copper

A malleable, metallic element of reddish brown color. The word “copper” (Lat. cuprum) derives from “Cyprus,” the island renowned in antiquity for its copper industry. The utilization of copper led to the science of metallurgy. According to biblical tradition, the first metallurgist was a figure named Tubal-cain, “the forger of all instruments of bronze [read copper] and iron” (Gen 4:22). “Cain” means “smith” in Hebrew, and the tradition probably derives from the Kenites, a tribe of smiths in the Wadi Arabah region (Gen 15:19; Num 24:21; Judg 1:16). In fact this area, south of the Dead Sea, was and is a principal copper-mining area (Deut 8:9; Job 28:1-5).