Stones of Sodom

While hopping around Jordan with Dr. Dave, he brought our attention to “ancient Sodom” (click here for Google map), where we all got out and took a look around. Yes, Sodom as in “Sodom and Gomorrah” from Gen chapters 14 and 19.

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The lay of the land at Bab edh-Dhra, Jordan, looking to the west. You'd reach the Dead Sea before reaching the mountains in the background.

There have been a few interesting discoveries in the past ~10 years of archaeology at this site (and at other sites around Jordan. Sites for Sodom.)…

Some relevant comments regarding these photos and this location:

– There are ancient burial tombs in this region that date back to about 4,000 yrs ago (Abraham’s time). These tombs, especially to the south, have been destroyed by fire, burning from the top downwards through the roof of the tombs. According to Dr. Dave, this is highly unusual. When a tomb is plundered for treasures, the thief breaks down the door so they can get into the tomb and steal whatever treasures might be inside. But these tombs were burned from the top down, meaning Someone put some very, very hot fire on top of them, and didn’t care about whatever treasures might be in the tombs.

– The site is littered with chunks of a “tephra”, a particular type of volcanic rock that was explosively ejected from a volcano. The shape and composition of these igneous rocks indicate that they were molten while airborne and cooled while in the air, taking on a spherical shape (which is common for airborne liquid of any type). These rocks shattered when they hit the ground, breaking into pieces of rock that are rough or flat on the bottom side and curved on the top side. In short, the evidence says that this site had lava (ie, fire and brimstone) raining down on it several thousand years ago ..just like Gen 19 says:

Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. (Gen 19:24-25)

Here’s one of the rocks from that site, front and back side. The red line shows the “natural” curvature of the rock: