Sodom and Gomorrah Location Found?

14 km NE of the Dead Sea:  from Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project website http://www.tallelhammam.com/

A "joint scientific endeavor" is being conducted by the College of Archaeology, Trinity Southwest University and the Department of Antiquities of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan on the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project

This image is in the public domain because it is a screenshot from NASA’s globe software World Wind using a public domain layer, such as Blue Marble, MODIS, Landsat, SRTM, USGS or GLOBE.

Dr. Steven Collins set out to find the lost city of Sodom.  He worked through and traced clues from the Bible, archaeology and geography as to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Potential locations were whittled down in the process. Eventually, he settled on a site that is quite large, ancient (encompassing the Early, Intermediate and Middle Bronze Ages and Iron Age 2, among others) and located in the kindgom of Jordan as the only possibility remaining.   Reportedly, some who were intially skeptical have conceded that the telling of history may have to be rewritten in order to conform to this find. 

The archaeological web page states, "The fact that Tall el-Hammam and other sites on the eastern half of the Jordan Disk are located precisely in the geographical area specified for the biblical "Cities of the Jordan Plain (Disk)" has turned out to be more than a coincidence, thus providing a geographical framework for the story of Abraham's nephew Lot and his escape from Sodom (set in the Middle Bronze Age), recorded in the Bible (Genesis 13-19) and in the Qur'an (VIII.7.84; XII.11.82; XIV.15.61-79; XIX.25.40; XX.29.40)."


The page also goes into a defense of using the Bible as source material for archaeology.  If proven true, another tantalizing piece of information is that the Jordan Disk sites (what that area is called by archaeologists), had an unknown and unexplained end toward the culmination of the Middle Bronze Age.  Five hundred years or more, the area went unoccupied.  While archaeologists don't have an explanation, the Bible does. 

For those who are interested, Dr. Collins, in collaboration with writer Dr. Latayne Scott, have written a book on the search and discovery that may solve the mystery as to the location of Sodom and Gomorrah and give archaeological evidence that the Bible's account of the cities' importance and sudden demise aren't so easily discounted. 


Discovering the City of Sodom: The Fascinating, True Account of the Discovery of the Old Testament's Most Infamous City
Kindle for $11.04  Hardcover for between $13 and $17.73

The biblical accounts of Sodom and Gomorrah can be found at:
Genesis 13:  Abram and Lot separate with Lot "pitching his tent toward Sodom"
Genesis 14:  Abram rescues Lot after a battle in which the city of Sodom was involved
Genesis 18:  Abram receives three visitors, one is the Lord and the other are angels
                      (here Abram pleads for Sodom after hearing of God's impending wrath)
Genesis 19:  God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah and rescues Lot and his family

Israel was warned about her sin in Deuteronomy 29   As part of the warning, God stated the following:  "The whole land will be a burning waste of salt and sulfur—nothing planted, nothing sprouting, no vegetation growing on it. It will be like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, which the Lord overthrew in fierce anger."  Deut. 29:23 (NIV)

In Deuteronomy 32, note this description that may give insight into the impact of the judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah and why it would remain uninhabited:  "Their vine comes from the vine of Sodom and from the fields of Gomorrah. Their grapes are filled with poison, and their clusters with bitterness. Their wine is the venom of serpents, the deadly poison of cobras."  Deut. 32:32-33 (NIV)