Timna Park

Home to the World's First Copper Mines

Taking in the dessert scenery of Timna Park.

Israel may be a small country, but lacking historical and geological parks it is not.  Last weekend (which is Friday and Saturday in Israel) I went to Timna Park in southern Israel to view the historic petroglyphs, climb through ancient copper mines, and hike under and around geologic marvels, after a stop at the visitor's center to watch Hebrew movie dubbed in English about the history of the park that is.  

Did I mention it's hot?  We are hiding in the shade from the +100 degree heat.

Timna (named either for a woman of for a region) is a valley home to the first copper mines.  Originally mined for their beautiful blue hue, the ancestors of this area were the first to discover how to work metal into useful tools.  When Ramesses III heard about the abundance of copper in this area, he sent workers here to gather ore for him.  Hence, within the park archeological remnants can be found of many cultures, although some are better preserved and more accessible than others.

An ancient temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess of copper mining.

An ancient carving of Ramesses III making an offering to the goddess of copper mining.

Me and my compatriots posing in front of the Ramesses III carving.  It is difficult to see in this photo.

The ancient Egyptians seem to need a god or goddess for everything, and copper mining is no exception.  Hathor was the Egyptian goddess of copper miners, and the remnants of her ancient temple in Timna can still be viewed today.  On a ridge above the park, an etching of Ramesses III making an offering to Hathor goddess of copper mines resides in a rock wall.  Petroglyphs made by the copper miners themselves can be observed in other areas of the park, indicated by plaques which describe the content of the scenes.

One of the ancient copper mines visitors can bend over and crawl through in the park.

Climbing up this now exposed ancient copper mine shaft.  Before the landslide that exposed it, it would have been several feet below ground.  Hand and foot holds carved into the shaft by ancient miners make it easy to climb up and down.

Visitors can visit ancient copper mines themselves as well.  Exposed vertical shafts, used by ancient miners to descend into the mines are apparent all over the park, many of which are now exposed due to collapse of the surrounding hillside.  In the area of Timna are still submerged copper mines that visitors can descend into, crawling through on their hands and knees as the miners once did.  Blue-green veins of coper ore still line these mines.

A "mushroom", a product of eolian (wind) erosion on sandstone structures.

Sandstone arches are another product of wind erosion on sandstone cliffs.

The consistent breeze and shade of this arch created a micro climate at least ten degrees cooler than the surrounding area.  It was a nice place to take a break.

Aside from the archeology of the park, magnificent geologic structures are also abundant in the park. Much of the rock in Timna is sandstone, a relic from when the valley was a part of the ocean floor.  Since Timna is in the middle of an extremely dry dessert, the type of erosion that dominates is wind (eolian) erosion.  Wind erosion + sandstone = arches and mushrooms.  Wind erosion generally breaks down the bottom of sandstone structures before the top, which results in arch and mushroom shaped geological formations.

Making my way down a slot canyon hidden behind an arch.

Me and the slot canyon from above.

I really like Timna for another reason, the relatively short trails combine a lot of unique hiking into relatively short bursts.  We often climbed up/down ladders built into the cliffs, squeezed down slot canyons, and saw archeological wonders all within 30 minutes, which was great since about 45 minutes was all we could stand at a time in the intense dessert heat of mid morning.   In all we spent about three hours in Timn Park, which was worth the ~12 USD admission fee.

Outings are always better with friends.

To see more photos and hear what others in my group though about Timna Park Click Here!