Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah appear with Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar) as the “five cities of the plain” in Genesis 13–14 and 19. Genesis 13:10 describes the kikkar ha-yarden, the “round of the Jordan,” as “well watered everywhere, like the garden of the LORD” before its destruction. Two main locations have been proposed. The traditional siting, dominant from the Byzantine period, places the cities at the southern end of the Dead Sea, in the shallow lagoon south of the el-Lisan peninsula; Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, two Early Bronze Age sites destroyed by burning around 2350 BC, are the standard candidates. A minority view places them north of the Dead Sea near Tall el-Hammam in Jordan. Genesis 19 narrates the destruction: brimstone (sulphur) and fire from heaven, Lot’s escape to Zoar, his wife turned to a pillar of salt as she looked back. The Dead Sea region is naturally rich in bitumen, sulphur, and salt; tar pits are mentioned in Gen.14.10. Biblical writers from Deuteronomy through the prophets treat the overthrow as the type case of divine judgment on a city.