Archaeologists uncover ancient blade factory tied to major group in the Bible: 'Exceptional individuals'

A 5,500-year-old Canaanite blade factory was recently uncovered in Israel - offering a rare link to a major group of people central to the Bible.

The ancient workshop was discovered in Kiryat Gat, a city roughly 40 miles south of Tel Aviv. The workshop is the first of its kind found in southern Israel.  

The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) made the announcement in a Facebook post in late July. 

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"The most impressive findings discovered at the site are large flint cores, from which extremely sharp, uniformly shaped blades were produced," the IAA said.

"The blades themselves were used as knives for cutting and butchering, and as harvesting tools, like sickle blades."

The remnants of the factory were unearthed at the city's Nahal Qomem archaeological site, which contains hundreds of underground pits once used for craft production, storage and other purposes.

Pictures shared by the IAA show long flint blades that were recovered, as well as the large stone cores that were used to produce them. 

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Cores are chunks of raw stone from which blades were struck.

The artifacts will be put on display at the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein National Campus for the Archaeology of Israel in Jerusalem. 

The IAA ties the discovery to the "Canaanite blade industry," referring to an ancient people described in the Bible as inhabiting the region before the Israelites.

Archaeologists say the tools align with the material culture of Canaan during the time of Abraham - and show how sophisticated the industry was.

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"Only exceptional individuals" knew how to craft Canaanite blades, according to the IAA.

The discovery deepens the understanding of craftsmanship in Israel, as well as urbanization during the Bronze Age, the IAA added.

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"This is clear evidence that already at the onset of the Bronze Age, the local society here was organized and complex, and had professional specialization," the organization added.

"The discovery of a sophisticated workshop indicates a society with a complex social and economic structure already at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age."