The Timna Valley (תִּמְנָע, Hebrew pronunciation: [timˈna(ʕ)]) is located in southern Israel in the southwestern Arava/Arabah, approximately 30 kilometres (19 mi) north of the Gulf of Aqaba and the city of Eilat.

[citation needed] Although his hypothesis lacked support and has not been accepted, the name stuck, and the claim gave the valley the attention that helped bring about the excavations and current national park.

[5] In 2013, archaeologists from Tel Aviv University, led by Erez Ben-Yosef, published the results of their excavations at a copper smelting site known as "Slaves' Hill" in the Timna Valley.

[6] Also there is speculation that the mines belonged to the biblical King Solomon who is believed to have lived in the 10th century BCE, during the Iron Age IIA period.

This is seen as evidence by the excavators that the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Jacob and Esau were written or rewritten after this time, seeing that the Biblical books frequently reference travelling with caravans of domesticated camels.

His excavation and restoration of the area allowed for the reconstruction of Timna Valley's long and complex history of copper production, from the Late Neolithic period to the Middle Ages.

[8][13] Renewed archaeological investigations of copper exploitation at Timna began in 2009 when a team from UCSD led by Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef examined smelting camp Site 30.

[15][16] The Central Timna Valley project (also directed by Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University), which began in 2013, continues this previous work and "includes new excavations and surveys designed to address a number of critical issues in the Late Bronze and Iron Age archaeology of the southern Levant.

[17] These include the history of copper production technology and the introduction of iron, historical issues concerning the nature of 13th- to 9th-century BCE desert societies and the impact of the intense copper production on social processes, regional and global political interactions and the economy of the southern Levant at that period.

[18] Research and excavations during the first two seasons focused on smelting camp Site 34 ("The Slaves' Hill", "Giv'at Ha'avadim) and two mining areas in the park.

The team secured dating of major copper production at Site 34 to the early Iron Age (11th–9th centuries BCE) as well, confirming a larger picture of activity during this period.

[19] The team also used optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to date mining activity in the area of the "Merkavot", or "Chariot" rock drawings.

No dateable material culture was found in or around most of the mines, necessitating a new type of research technology to establish dating for each technique.

Earthquake damage caused the temple to be rebuilt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II in the 13th century BCE, with a larger courtyard and more elaborate walls and floors.

The hieroglyphics, sculptures, and jewellery found in the temple totalled several thousand artifacts, have provided a lot of important information for archaeologists.

[26][27] A life-size replica of the biblical tabernacle, a tent that God is said to have instructed Moses to build in order to have a transportable sanctuary during the Exodus from Egypt to the Holy Land, was constructed in the park.