Timna National Park
Timna National Park is only 20 kilometers north of the southernmost tip of Israel. If you are visiting Eilat in your travels to Israel, there is a good chance you will find yourself here as well. The National park claims to be one of the world's most beautiful places and at first I was sceptical - all parks claim that after all, right? It spreads out west of Route 90 covering a massive 15,000 acres.
The National Park is very easy to find, just look for the confused looking Egyptians on the side of Route 90. Due to its size, unless you are planning on spending a few days here to take on some of the hiking trails, a car is really the only way of exploring the area. Or if you are a nitwit, you could even consider a bicycle, which are available for rent at the administration office. Bicycling and walking, is probably not a good idea in summer as temperatures exceed 45°C. The park requires at least a full day to at least see everything, but we only had 4 hours. We had to buy tickets to enter this time as it is one of the few parks not under the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, to chagrin of many. This park has had much controversy as a result of not being under the umbrella of the main preservation body as they have built a large accommodation center in the middle of the park.
The history of Timna Park has been challenged from time to time, as more evidence is gradually discovered to support a new theory. It is an absolute certainty that the area has had a presence of humans for almost 7,500 years. Copper was the first metal to be mined by humans beginning around 5000BC. The Timna valley has been under the control of the ancient Egyptians, the Edomite Kingdom and the Israelites to name a few. The most current evidence we have is that large scale mining occurred during the reign of King Solomon in the 10th century BC. Solomon commissioned many buildings and temples which required a massive supply of copper. Mining here continued up until 200AD and again briefly in the 7th century during the Arab conquest until the copper ore started to run out. Today it is possible to see green patches of oxidised copper on the surface.
There are hundreds of attractions at Timna and due to our limited time, we had to prioritise which ones we would see. This was a bit more complicated as we had also purchased tickets for a tour of the full scale replica Tabernacle at Timna Lake which was at a set time, right bang in the middle of our visit.
Amazingly, within seconds of entering the park, we finally found our first Nubian Ibex, luckier still to find a male (these sport much larger horns than their sisters). I managed to get a few shots off, before Vinci attempted to coax him over with a few tongue clicks. She must have sounded like a Nubian hunter, because he instantly ran off up the side of a mountain to get as far away from her as possible.
Wherever you look, Timna will provide an interesting view of the very striking red mountains, or sandstone cliffs. In chronological order of our visit...
Spiral Rock
This small mountain lies near the main entrance and is the first distinctive site most people see when entering. As indicated in its name, the rock has a naturally occurring spiral path that winds from the bottom all the way to the top.
Mushroom Rock
There are two so called 'Mushroom' rocks in the park. They are naturally formed over an extremely long time where the bottom portion of the red sandstone erodes faster than the top. This one stands around nine meters in height.
Mushroom Rock v2.0
The second mushroom rock has a much more pronounced mushroom shape. It stands at around 12 meters in height. During some nights, it is used in a light show (as evidenced by the boxes surrounding the base). Between the rudimentary car park and the mushroom rock are the remains of a number of buildings dating back over 3,000 years.
"The Chariots" Cave drawings
Timna has many precious cave drawings etched into the soft stone faces and can be found all over the park. "The Chariots" area contains the highest concentration of these. Some are very large on a sheer cliff face, others are more intricate inside the caves, a few of which were old mining shafts. The photo below shows a scene which was chiseled out of the rock. The lines were then filled with a paint made from pigments from the different coloured sands - either red or grey. This type of cave drawing has only ever been found in this location, which was part of ancient Egypt around 3500 years ago. The subject shows men on chariots pulled by horses and some Ibex hunters. You can see the shape of the two horses, two men and a set of wheels in the lower left hand side of the image.
The Tabernacle
We had a great personalised tour of the Tabernacle. Not because we arranged it this way, but because there were very few visitors in the park in general due to the newly imposed ban on tourists. The guide was excellent and described the purpose of the Tabernacle and the symbolism behind all of the elements of it. God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle as a means for the Israelites to communicate with Him. It was built and designed to be portable for the Israelites during their exile in the wilderness once out of Egypt. The rear room contained the Ark of the Covenant, a gold coated box with a pair of angels on the lid with their wings facing inwards. The ark contained the Ten Commandments, manna and Aaron's Rod. It was lost forever during the destruction and pillaging of the first temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians, however a new covenant was given to us from God through his son, Jesus Christ.
Our friends Sergio & Rhoda have an excellent video on their YouTube channel describing this in great detail (and Timna National Park) which is a highly recommended watch.
Solomon's Pillars
These are superb natural stone towers which stand 40 meters in height. They are made of sandstone and was a part of a cliff face that has eroded along some cracks over time to give the shape it has today. At the foot of Solomon's Pillars, archaeologists have found a temple for the miners dedicated to the Egyptian goddess of Hathor. From an elevated lookout point above the temple, another cave drawing can be seen on the cliff face depicting pharaoh Ramses III making an offering to Hathor.
The Arches and Ancient Mines
The Arches and ancient mines are located in the northeast of the park and would be the final place we would be able to visit before closing time. Like most other landmarks, these arches were formed from erosion in the sandstone over millions of years. The remains of copper mines were found very close by. The public are allowed to enter many of these caves, alas, that will have to wait for next time.
"Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.."
The long drive north was largely unseen as darkness fell long before we reached our overnight stay at Neve Zohar on the coast of the Dead Sea. As we were staying in a very small area, we decided to have dinner at a McDonalds we found on the way, acceptable fare but as usual - very expensive. When we were leaving we found a truck inside the adjacent fuel station with your standard Merkava MkIV battle tank on the back.
Our basic accommodation was rather difficult to locate being a fair walk from the road. It was quite comfortable, but probably felt worse than it was considering the hotel we had arrived from the previous night! There were many cats to keep Vinci entertained and plenty of low flying military jets for me.
Some more photos from around Timna National park can be found below.
An impressive mountain called 'the Crocodile', a reference to its shape as seen from certain angles
Sandstone mountains in the distance and northern edge of Timna
Remains of some 3000 year old buildings. A number of these buildings have been discovered and are all fenced off
A rugged mountain pokes out of an otherwise flat section of land in central Timna National Park
A valley in the Timna national park showing different coloured sands
A view of the mountains in an area known as "The Chariots"
Rock fragments on the side of a small sandstone mountain
Inside one of the large cave entrances to the old copper mines
More of the fascinating rock formations on the northern edge of the park
Animal drawings inside a cave dated back 3300 years
Cave drawing etched out onto the cliff face showing ibex hunters
Old miners caves near the northern cliffs
A hanging rock in the desert
Looking up at Solomon's Pillars
Erosion effects on a large wall of red sand stone
Cliff faces near Solomon's Pillars
A view of more of the rock formations next to Solomon's Pillars
A neck bending view looking up between two of the Solomon's Pillars
The remains of the Egyptian temple dedicated to Hathor for the miners
Continue to Part 15 - click here