1 Kings 7:40

A KIND OF SUMMARY REGARDING THE BRONZE VESSELS

"And Hiram made the lavers, and the shovels, and the basins. So Hiram made an end of doing all the work that he wrought for king Solomon in the house of Jehovah; the two pillars, and the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the two networks to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were on the top of the pillars; and the four hundred pomegranates for the two net-works; two rows of pomegranates for each net-work, to cover the two bowls of the capitals that were upon the pillars; and the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases; and the one sea, and the twelve oxen under the sea; and the pots, and the shovels, and the basins: even all these vessels, which Hiram made for king Solomon, in the house of Jehovah, were of burnished brass. In the plain of the Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay ground between Succoth and Zarethan. And Solomon left all the vessels unweighed, because they were exceeding many: the weight of the brass could not be found out."

"Between Succoth and Zarethan" (1 Kings 7:46). "This was the nearest place to Jerusalem where the clay was proper for molding these mammoth works of bronze. Recent excavations at the site of Succoth, Tell Deir Alla, reveal that it was a center of metallurgy in the kingdom. The amount of bronze work described in this chapter certainly must have taxed the burgeoning metal industry, which Solomon had established south of the Dead Sea."[13]