Woolwich Online: Biblical Sodom May Have Been Found, Say Archaeologists

Daily Mail | Archaeology

Sodom, one of the two ancient cities cited in Genesis by the Holy Bible may have been found in a location in Jordan called Tall el-Hammam.

* Project Leader,Steven Collins stepped into one
of the excavated rooms. (Credit: via Daily Mail)

And according to Steven Collins from Trinity Southwestern University in New Mexico, who led the excavation, the team believe that Tall el-Hammam seemed to match `every Sodom criterion demanded by the text,'.

But he said the recorded destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fire was not the first time, the cities would have been destroyed.

The team believe that Sodom had been destroyed several times in the past and each time, it is eventually rebuilt.

The report, which featured in the Mail of Tuesday quotes the investigating experts as that Tall el-Hammam in Jordan contains the remains of a 'monstrous' Bronze Age City and that it matches the Biblical description of the city destroyed by God.

* Ancient walls of up to 10m high and gates were uncovered at Tall el-Hammam in Jordan,
where some researchers believe the remains of a 'monstrous' Bronze Age city match
the Biblical description of Sodom.

"Tall el-Hammam matches the description of the area where Sodom was located according to the Bible as the largest city of the fertile east Kikkar area." Project leader Steven Collins said, adding '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."

They say not only would the site have been the largest city in the region, as the Bible maintains, but it is situated to the east of the River Jordan, and dates back to between 3500 and 1540 BC. It was thought to have been suddenly abandoned after the destruction.

The team said 3500 years before it was destroyed as the bible states, the city had been destroyed by earth-quake, destroying it and later struct by a meteorite too, destroying it. It was always subsequently abandoned - and later rebuilt.

'When we explored the region, Tall el-Hammam was an obvious choice, as it was five to 10 times larger than the other Bronze Age cities throughout the region, even those found beyond Jordan.'

Mr Collins said: 'We know very little about the Bronze Age in the south of the Jordan River Valley. Most archaeological maps of the area were blank."

Read the full report and watch the video here: www.dailymail.co.uk.