Tommy

Some years ago I went on a minibus day trip to Masada, Qumran, Dead Sea and Jericoh. At one point driver pointed to a hill and said it was Sodom, regret to say I didn't spend the night there. On same trip I went to the tomb of Adam (Hebron) and Hell (valley of kiddron).

an_agnostic

Is the source even trustworthy? Is this done by regular archaeologists or Christians seeking to prove their belief system?

john_v_h

Good call. This particular buzz is a joint project of Trinity Southwest University and the Kingdom of Jordan. It's an interesting dig, but the "Sodom" angle is pure razzle-dazzle.

CMc

Good one, Skeptical. Nice way to start the day.

Sarpedon

Its like whenever anyone finds submerged ruins they scream: "I've discovered Atlaaaaaantiiiis!"

Any ruins near the Dead Sea will similarly be called Sodom or Gommorah.

ThePainefulTruth

How do you know? If, as is likely, the evidence leads to the conclusion that it was wiped out by a meteor, and the "evil" of Sodom was backed in to explain why "God" would do such a thing, are you still saying it isn't archaeology? Have you read the article?

AdamWho

Because the bible god doesn't exist and any stories based on that bible god existing are very suspect. There are also dragons in the bible....


The problem is that you didn't frame the OP question as a scientific question but a religious one. You could have asked "What natural occurrences could have effected biblical authors? Such as eclipses, meteors, supernova, earthquakes, comets.... could Sodom be a story about a meteor strike or a story that used the elements of a meteor strike?

skepticalbip

Here's a look at (and analysis of) the Tutankhuman event that was much-much-much greater than what likely happened at that city that is being excavated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P4-JdHL2j0

Guest46854

Gob's wrath is not.

skepticalbip

Exactly... The problem is that some events in tribal lore of all cultures actually are from observing some real event and some are simply imagined morality tales (like Aesop's fables) but the description of the cause of the real events comes from their existing belief system, not from their understanding of what really happened.

There may have been a city called Sodom or maybe not. There may have been a city destroyed in some cataclismic event or maybe not. Even if there was a city named Sodom and it experienced some cataclismic end that doesn't mean the Biblical description should be taken as anything more than a reflection of tribal mythology.

We can see the same myth making still going on today. Those who firmly believe in alians visiting in their UFO describe anything "unexplained" as the actions of UFOs - "the city was destroyed by a UFO exploding". Those who firmly believe in the stories of Atlantis attribute anything "unexplained" to Atlantis - "the city was destroyed with advanced technology by Atlantis". etc.