Sodom and Gomorrah are 'found at bottom of Dead Sea' By Jonathan Petre

Sodom & Gomorrah found? - Mysteries of the Bible Channel 4 Television Sodom, Gomorrah, Gibeah

"The Bible says God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of gays." - Duane Simolke's "Reactions To Homophobia" Genesis chapter 19: "And there came two angels to Sodom..." - University of Michigan

A BIBLE scholar believes that he has found the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah, the evil cities destroyed by God with fire and brimstone, after leading the first expedition to explore the bottom of the Dead Sea.

Michael Sanders and an international team of researchers discovered what appear to be the salt-encrusted remains of ancient settlements on the seabed after several fraught weeks diving in a mini submarine. Mr Sanders, a Briton who is now based in the United States, said yesterday that he was "immensely excited" about the find, and he is already planning a follow-up expedition.

He said: "The evidence cannot be ignored. I predicted there must be something extraordinary there and, lo and behold, there was. What we found matches exactly what the remains of an ancient city might look like."

Dr John Whitaker, a geologist from Leicester University and the former editor of Geology Today, said yesterday that the new development - which will be unveiled in a television documentary tomorrow - appeared "very significant". He said: "There is a good chance that these mounds are covering up brick structures and are one of the lost cities of the plains, possibly even Sodom or Gomorrah, though I would have to examine the evidence. These Bible stories were handed down by word of mouth from generation to generation before they were written down, and there seems to be a great deal in this one."

God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to punish the sexual immorality of their inhabitants is one of the most graphic episodes in the Old Testament. Genesis says that "the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground".

Many archaeologists and scholars have concluded that the story was symbolic, a warning to erring humans of the divine punishment they faced for wickedness. But there has been speculation for centuries that the cities existed in the region of the Dead Sea. A growing number of experts, including Mr Sanders, are now convinced that "the cities of the plain" were destroyed by an earthquake, which threw up flaming pitch, about 5,000 years ago.

Since the 1960s, archaeologists have discovered mass graves on a peninsula jutting into the Dead Sea which contain human bones dating from the Old Testament period. And sulphur, or brimstone, have been found in nearby cliffs, adding to the mystery.

More recently, Mr Sanders unearthed a map dating from 1650 which reinforced to his belief that the sites of the two cities could be under the north basin, rather than on the southern edge of the Dead Sea. He recruited Richard Slater, an American geologist and expert in deep sea diving, to take him to the depths of the Dead Sea in the two-man Delta mini-submarine that was involved in the discovery of the sunken liner, the Lusitani.

Also part of the expedition, which took place in November, was Zvi Ben-Avraham, the director of the Dead Sea Research Centre, who has studied the region for decades. Their explorations in November, which were filmed for a Channel 4 documentary to be broadcast at 8pm tomorrow night, were fraught with difficulties. The 10ft submarine, which was flown in from California, had to be weighted down with lead to counteract the buoyancy of the salty water. Because of constraints of time and money, only four dives were undertaken.

To complicate matters further, the Dead Sea is a military zone with the border between Israel and Jordan running down the middle of it. Attempts by researchers to explore the most important site nearly sparked an international incident because it was partly in Jordanian waters, and military authorities ordered the submarine out.

Mr Sanders is in little doubt that the salt-covered mounds, found over an area 800 yards square, are man-made structures. He said: "I have spoken to geologists and nobody has come up with the suggestion that they are natural phenomena. We don't know what else they could be if they are not ruins. But we need more conclusive evidence by chipping off the salt. That's why we need to go back."

-- King Solomon (@ .), March 26, 2000

Answers

Thank you Solomon for the excellent article! Many underwater digs turn up very well preserved finds - however, with the high salt content here, I doubt much in the way of metallic articles will be recoverable. Ceramics and wood though should be a completely different story...

-- Deb M. (vmcclell@columbus.rr.com), March 26, 2000.

cool. thanks for sharing. they say that archaeologists used to make fun of the bible--now they use it for guidance because there have been thousands of finds of things no one believed existed (cities, individuals, civilizations) but were named in the bible and have since been found. no find has yet disproved the bible. the more i study it, the more amazed i am as to what an amazing book it is.

here is the one on mt. sinai. amazing video pictures verify and show all of the placemarkers mentioned in the biblical account.

http://www.monumentpictures.com

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), March 26, 2000.

Kingie:

In general, this person must be reading a different literature than I am.

Dr John Whitaker, a geologist from Leicester University and the former editor of Geology Today, said yesterday that the new development - which will be unveiled in a television documentary tomorrow - appeared "very significant". He said: "There is a good chance that these mounds are covering up brick structures and are one of the lost cities of the plains, possibly even Sodom or Gomorrah, though I would have to examine the evidence.

This is a little closer to what I read. They have found, on limited dives, structures that appear to be of human origin [yet unconfirmed]. Now all of these "stories" {oral histories} probably have some basis in fact; yet that doesn't confirm the spin but on them in the OT [yep, there were spin masters then, too}.

Best w

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), March 26, 2000.

They all amaze me when they say sodem and ghormara was destoryed because of sex. That was a small part of why it was destroyed. They cared not for the poor, they cared not week, they cared not for the workers and they were damned for it.

-- ET (bneville@zebra.net), March 26, 2000.

The Bible interperations are so messed up, by human mankind. To fit their strict way of belief, in their time. And I may be wrong, also. I can only continue to seek. The same sex partner? An abomimation in my human eyes. I find it strange, the language interperated scripture, as I have read, only references Male Sex upon Male. Were there no Lesbians then? Why was this not addressed by our Lord? Maybe because the language, the translation, was done by a human, seeking to force others, to their belief. Still happening now. I am having a difficult time with this, because I exist in skin. Yes, I am, in this life Heterosexual. Maybe it does all have to do with kindness and tolerance. I am just guessing for now.

-- Hells Bells (still@seeking.answers), March 26, 2000.

Z1X4Y7, The world could use a bit more of the truth you call "spin"....

Just my opinion....:)

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), March 27, 2000.

FF:

I would agree if it was truth. It just doesn't agree with contem. writings [of that time]. You need to read some of those [in translation of course].

Best wishes,,,

-- Z1X4Y7 (Z1X4Y7@aol.com), March 27, 2000.

Well Z, as far as "contemporary" writings of that time, I am very interested in such writings (and archeology as well). I have read a number of the "lost books" (Apocryphia), the Works of Josephus, several of the translations released of the Dead Sea Scrolls (specifically the ones that don't mirror the books of the bible, which many do), but beyond that, what would you recommend?

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), March 28, 2000.

FactFinder,

How about the Book of Enoch?

-- Flash (flash@flash.hq), March 28, 2000.

hellsbells

read Romans 1:19-31

since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28 Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

in particulare, notice verses 26 and 27:

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

So, Sodom and Gomorah were not destroyed just because of homosexuality, but also because of earth worship (notice any modern day paralells?) and a failure to even see the value in keeping the ways of God.

Flash:

TBO Enoch is not Scripture, remember that when reading it. It may contain some historical value, but other than that...

-- (bible@thump.er), March 29, 2000.

I've read "The Book of the Secrets of Enoch" Flash, thanks. I've read other similar books in a volume called "The Forgotten Books of Eden." I find most of these books interesting, but none are of the quality and depth of the books of the bible. It does help to read these books to see the bible in a brighter light though!

-- FactFinder (FactFinder@bzn.com), March 29, 2000.