Is this evidence for the Biblical destruction of Sodom?
The Book of Genesis tells us the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah with rain of sulphur and fire:
“Therefore, the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, from the Lord, out of heaven.” – Genesis 19:24
In 2021, archaeological excavations at Tall el-Hammam, an ancient city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea traditionally thought by some Catholic theologians to be the site of Sodom, revealed evidence suggesting a cosmic airburst destroyed the city around 1650 BC.
This event, comparable to the Tunguska explosion over Siberia in 1908 and much more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, appears to align with descriptions in the Bible of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Archaeologists found a nearly 5 foot thick layer of carbon and ash containing shocked quartz, melted pottery, mudbricks and other materials that require temperatures greater than 3600°F to form. They also found the presence of diamond-like carbon and melted minerals, all signs of extreme heat.
The airburst obliterated a tall building complex and other city structures, leaving behind only fragments of mudbricks and causing significant damage to the human skeletons found there. A sudden influx of salt also created a hypersaline environment, ending agriculture and causing a regional abandonment for several centuries.
The study concluded “oral traditions about the destruction of this urban city by a cosmic object might be the source of the written version of Sodom in Genesis” and “the details recounted in Genesis are a reasonable match for the known details of a cosmic impact event.”
While debates continue on whether Tall el-Hammam is indeed the biblical Sodom, the unique destruction pattern and high-temperature materials provide compelling evidence that a catastrophic cosmic event could be behind the Biblical account of Sodom’s fiery end!
Photo credit: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons | Study credit: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea via Nature Scientific Reports
