Area M, Khirbat en-Nahas

3D Model

This 3D model depicts an archaeological excavation into a slag mound at Khirbat en-Nahas, an ancient copper smelting site in Faynan, Jordan. Slag is the waste by-product from producing metal, and in antiquity, it was often piled on the perimeters of smelting sites. This slag mound was excavated in 2002 and 2006 by the Edom Lowlands Regional Archaeology Project. Based on radiocarbon dates, it was dated to the Iron Age, ca. 1200-800 BCE. The slag provides a critical record of the scale and intensity of copper production during this time period and continues to be the focus of archaeological analysis.

Photography by Thomas E. Levy. Model produced by Brady Liss, Matthew Howland, and Anthony Tamberino.

Further Reading: Ben-Yosef E, et al. (2019) Ancient technology and punctuated change: Detecting the emergence of the Edomite Kingdom in the Southern Levant. PLoS ONE 14(9): e0221967.