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PUNON
Town identified with the modern Feinan, lying on the eastern side of the Arabah in the hill country of Edom. Punon lay conveniently on the road from Edom through the Negev to Egypt. It enjoyed an abundant supply of water and the presence of copper. Punon became an ancient smelting center of copper (c. 2000 BC), which was mined in the vicinity or was imported to Punon. When the Israelites passed by Punon on their way into Transjordan (Nm 33:42-43), Punon was at a low point in her industrial history. Remains of slag heaps abound in the vicinity. Archaeological evidence indicates that Punon was an extensive settlement at the time of the patriarchs (middle Bronze Age) and that after a period of 500 years of no settled occupation it was resettled around 1300 BC. The mining and smelting operations lasted until 700 BC and were then renewed in the age of the Nabateans. Eusebius reports that Christians worked in the mines along with criminals at Punon. In the Byzantine period the Christians built a basilica and monastery here. An inscription bearing the name of Bishop Theodore (c. 587 BC) was found in the monastery.