments CP. Have made the necessary adjustments although Asia isn't in our list of regions. I've no idea why I put Europe except possibly an excess of the golden liquid and Terry Wogan lurking in the back of my mind. A sure sign of galloping senility.

No unfortunately I haven't been there (the photos are in the public domain). I'm afraid when you get past your sell by date there is a tendency to look back and wish you had taken the opportunity to visit many places when you had the chance; pointless excersise but still. Another place I wish I'd visited, and I did have the opportunity some years ago were the silver mines at Laurion which as you know were of great historical importance.

Robert Horne has a decent web site on ancient Greece and he kindly gave me permission to use some of his material on here but his site is worth a visit.
http://www.rjhorne.com/index.html 

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Don't be daft, Carnkie! You're never too old to do anything, provided you have your health and strength. My partner and I are just back from Morocco which included some trekking in the High Atlas. We were thwarted in our attempts to find a lead mine that was operated by the French until the mid 1990s, by very heavy snow. We plan to return next year to to check out these mines and to climb Jbel Toubkal, but for now he has had to content himself with a Moroccan miners' lamp!!

Getting to Timna is a snitch - it's not that far from Eilat which is now a year round holiday resort and has grown a lot from the days I used to hang out there. I looked through my old photos but I seem not to have taken any pictures at Timna. I then remembered that the weather wasn't too good - it was December and it had rained constantly in Jerusalem and I had headed to Eilat where rain is quite uncommon. It was whilst on my way back up to Masada that I stopped off at Timna, and it rained, hence no piccies!! 😞 It was very atmospheric I do recall, I wish I had been more switched on to industrial archaeology back then. I lived in Israel for several years, but strangely I never went back to Timna.

Thanks for updating the record.

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Well I have slight problems getting up Camborne Hill these days. As a matter of interest are these quarries still accessible. Feel free to point out any errors I may have entered.

http://www.aditnow.co.uk/mines/Solomons-Limestone-Quarry/ 

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As far as I know, the mines are still open - infact I think they have become more touristy since I was there (day trips from Eilat pushed by holiday reps) and might now be a bit kitsch (camel rides, bedouin tent experiences, coloured lighting etc., need I say more?!!).

As for getting up Camborne Hill, I bet you're glad you don't live in Redruth - that hill's exhausting!!! Better not get into the Camborne -Redruth jokes on here though 😉

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You used to be able to visit Zedekiah's Cave and get a fair way into the catacombs (quarries) that run under the Old City which was a great expereince. Anything touching archaeology in Jerusalem, and especially on or around the Temple Mount, is politically charged though, so I'm not sure if you can still get unto the tunnels (it's been 17 years since I lived in Israel; I escaped after sitting out the First Gulf War in a gas mask. Nasty :thumbdown: ).

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I have an idea that you may need the permission of the Israeli Antiquities Authority.

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Yes, maybe. I know that the cave used to draw a lot of disparate groups, from Freemasons who hold annual services in the cave, to people who believe that the Ark of the Covenent is buried somewhere inside ::) Makes we industrial; archaeologists look pretty normal!! But that's Jerusalem for you - a religious pressure cooker!

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You are most certainly right there. This from this web site.

"Before his death in 1999, Biblical Archaeologist Ron Wyatt described an underground passageway that he determined to be that used by Jeremiah the prophet in transporting the Ark of the Covenant to a place of safety during the Babylonian siege. Ron found that the cherub, seen by Ganneau in King Solomon’s quarries, marked its entrance".

http://www.wyattmuseum.com/Zedekiahs%20Cave.htm 

Off topic as usual I once had a book (like an idiot gave it to a friend) written by a Cambridge professor explaing the book of Exodus in scientific terms. The crossing could well have a meteorological explanation. No, I'm not going there.

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