Posted on 10/03/2015 9:00:26 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The long-lost Biblical city of Sodom — a city that the Bible claims was destroyed by God because of its immorality — may finally have been found. Archaeologists have uncovered a slew of monumental structures and artifacts in a Jordan Valley mound known as Tall el-Hammam offering evidence of a city-state that is believed to have thrived during the Bronze Age when other Holy Land cities were being abandoned or were in decline.
Based on the location, dates of occupation, and the remains of other ancient cities nearby, archaeologists think it's the best candidate yet for what was once Sodom. "Tall el-Hammam seemed to match every Sodom criterion demanded by the text," Steven Collins, head of the archaeology team, said. In accordance with texts that say Sodom was the largest, the site at Tall el-Hammam is "at least five to 10 times larger than all the other Bronze Age sites in the entire region," Collins said.
The city is believed to have prospered during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages (between 3500 and 1540 B.C.), Popular Archaeology says, and is strategically located along water sources and trade routes, suggesting that it was a central hub during its time. The city-state is flanked by walls and fortifications that archaeologists say would have required "millions of bricks" and "large numbers of laborers" to build.
Excavated evidence suggests that the city came to a "sudden, inexplicable end" at the end of the Middle Bronze Age, Popular Archaeology says. For the last 700 years, the area has been largely uninhabited by humans.
Interesting!
“strategically located along water sources and trade routes, suggesting that it was a central hub during its time.”
Vaguely similar to San Francisco.
It was the pillar of salt with
a big booty that gave it away.
I thought it was near Hollywood & Vine....
There were 5 cities in the valley area where Sodom was.
Stop it! You’re teasing me.
Jude 7
"Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."
“The timing of this is not coincidental.”
I was thinking the same thing.
Gay tourism expected to increase...
The bible discibes it as the area of slim pits i.e. asphalt.
Not too far underneath the soil. Tar/bitumen/oily type stuff.
Some have hypothesized that explosions actually started from the ground, and launched all the fiery stuff into the air, and then it all came back down on them. Would make sense as there was probably more than enough natural gas in all that stuff to be used as projectile fuel.
Except that isn’t what the Book says. Since the Book says that God rained fire and brimstone from the sky; that’s what STARTED it. The fired from heaven would then have ignited the petroleum products.
For another instance of fire coming out of the sky, check out Elijah’s showdown on Mt. Carmel.
The Sodomites moved to a site on the Potomic River
My Bible - that shows maps of Biblical lands - has Sodom under the Dead Sea. Of course, only God knows for sure...
Raining fire from the sky doesnt mean it could not have come from somewhere on earth. An eyewitness account would not be lying that they saw it rain down from the sky, but not see where it came from.
Not a big deal, just a discussion more than anything.
If it gives you a buzz to make a scripture passage say something other than its clearly intended meaning; knock yerself out.
If fire had erupted from the earth, up into the air, and rained down upon the ground, the scripture would have said it that way. God is not the author of confusion.
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