The study of silver, which was an important mean of currency in the Southern Levant during the Bronze and Iron Age periods (~1950–586 BCE), revealed an unusual phenomenon. Silver hoards from a specific, yet rather long timespan, ~1200–950 BCE, contained mostly silver alloyed with copper. This alloying phenomenon is considered here for the first time, also with respect to previous attempts to provenance the silver using lead isotopes. Eight hoards were studied, from which 86 items were subjected to chemical and isotopic analysis. This is, by far, the largest dataset of sampled silver from this timespan in the Near East. Results show the alloys, despite their silvery sheen, contained high percentages of Cu, reaching up to 80% of the alloy. The Ag–Cu alloys retained a silvery tint using two methods, either by using an enriched silver surface to conceal a copper core, or by adding arsenic and antimony to the alloy. For the question of provenance, we applied a mixing model which simulates the contribution of up to three end members to the isotopic composition of the studied samples. The model demonstrates that for most samples, the more likely combination is that they are alloys of silver from Aegean-Anatolian ores, Pb-poor copper, and Pb-rich copper from local copper mines in the Arabah valley (Timna and Faynan). Another, previously suggested possibility, namely that a significant part of the silver originated from the West Mediterranean, cannot be validated analytically. Contextualizing these results, we suggest that the Bronze Age collapse around the Mediterranean led to the termination of silver supply from the Aegean to the Levant in the beginning of the 12th century BCE, causing a shortage of silver. The local administrations initiated sophisticated devaluation methods to compensate for the lack of silver – a suspected forgery. It is further suggested that following the Egyptian withdrawal from Canaan around the mid-12th century BCE, Cu–Ag alloying continued, with the use of copper from Faynan instead of Timna. The revival of long-distance silver trade is evident only in the Iron Age IIA (starting ~950 BCE), when silver was no longer alloyed with copper, and was imported from Anatolia and the West Mediterranean.

对白银的研究揭示了一种不寻常的现象，白银是青铜时代和铁器时代（公元前1950-586年）在黎凡特南部货币的重要手段。来自特定但相当长的时间（约公元前1200-950年）的银ho积所含的银大多与铜形成合金。在这里，首次考虑到这种合金化现象，也涉及先前使用铅同位素进行银来源的尝试。研究了8个ho积物，从中进行了86种化学和同位素分析。到目前为止，这是近东这个时间段内最大的白银采样数据集。结果显示，尽管合金具有银色光泽，但仍包含高百分比的Cu，最高可达合金的80％。使用两种方法，Ag-Cu合金保留了银色调，通过使用富含银的表面来掩盖铜芯，或通过向合金中添加砷和锑来实现。对于来源问题，我们应用了一个混合模型，该模型模拟了多达三个末端成员对所研究样品的同位素组成的贡献。该模型表明，对于大多数样品，更可能的组合是它们是爱琴海-安纳托利亚矿石中的银，贫铅铜和阿拉巴河谷局部铜矿（提姆纳和费南）中富铅铜的合金。另一个先前提出的可能性，即很大一部分白银起源于西地中海，无法通过分析验证。结合这些结果，我们认为，在地中海周围的青铜时代崩溃导致公元前12世纪初终止了从爱琴海到黎凡特的白银供应，从而导致白银短缺。地方政府启动了先进的贬值方法，以弥补白银的短缺（一种可疑的伪造品）。进一步建议，在公元前12世纪中叶埃及人从迦南撤军之后，Cu-Ag合金化继续进行，使用了Faynan的铜代替Timna。只有在IIA时代的铁器时代（公元前950年左右），白银不再与铜形成合金，并且从安那托利亚和西地中海进口，才可以看到长距离白银贸易的复苏。地方政府启动了先进的贬值方法，以弥补白银的短缺（一种可疑的伪造品）。进一步建议，在公元前12世纪中叶埃及人从迦南撤军之后，Cu-Ag合金化继续进行，使用了Faynan的铜代替Timna。只有在IIA时代的铁器时代（公元前950年左右），白银不再与铜形成合金，并且从安那托利亚和西地中海进口，才可以看到长距离白银贸易的复苏。地方政府启动了先进的贬值方法，以弥补白银的短缺（一种可疑的伪造品）。进一步建议，在公元前12世纪中叶埃及人从迦南撤军之后，Cu-Ag合金化继续进行，使用了Faynan的铜代替Timna。只有在IIA时代的铁器时代（公元前950年左右），白银不再与铜形成合金，并且从安那托利亚和西地中海进口，才可以看到长距离白银贸易的复苏。