1 Kings 7:45–47 tells us about the circumstances of the making of the items of bronze. They were cast on the plains of the Jordan between Succoth and Zarethan. Though the location of one of these place names may be presently unknown, the choice of the location appears to be the existence of soil made up of clay. This type of soil was necessary for the casting of molten bronze into its desired form. The writer informs us also that so much bronze was involved in this enterprise that the exact weight of bronze was not recorded.
45 Now the pots, the shovels, and the basins, all these vessels in the house of the LORD, which Hiram made for King Solomon, were of burnished bronze.