Mine

Mining for metals and precious stones was practiced in the ancient Near East from prehistoric times, and several biblical passages attest to its familiarity in Israel. Job 28:1–11 contains the Bible's most extended treatment of mining — a poetic passage describing the miner's heroic descent into the earth to extract silver, gold, iron, and copper from darkness and rock. The passage uses the marvel of mining technology as a foil for the claim that wisdom cannot be found by human effort: But where can wisdom be found? (Job 28:12).

The Arabah region south of the Dead Sea was known for copper deposits (Deuteronomy 8:9 speaks of a land whose hills you can dig copper). The mines of Sinai (turquoise, copper), Egypt's gold mines in Nubia, and the iron mines of the Syrian steppe all feature in the broader ancient Near Eastern context of Israel's material culture.