Punon

A wilderness encampment of the Israelites between Mount Hor and Oboth, on the desert route around Edom (Numbers 33:42-43). It is identified with the major copper-mining region of the Arabah valley. The location appears only in the itinerary list and corresponds to one of the longest sustained copper-smelting operations of the ancient Near East — making it likely that Israel passed by or through a working industrial-scale mining region during the wilderness wanderings.