Punon was one of the places the Israelites camped during their wilderness wanderings. Scholars identify it with modern Feinan. Punon was built along the road that connected Edom through the Negev to Egypt. The town had plenty of water and copper resources. It became an important center for melting copper (around 2000 BC). People either mined the copper nearby or brought it to Punon from other places.
The Israelites passed by Punon on their way into Transjordan (the region east of the Jordan River)(Numbers 33:42–43). At that time, the town's industrial activity was at a low point. Large piles of slag (waste material from melting metal) can still be found in the area today.
Archaeological evidence shows that Punon was a large settlement during the time of the patriarchs (middle Bronze Age). After about 500 years with no people living there, settlers returned around 1300 BC. The mining and copper melting operations continued until 700 BC. These activities started again during the time of the Nabateans.
Eusebius, an early church historian, reports that Christians worked in the mines at Punon alongside criminals. During the Byzantine period, Christians built a church (basilica) and monastery in this location. Researchers found an inscription with the name of Bishop Theodore (around AD 587) in the monastery ruins.