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The Great Day of God's wrath (1853), oil on canvas by John Martin, Tate Gallery in London.

Archaeologists Claim to have Discovered the Location of the Biblical City of Sodom

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After a dozen years excavating, an archaeological team led by Steven Collins claims to have discovered a city that matches the Bible’s Sodom, the city destroyed, along with Gomorrah, by the wrath of God:

“As the sun rose over the earth, Lot arrived in Zoar; and the Lord rained down burning asphalt from the skies onto Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord destroyed these cities, the entire valley, everyone who lived in the cities, and all of the fertile land’s vegetation.” (Genesis 19: 23-25)

“Abraham set out early for the place where he had stood with the Lord, and looked out over Sodom and Gomorrah and over all the land of the valley. He saw the smoke from the land rise like the smoke from a kiln. When God destroyed the cities in the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away from the disaster that overtook the cities in which Lot had lived.” (Genesis 19: 27-29)

Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University of New Mexico and his team have spent more than ten years digging for the biblical Sodom.

Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University of New Mexico and his team have spent more than ten years digging for the biblical Sodom. (Likev World News)

The newspaper ABC reports that the city is said to be located in the southern Jordan River Valley.

Collins, of the  Trinity Southwest University of New Mexico, has been directing the excavations being carried out on the mound of Tall el-Hammam, in Jordan near the Israel border. He reported to Popular Archaeology:

"We know very little about the Bronze Age in the south of the Jordan River Valley. Most archaeological maps of the area were blank. But what we have found is an important city-state , which was unknown before our project began. Tall el-Hammam matches the description of the area where Sodom was located according to the Bible. It was said to be the largest city east of Kikkar. So, I came to the conclusion that if one wanted to find Sodom, one should seek the largest city that existed in this area during the Bronze Age, in the time of Abraham. When we explored the region, Tall el-Hammam was an obvious choice, as it was five to ten times larger than the other Bronze Age cities throughout the region, even those found beyond Jordan."

Some of the ruins of Tall el-Hammam where archaeologists have been excavating for over a decade.

Some of the ruins of Tall el-Hammam where archaeologists have been excavating for over a decade. (Impacto Evangelístico)

Collins and the rest of his research team compared the objects discovered in Tall el-Hammam with those found in nearby cities and, based on the artifacts and the excellent location, they have no doubt that Tall el-Hammam was the ancient city of Sodom.

Furthermore, Collins states that this gigantic city-state was abandoned under mysterious circumstances at the end of the Bronze Age. It became an uninhabited wasteland for over 700 years but then, after those seven centuries, it started to flourish again – as indicated by the huge iron gate that leads into the city.

The city of Tall el-Hammam is located in the south of the Jordan River Valley.

The city of Tall el-Hammam is located in the south of the Jordan River Valley. (Deror_avi/CC-BY-SA-3.0)

Key Characteristics of the City

Collins explained that this discovery is a milestone for archeology and that the people that lived in this region once thrived in their carefully selected location (near abundant water resources and crossing several trade routes of the time), and the area was especially important between 3500 - 1450 BC.

The city, which has been described as "monstrous," has two main districts and is surrounded by a thick adobe wall measuring 5- 10 meters (16.4 – 32.8 feet) high. There are also many plazas connected by several roads.

About four meters below the modern surface of Tall el-Hammam, excavators encountered a house from the middle of the Bronze Age that is located in a "layer of destruction."

About four meters below the modern surface of Tall el-Hammam, excavators encountered a house from the middle of the Bronze Age that is located in a "layer of destruction." This house is about three meters (9.8 feet) below the Iron Age stratus. Bottom left, Steven Collins, director of the project (biblearchaeology.org)

Speaking on the construction of the city, Collins said:

“The wall surrounding the upper city was a huge undertaking, requiring millions of bricks and obviously a large number of workers. The top of the wall had a thickness of about 7 meters (23 feet.) The exterior was covered with clay and rose to more than 30 meters (98 feet) above the lower town. It was an impressive and formidable defensive system that was intended to protect the homes of the richest citizens of the city, including the king’s palace, as well as temples and other administrative buildings."

That is not to say that the part of the wall that protected the lower town was lacking: it was 4 meters (13 feet) thick, built on a foundation of boulders, and topped with adobe. Also located in this area are the ruins of a palatial red adobe structure with a gigantic door. Finally, the presence of towers and gates in the walls, in addition to the other elements, indicates that this city’s fortifications during the Bronze Age were far more powerful than previously thought.

Angels guide Lot and his family out of Sodom while his wife is turned into a pillar of salt for watching the destruction of the city

Angels guide Lot and his family out of Sodom while his wife is turned into a pillar of salt for watching the destruction of the city - disobeying God's command. Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle, the work of Hartmann Schedel (1493). (Public Domain)

This discovery will create a better understanding of the way of life for the inhabitants of the region during the Bronze Age. If it is confirmed that this is, in fact, the location of the Biblical city of Sodom, this find could also change history.

Featured image: The Great Day of God's wrath (1853), oil on canvas by John Martin, Tate Gallery in London. (Public Domain)

This article was first published in Spanish at https://www.ancient-origins.es/ and has been translated with permission.

By: Mariló TA

 

Comments

Soo the way i understand these comments is.
1) it is agreed that archaeological evidence supports biblical stories.
2)Many of you refuse to accept the bible as a historically accurate book.
Why is no evidence being displayed to disprove the bible? If it is not an accurate account then why is there no opposing evidence?

Amen!

Though it is written: "do not cast pearls before swine", I pray Father that your Spirit would move this man's heart to see the truth, even if his sight be suspended. Just as with the Apostle Paul so let it be also with this man. As Your great Love for him is no less than it is for myself I ask for Your mercy and grace to be poured out upon him just as It was apportioned to me in my ignorance and pride. I ask that his repentance and redemption, be in accord with Your Will and to Your Glory. In Jesus name, Amen.

Actually I am not making anyfallacy at all . The criteria is that since we know that your believe in a God stems from the bible and this dude Yaweh which is your God and of the Jews is based on Sun God mythology and mythological beings are only figments of man's imagination therefor God does not exist at least not the God you believe in. Religion is about a God concept based on mythology and man has put many properties in this concept God idea properties which man himself has and even made up supernatural properties. If you read the babble you would even know that Yaweh is not even the ''real '' god in that pantheon but what would you know. You are brainwashed into that believe of yours do not blame me for that mistake it is your problem and the ignorance of religious people as a body became, well was always a problem for the world at the start ! Why don't you first do a study in origin of your believe and the myths it came from before believe anything of that stuff or yours ?
''your sources might have been decidedly anti God from the start, ''
== Your sources are decidedly pro God from the start ! Since it is YOU and your religion which claims the existence of God ( acc to O.T psychopathic loser and mass murderer - Jesus ( fucking christ) you have to prove the existence of all those biblical characters as being real and historical for the burden of proof is on YOU not me I only do counterclaims and those claims come from study and research from others before me. ''but against God who you are trying so hard to proof that He does not exist''
-- God does not exist so I cannot be against something that does not exist and I also cannot be against something I cannot see nor know of nor interaction with nor with something which is not proven to be real. No I do not even try hard for that is easy to dismiss the existence of a God that is ! You try hard to claim he does exist ! So ones again you made fallacy's ! Study fallacy's please ? I am many steps ahead of you in study and knowledge so study harder please to catch up ! LOL.

''Voltaire renounced God yet on his death bed his dying words were Hell, hell, hell.. Stalin lifted himself up from his bed and shook his fist towards heaven before he died''

== Yea might be, so what ? That is not proof of anything let alone proof of Hell , heaven let alone the existence of a God ! So you made another argument of ignorance !

''Emperor Flavius Julian conceded: You have conquered O Galilean (a reference to Jesus Christ) on his death bed.''
== Ones again so what ? Does not proof a thing ! Argument of ignorance ! Argument dismissed as bullshit ! Try again smarty pants !
''The reality is that if Jesus Christ is not Who He said He was and did not do what He did then we have absolutely nothing to fear.''
== Who says there was a historical Jesus in 1st c AD ? There is no evidence for a historical Jesus as mentioned in the gospels and we know that that character is based on sun god astrotheology ! Do some study in origin of those stories and themes please for you have not any clue what you are talking about ! So and secondly I give a damn about what a historian said 2000 years ago ! There is no Jesus and proof is not delivered as of today so you will be the first to prove it ! There is no relationship to that Him there is no Him at all. Do some study stupid ignorant fallacy making uneducated foolish christian !

Actually THERELIHUNTER you are also engaged in quite a few fallacies yourself. Science is limited to the study of the natural material world and cannot be used to determine whether God exist or not. So what would your criteria be for determining whether God exist or not? Also you stated that you studied the origins of the Bible and religion, but it seems that your sources might have been decidedly anti God from the start, maybe you should opt for better and more reliable sources. Your position and opposition to God is not new, many people through history took the same position, you need to understand that your fight is not against people, but against God who you are trying so hard to proof that He does not exist. Voltaire renounced God yet on his death bed his dying words were Hell, hell, hell.. Stalin lifted himself up from his bed and shook his fist towards heaven before he died and Emperor Flavius Julian conceded: You have conquered O Galilean (a reference to Jesus Christ) on his death bed. C. S. Lewis stated that there are only two types of people in this world. Those who say: Your will be done, and those who say: Your will be done. The reality is that if Jesus Christ is not Who He said He was and did not do what He did then we have absolutely nothing to fear. However if He was Who He said He is and did what He has done, eternity lies in the balance and nothing is more important than our relationship to Him.

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