Another Ancient Metal-Working Center ALSO in the Araxes Valley!
Another evidence which gives credence to the idea of Noah's family expanding eastward along the Aras (Araxes) River is the fact that the other very early metallurgical center was at Nakhichevan! (PH, p. 54) There is no doubt that the immediate descendants of Noah would be those who had the earliest knowledge of metallurgy and employed it from the beginning.
But Where are All the Early Metal Objects?
Once again, we must understand certain facts in order to view the evidences properly. When ancient settlements are excavated, the archaeologists think that just because they find no metal objects that the people who lived there didn't have metals. But metals were a precious commodity for a very long time, some even today. When people moved, they left their pottery behind because it was easy to make a new batch after they reached their new location and it was too bulky to try to carry on long journeys. This is not to say that they left every single piece- perhaps they used some to carry supplies in, but for the most part, pottery would be the objects left behind, along with other implements made of plentiful materials such as animal bone and obsidian. And these things ARE found in abundance in ancient sites. But metal implements would be considered very valuable and would therefore be carried along when people moved. For that reason, we cannot expect to find metal objects in these early sites. Even if an implement or tool is considered obsolete or new ones are desired, the metal from the old objects could be reshaped into the new items. Therefore, the absence of metal objects in an excavated site- especially these early sites that clearly have been abandoned and not destroyed by invaders- is to be expected. Well over 1,000 years later, when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 586 BC, he collected all the metal objects as spoils of war. (II Kings 25:13-17).
It is the tendency of scholars to try to explain evidences in the light of their own theories (most of which do NOT include the Biblical account). They constantly try to explain "advanced cultures", such as the people who operated the metallurgy site at Metsamor, as having coming into an area from another area. Yet, they must admit certain things which absolutely point to the fact that the people in the region of eastern and northeastern Anatolia didn't come from anywhere else; NEITHER did they receive their advanced knowledge from any foreign influence! (PH, p. 47). Well, actually some of them DID come from somewhere else, but it may as well have been another planet because the pre-flood world that was their original home was completely destroyed. For all practical purposes, mankind began again there; Noah's descendants were BORN there; their advanced knowledge came from Noah and his sons who brought it from the pre-flood world. And from this region, mankind spread across the face of the earth. Evidences indicates that this Araxes Valley is the "original home from which this culture subsequently expanded in all directions." (PH, p. 44.)
