The Location of Sodom:
What Does the Bible Say? Is the biblical story of Sodom real or only a fanciful myth? When we examine the biblical evidence, it reveals a consistent story about a specific location—one that may prove to be ancient Sodom itself.
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as Sodom a real city? The biblical story of its fiery destruction due to its wickedness sounds like a fantasy to many, so it’s often been dismissed as a fable. But do we have real evidence for the existence of Sodom and its destruction? Evidence for a large-scale cataclysmic destruction event in the lower Jordan Velley that destroyed many towns is covered in the lead article in this issue, “What If Sodom Has Been Found?” But was Sodom one of those cities destroyed in that event? If Sodom was real, where was it located? Does evidence point us to a specific location?
Photo courtesy Dr. Steven Collins
Sodom’s first mention in the Bible Sodom appears quite early in the biblical account, first on the borderland of Canaan in Genesis 10:19 and then in Genesis 13 with the story of the patriarch Abraham. He was a wealthy man, “very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold” (verse 2). He was traveling with his nephew Lot, who “had flocks and herds and tents” of his own (verse 5). Today we would call them Bedouins—large tent-dwelling extended families and servants with their families who traveled from place to place where they could find sufficient pasturage for their herds of sheep, goats and camels. We break into the story flow when Abraham, then named Abram, and Lot were “between Bethel and Ai” (verse 3), towns located in the mountains a few miles north of modernday Jerusalem. There the two men
by Scott Ashley
The research of Dr. Steven Collins points to Tall elHammam as being the likely location of Sodom.
then I will go to the left.” “And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom” (verses 10-12). And then the Bible adds this ominous footnote: “But the men of Sodom
The Bible reveals a great deal about the location of Sodom. And evidence on the ground today points strongly to a likely candidate. had a problem: “Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock” (verses 6-7). There simply wasn’t enough grass to feed all of the animals they owned. Abraham generously offered a solution to Lot: “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren [or family]. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right,
were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.” Pointing the way to Sodom Let’s examine what we’re told here about the location of Sodom based on the markers given in the biblical text. We are grateful to Dr. Steven Collins, dean of the College of Archaeology and Biblical History at Trinity Southwest University in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for highlighting these markers and his extensive research on the subject (readers can learn more at tallelhammam.com). As seen on the accompanying map, Bethel and Ai are close together north of Jerusalem. They are on the hilly mountainous ridge that runs
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