The existence of King Solomon has been a topic of debate and intrigue for countless researchers and treasure-seekers, and an anthropologist at the University of California, San Diego has uncovered evidence suggesting that the ancient king’s splendid, copper- and gold-adorned palaces — as described in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) — may very well have existed. Thomas Levy, a UCSD professor of anthropology and Judaic studies, has pioneered three highly sophisticated digging excavations in an area called Khirbat en-Nahas, located in southern Jordan. His efforts attracted the attention of NOVA/National Geographic Television, which sent a crew to Jordan with him last fall. The resulting documentary about Levy’s findings, “NOVA: Quest for Solomon’s Mines,” aired Nov. 23 on PBS. Levy, also the associate director of the Center of Interdisciplinary Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3), wasn’t looking for King Solomon’s mines at first. He was actually researching the role of ancient technology on the evolution of society. But what he found in Jordan was groundbreaking — thousands of tons of slag, a byproduct of smelting ore, and different types of blowpipes (bellows) used to heat the ore. Using the process of radiocarbon dating, his team discovered there was industrial-scale metal production of copper precisely in 10th century B.C. “It would have been like the Pittsburg of Palestine,” said Levy. There are two sides to the King Solomon debate, he said. First, there are those who “minimize the historicity of the Old Testament, saying there was no Solomon because during the 10th century there were no societies capable of creating a kingdom — only petty nomads.” On the other side, there are those who maximize the content of the Old Testament, he said. “We don’t have proof that we have found Solomon’s mines, but what we have proof of is that there were kingdoms in 10th century,” said Levy. “I think he existed.” Levy has been digging in the remote area of Jordan since 2002 with a Jordanian colleague, Mohammad Najjar, and National Geographic found out about his work in 2008 when he published an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal. “They got really excited about the work, and when they contacted me, I said, ‘If you want to do the story you have to come out to Jordan and fund our work so we can finish the expedition,’” said Levy. “I told them there’s no hotels out there; you have to live in a tent with us.” Levy said his crew of about 40 graduate and undergraduate students recreate the CISA3 lab in the middle of the desert, which they drive to every morning at 5 a.m. in four-wheel-drive vehicles. They generally stay abroad for two and a half months. Students get class credit for the adventure, said Levy, adding that “it’s well deserved.”