Origian

In the mail this morning I found, amongst other junk, a 'newpaper' type publication called "Signs of the Times" containing the usual "THE END IS COMING!!!!!" type stuff. However, there was also a small article in this claiming that Ron Wyatt found Sodom and Gomorrah years ago. More specifically, it says that immense cemeteries were found at these sites containing over 1000000 graves - and also claims that 98.4% pure sulfur was found at the sites (which would apparently be in accordance with some OT passage saying fire and brimstone rained down or something). I did a quick search both here and Google, but could not find anything that critiques these claims. Have any of you come across this before? Are there any sites around for further reading?

Texty

No. I saw a TV docu film of a very serious attempt to find the location of Sodom & Gomorrah using a specialised sub. with little definite finding because the Dead sea bed is heavily encrusted in salt.

Was this rag an Austrailian pub??

spin

Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found has that name as it is an Arab pronunciation of Gumran, and apparently derivable from Gomorra. Speculation about the location of these places, known solely from textual sources as proverbial centres of licentiousness, has been rife for millennia. If someone finds ruins somewhere in the area they can't explain, then it must be Sodom or Gomorrah.

The enormous number of graves are located on the landward side of the Lisan Peninsula. They are Nabataean graves many of the type found at Qumran.


spin

Origian

Yes, I think it is an Australian publication, although on the front it says "South Pacific Edition" and has addresses in both New Zealand and Australia. It's actually quite a good laugh, really.

Autonomist

“Signs of the Times” is a publication put out by the Seventh Day Adventist Church. And the church is centered in the U.S. It started in the mid 19th century, with a sort of parallel development in the U.S. and Australia. Anyways, this is a little of topic but hopefully it can contribute towards future pursuits.

Jackalope

Bab edh-Dhra is one of the excavation sites that is sometimes associated with Sodom and Gommorah. You can try this page for a start. Yes, they found graves (they found cemetaries, actually). But not piles of bodies, and sulfur and bitumen were part of the normal soil in the area. Where there were signs of fire, the most probable cause was a spark setting off the methane gas that also permeates the soil there.

nermal

Wouldn't the existence of cemeteries holding the victims tend to discredit a ruined city as a candidate for S or G? How would all the people find time to give proper burials when their entire population is being buried under sulpher?

Ed

AnaniasNin

We could just blame it on Saddam. Must have been a wicked place worth destroying, considering the best the Lord could salvage from the place was Lot, who first offered his daughters to be raped by a mob and later impregnated them while drunk.

And he was the good guy???

Jeremy Pallant

Well, we're talking about a deity who required a father to sacrifice his virgin daughter, and killed a baby to punish its parents. I guess he felt that Lot was his soulmate or something.