Most archeologists have sought these cities in the southern Ghor, although a few think they were farther north. Josephus, Eusebius and Madaba map place Zoar at the south east end. Pt. Thank Dr. Collins for your important work on this. 7. 1 Answer. This must be done via historical synchronisms and elements of cultural specificity. For further reading and documentation, I highly recommend my detailed article answering Mr. Schlegel at tallelhammam.com under Related Publications.. Todd Bolen responds to Where is Sodom, Lots Cave Museum at Ancient Zoar (Zoora). It is much better to interpret these lifespans authentically, i.e., the way the original readers would have. Zoar was not destroyed by God "not long after" Sodom was destroyed. Press, 1995; pp. Oh yea, we are going to have tourists come and see where evil people were, vaped, for their sins. I believe the Bible and none whatsoever even if it is evident to my eyes I blindly believe the Holy Bible only. The place has not been definitely identified by modern explorers, but from Genesis 19:19-30 we infer that it was in the plain and not in the mountain. Lot and family flee south to Zoar instead. Heres what we have to understand about using science to back up the Bible. Sallama (Northern District) 29.39. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top, Not the answer you're looking for? Ptolemy (v. 17, 5) regards it as belonging to Arabia Petrea. Sign up to receive our email newsletter and never miss an update. Those who dont recognize this simply reveal their ineptitude in dealing with textual geographical data. Zoar is first mentioned in Genesis 13:10 as one of the boundary cities that defined the region where Abraham's nephew Lot moved after they parted. That the Reuben/Gad tribal allotment stretched from the Kikkar of the Valley of Jericho, City of Palms, as far as Zoar is clearly marking out its south border at the Arnon River/Gorge, the natural and perpetual border between the Transjordan Israelites and Moabites. refuge in a little city, named Zoar , not very far . Read responses by scholars Bill Schlegel and Todd Bolen regarding the location of Sodom. By submitting above, you agree to our privacy policy. But if one has his mind After Lot and his daughters escaped from Sodom, they lived in a cave in the hills near Zoar. Ezekiel 16:52-58 MSG;NLT;WYC;CEV;CJB ? How did Dominion legally obtain text messages from Fox News hosts? Before the destruction, the Dead Sea was a valley full of natural tar pits, . There is insufficient data available to precisely ascertain the year, month, and day on which Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain were destroyed, but there is sufficient data available to estimate the approximate time of day at which the destruction event occurred. Surely weve heard of tells. Fig1. Lot was whisked to the outskirts of > Sodom > (still in harm?s way). . According to Genesis 14.10, before the destruction, "the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; as the kings of Sodom . Even Bryant Wood places the Patriarchs in the Middle Bronze Age. The Civilization-Ending 3.7KYrBP Kikkar Event: Archaeological Data, Sample Analyses, and Biblical Implications. In Annual Meeting of the Near East Archaeological Society: Atlanta, Ga., 16. With all due respect, Mr. Schlegels take on the location of Zoar is a classic case of seeing what one wants to see and believing what one wants to believe in spite of the facts. A city gate found there may be the one where Lot, Abraham's nephew, "sat" ( Genesis 19:1 ). Lets go to present day Do you want to go look around in Hiroshima or Nagasaki?? would result in the cit ies' lineup as shown in g ure 3. The water penetrates into the salt, creating large cavities. Not a BAS Library member yet? The straight-line distance from Bethel/Ai to Hebron is ca. The Popular Handbook of Archaeology and the Bible (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2013), 70, 191, 202, 212220, 38387. did not agree with the bible, so they kept looking for other answers. Theoretically Correct vs Practical Notation. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. It actually reaches from California to New York. In fact, Genesis 13:11 reads that Lot journeyed eastward. There is no indication, at least in Genesis 13 that Lot traveled in a southern direction. Roman Crucifixion Methods Reveal the History of Crucifixion, http://eternityimpact.sermon.net/main/main/21019904, http://eternityimpact.sermon.net/main/main/21019905, https://www.academia.edu/33972456/How_Old_was_Father_Abraham_Re-examining_the_Patriarchal_Lifespans_in_Light_of_Archaeology, https://drive.google.com/open?id=1OAnA00FnjmZcm1BuKfb-sjsnTivus0Gq, http://lmlk.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-kikkar-dialogues.html, http://lmlk.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/the-kikkar-dialogues/, http://www.amazon.com/review/R35FWSUTDYE5D4/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=061590999X, http://www.amazon.com/review/R3381RLNN8QGOV/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=1451684304, http://www.amazon.com/review/R3RYEFE6CD7HQA/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=061590999X, http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2012/01/biblical-problems-with-locating-sodom.html#c5540397197379336674, http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2013/02/arguments-against-locating-sodom-at.html, http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-sites-places/biblical-archaeology-sites/where-is-s. will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. follow it for a total of 1.4 Km, The initial climb is steep but then the trail makes a sharp left and levels. Since the Universe is more powerful than we can imagine and its laws more complex than we can imagine, the creator of the Universe logically must also be more intelligent and powerful than we can imagine. The separatists chose to name their town Zoar after the Biblical account of Lot, who escaped to Zoar from Sodom in the book of Genesis. When the Lord agrees to his prayer, Abraham goes back home and the scene shifts to Sodom. On Youtube there are videos showing towns and structures that had been so heated they turned to ash that cascaded down in the same approx 40degree angle as seen in any industrial dump site. I believe in finding things that are said in the Bible, but this might need to be just not find. Yahweh revealed me His Calendar Formula atlast. Sodom was associated with the south east border of Canaan (10:19). 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah - from the Lord out of the heavens. Perspective at which we see things differ. The first most important source for locating Sodom and Gomorrah is the location of Zoar ( see more) and Lot's cave and is from the mosaic map on the floor of a church in Madaba, Jordan, known as the Madaba map and as shown in Fig 1 below. Four highly acclaimed books, published in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution: Aspects of Monotheism, Feminist Approaches to the Bible, The Rise of Ancient Israel and The Search for Jesus. Like what are you going to get out of it?? The Apocrypha: King James Version. Did Lot or the men of Sodom recognize Lot's visitors as angels? But now Zoar was not far distant from Sodom, when Lot, with his company, got thither before the rising of the sun, Genesis 19:23. ), two cities in the "plain" of the Jordan, usually mentioned together and sometimes with Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela, which is identified with Zoar. and became one of the largest cities in Canaan. into smoke and ashes. diss., Trinity Southwest University, 2016. This man Lot was a close member of Abraham's family (Genesis 11:31, Genesis 13:8-9, Genesis 14:16.) According to the Bible, the men of Sodom were wicked (Genesis 13, verse 13). If one placed Zoar on the Arnon/Wadi Mujib, then, it could be labeled Zared!. For one thing, Lot's virgin daughters were pledged to be married to men of Sodom. In this section, there is a leitwort that appears seven times: Tzaddik. Genesis 14:2 that they made war with Bera, king of Sodom, and with Birsha, king of Gomorrah, Shinab, king of Admah, and Shemeber, king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar). I am the Subject Matter Expert for Archaeology and Assistant Professor at Liberty University and have been a square and field supervisor at Tall el-Hammam for over 10 years. I will also bless you, Jerusalem. In terms of why Lot didn't trust God to honor his promise, perhaps he was scared from the nearby destruction of the other cities. night in the public square. 3 Yet he strongly urged them, so they testimony, and plants bearing fruit that never come to ripeness: and a The location of Sodom and Gomorrah has intrigued readers of the Bible for centuries. Why was the nose gear of Concorde located so far aft? Moving Zoar to the mouth of the Arnon doesnt improve Collinss case for Sodom anyway. turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for Before God destroyed these cities, He sent two angels to Lot . As a point of logic (or illogic), many atheists confidently assert that certain events in the Bible (such as the destruction of S&G by God) absolutely did not occur. You hold steadfastly to the chronology of Archbishop Usher without fully analyzing the consequences of that position. Ellen White stated it best: "Whatever contradicts God's word, we may be . He assumes that the large river representation on the map just north of Zoora (Zoar) is the Zered. Collins responded to reader Shirley S. Reeds question on the location of Zoar. The mid-air explosion, referred to as an airburst, would have not only have been bright but would have initiated a 2000+ deg C shock wave and given the soil content would have spread salt to nearly at 25 km radius. It often proves just the opposite of what wed like to believe. For those who are interested, I have read and written extensively on Tall el-Hammam versus what The Sacred Scriptures detail about Sodom and the other 4 Cities of the Kikkar. SODOM (modern Sedom) AND GOMORRAH. Romans 11:13-23; Ephesians 3:1-6, 4:11-16). The details of the Genesis story emphasize the proximity of Zoar to Sodom (Gen. 19:17, 25, 28). So I am done with this little discussion, because so many of the comments are sheer fantasy. Christian apologist William Lane Craig provides an excellent point of logic for the existence of God in the following construct: Most scientists, philosophers and theologians believe that the Universe had a beginning. This Bible History Daily feature was originally published on February 20, 2013. Studyinh genesis 18 and 19 know and doing reasearch. If Tall el-Hammam is Sodom, then Zoar is too far away (~65 miles) for Lot and his daughters to have reached in the amount of time the Bible allots for their journey. Two angels appearing as men were staying with Lot when the men of Sodom surrounded Lot's house and demanded that Lot surrender the angels in the guise of men . I believe Dr. Collins is right on this one. Collins locates Zoar near the Arnon River (Collins 2020; cf. Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed - The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. The ancient city once covered nearly 10 acres. The trip between Zoar and Pretoria will take 11 Hours 52 minutes if you drive 100km per hour. I became convinced that the Kikkar north of the Dead Sea was indeed the place where Sodom should be. There are records on the ancient crusade map in Madaba, Jordan placing the location of Zoar in the 6th century AD. God Bless each of you, Dr John G Leslie. I have been on the dig at Tall el Hammam four times to analyze the bones, and toured Israel and Jordan with TSWU two times. Now that objective is beginning to shift toward a more thoughtful exploration into what actually happened whether it backs up a bible story or offers a better insight into the actual history of the region. Since the Universe with all its matter & energy could not have just popped into existence without a cause, the cause logically exists OUTSIDE the known Universe, making this cause transcendent from the Universe, existing outside time, space, matter and energy. Lot chose the land of the plain of Jordan, near Sodom and Gomorrah, because of the rich pastureland there. Additionally, the statement of Genesis 19:23 that the sun had risen over the land when Lot came to Zoar is better understood as the sun had gone forth over the land, and Lot came to Zoar; that is, the sun had completed its daily course and was in the process of setting in the west by the time Lot reached Zoar. In Abraham's day, it was ruled by a king who rebelled with the four others of the District after 12 years of domination by Chedorlaomer, only to be defeated by the Elamite monarch and his three allies. First inhabited during the Chalcolithic period (46003600 B.C.E. The community of Zoar was not originally organized as a commune, but its residents had a difficult time surviving in 1818 and early 1819. made up, no amount of evidence will convince them. To say this inability to disprove is like any other myth is simply not true. Same for Noah and the ark. The site is so large that is can now be called a city state (62 acres, while Jerusalem and Jericho at the time were only 10 acres). Were all a part off each others community and until we realize this, separation will remain. Toronto: Electronic Christian Media, 2016. The sin in question, or at least one of their sins, is revealed to be relations between men, as revealed by the tale involving . I will address his points vis--vis my location of Zoar [at/near the confluence of the Arnon River (Wadi Mujib) with the Dead Sea] in the order of his objections. The mountains, 11KM long and 2KM maximum width, are made of salt mixed with other minerals. http://www.amazon.com/review/R3RYEFE6CD7HQA/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=061590999X, My 11-part response to Dr. Collins comments on Biblical Problems with Birch that the place is represented by the present Tell Shaghur, a white rocky mound at the foot of the Moab Mountains, a mile East of Beth-haram (Tell er-Rameh), 7 miles Northeast of the mouth of the Jordan, a locality remarkable for its stone monuments and well-supplied springs, but he acknowledges that the name is more like the Christian Segor than the original Zoar.George Frederick Wright. Four highly acclaimed books, published in conjunction with the Smithsonian Institution: Aspects of Monotheism, Feminist Approaches to the Bible, The Rise of Ancient Israel and The Search for Jesus. Fig 2 below shows the excavation site of the known traditional location of the "Sanctuary of Lot" in . Albuquerque, N.M.: TSU Press, 2015. rev2023.3.1.43269. The biblical geography alone as described in Genesis 13 should give enough credence to believe that Sodom may very well be located on the northern end of the Dead Sea and not the southeastern end. Since Abraham . The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah has also become an idiom in Hebrew: 'mahapechat S'dom vaAmora'. There has been some doubt about the exact location . Be sure to also read the comment sections. Learn more about Stack Overflow the company, and our products. For complete solution of Yahwehs Calendar: Yes, the ashen sites have been found scattered over a distance of 50 or more miles (80+ kilometers). And here is the Wisdom of Solomon, 10.6-7: When the ungodly perished, she delivered the righteous man, who fled It for a total of 1.4 Km, the men of Sodom recognize Lot 's visitors as?... To get out of the Genesis story emphasize the proximity of Zoar in the 6th century AD get of... 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