Ancient Innovators: The First Bedouin, Blacksmith, and Musician, according to the Hebrew Bible
Innovators in the Book of Genesis: Yaval, Yuval, and Tuval-Cain
Wiktionary defines the word “innovate”, sense #2
To introduce something new to a particular environment; to do something new
ותלד עדה את־יבל הוא היה אבי ישב אהל ומקנה
Adah bore Yaval; he was the ancestor of those who dwell in tents and amidst herds.
ושם אחיו יובל הוא היה אבי כל־תפש כנור ועוגב
And the name of his brother was Yuval; he was the ancestor of all who play the lyre and the pipe.
וצלה גם־הוא ילדה את־תובל קין, לטש כל־חרש נחשת וברזל [...]
As for Tzillah, she bore Tuval-cain, who forged all implements of copper and iron [...]
Bedouin - Tents and Livestock
Yaval - יבל
Genesis 4:20:
אבי יושב אהל ומקנה
“ the ancestor of all who live in tents and raise livestock”
Interpretations (Jabal (Bible) - Wikipedia):
the "pioneer of all livestock and agricultural technology" as well as the "pioneer of all architecture."
the first "dweller with herds." That is, he was the "father of the Bedouin lifestyle."
A form of tent called a teepee or tipi, noted for its cone shape and peak smoke hole, was also used by Native American tribes and Aboriginal Canadians of the Plains Indians since ancient times, variously estimated from 10,000 to 4,000 years BC.
Tents were used at least as far back as the early Iron Age (=~1200 BCE). They are mentioned in the Bible; for example, in Genesis 4:20 Jabal is described as "the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats".
“Historically, the Bedouin engaged in nomadic herding, agriculture and sometimes fishing in the Syrian steppe since 6000 BCE. By about 850 BCE, a complex network of settlements and camps was established. The earliest Arab tribes emerged from Bedouins.”
Musician - Musical Instruments
Yuval - יובל
Genesis 4:21:
אבי כל תפש כנור ועוגב
“The music of prehistoric cultures is first firmly dated to c. 40,000 BP of the Upper Paleolithic by evidence of bone flutes, though it remains unclear whether or not the actual origins lie in the earlier Middle Paleolithic period (300,000 to 50,000 BP). “
Blacksmith - Bronze and Iron Tools
Tuval-Cain - תובל קין
Genesis 4:22:
לטש כל חרש נחשת וברזל
Interpretations (Tubal-cain - Wikipedia):
“ the first blacksmith. He is stated as the "forger of all instruments of bronze[/copper] and iron"”
“Western Asia and the Near East were the first regions to enter the Bronze Age, which began with the rise of the Mesopotamian civilization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC.”
Archaeology of Israel - Wikipedia:
“The Iron Age in the Levant begins in about 1200 BCE, following the Late Bronze Age Collapse, when iron tools came into use.”
Cf. Naama Yahalom-Mack, “The History of Iron in Ancient Israel”, at TheTorah.com:
“In the Bible, Tubal-cain is the inventor [of] metallurgy, the Canaanites fight with iron chariots, and the Philistines control iron usage. What does archaeology tell us about when and how iron was introduced into the Levant?”
And ibid.:
“Six metals were commonly used in the Bronze and Iron ages. All of these are mentioned in the story of Israel’s war against the Midianites in Numbers. After the Israelites win the war, they take a large amount of booty, including metals, which need to be purified:”
She then cites Numbers 31:21-23 (bolding mine):
ויאמר אלעזר הכהן אל־אנשי הצבא הבאים למלחמה זאת חקת התורה אשר־צוה יהוה את־משה
Eleazar the priest said to the troops who had taken part in the fighting, “This is the ritual law that YHWH has enjoined upon Moses:
אך את־הזהב ואת־הכסף את־הנחשת את־הברזל את־הבדיל ואת־העפרת
Gold and silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead—
כל־דבר אשר־יבא באש תעבירו באש וטהר אך במי נדה יתחטא וכל אשר לא־יבא באש תעבירו במים
any article that can withstand fire—these you shall pass through fire and they shall be pure, except that they must be purified with water of lustration; and anything that cannot withstand fire you must pass through water.
Also ibid.:
“Note that in Biblical Hebrew, the word neḥoshet (נחשת) can mean either copper or bronze, making it difficult to know which is intended without further contextual clues.”
Ibid::
“Following a long period of use of copper in its native form, copper smelting was discovered and practiced by the 5th millennium B.C.E., over wide geographical areas, from Iran to Iberia. By the 4th millennium, silver and gold, which occur in minute quantities in lead ores, were being separated from the lead. Beginning in the mid-3rd millennium, tin was added to copper to produce bronze, a metal alloy with qualities superior to unalloyed copper, including increased hardness, lower melting temperatures, and an attractive golden tint.”
Ibid., re iron:
“Very few utilitarian objects made from iron are known from Philistia (and elsewhere in the region) during the 12th–11th centuries B.C.E.”
Ibid.:
“Of the six metals mentioned in Numbers 33, only these two, copper (נחשת) and iron (ברזל), were found in the land of Israel. Gold (זהב) was probably brought from the eastern desert of Egypt, while silver, lead and tin were imported, beginning at the end of the Late Bronze Age (c. 13th century), from the western Mediterranean. Copper was systematically produced in the Arabah (see below), while iron was more ubiquitous.”