Khirbat Nuqayb al-Asaymir

3D Model

Khirbat Nuqayb al-Asaymir (KNA) is a Middle Islamic period (1000-1400 AD) copper smelting site in the Faynan region of southern Jordan. Based on radiocarbon, ceramic, and coin evidence from excavations in five areas, copper was produced at KNA for probably no more than 50 years, in the early 13th century AD, the period of Ayyubid rule in Jordan. The timing of production and small amount of copper produced, resulting in only around 1,000 tons of slag, may indicate a connection to expansion of sugar production in the Dead Sea lowlands.

Photography and Model by Matthew D. Howland.

Further reading: Jones, Ian W. N., et al. 2022. “Islamic Faynan: The Settlement History of a Mining Region in Southern Jordan between the 7th and 19th Centuries AD.” In Studies in the History and Archaeology of Jordan XIV: Culture in Crisis: Flows of Peoples, Artifacts, and Ideas. Fadi Balaawi and Pearce Paul Creasman, eds. Pp. 653-667. Amman: Department of Antiquities of Jordan.