Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Shoshanna Walker <rosewalk AT concentric.net>]

> From:  <suwomyn26 AT att.net>


(from Zinc)

> ================================================
> Scientists uncover Sodom's fiery end
> ================================================
>
> How British artist John Martin imagined the cities' end
> By the BBC's Andrew Craig
>
> British scientists believe they may have found evidence to support
> the Bible's account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.
>
> But they think a natural cause, rather than God's anger, lay behind
> the calamity.
> [ZINC Editor: I chuckled reading this. They don't think the creator
> of the universe is in control of natural causes? How little and
> arrogant men are.  Science "proves" what those with faith have known
> all along.]
>
> "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire
> from the Lord out of heaven" - Genesis 19: 24, 25 
>
> The Bible describes how the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were
> destroyed in a storm of fire and brimstone - a punishment from God
> because of their people's depravity.
>
> But now a retired British geologist, Graham Harris, believes he may
> have proved that the two cities really existed, and may have
> explained why they perished.
>
> Unstable area
>
> Dr Harris thinks Sodom and Gomorrah were built on the shores of the
> Dead Sea so that they could trade in naturally-occurring asphalt.
>
> This tarry substance was used in ancient times to waterproof boats
> and to hold stones together in buildings.
>
> But the ground next to the Dead Sea is very unstable, lying on the
> joint between two of the Earth's tectonic plates which are moving in
> opposite directions.
>
> The area is vulnerable to earthquakes.
>
> Flammable methane
>
> Geological and archaeological evidence suggest that a huge one took
> place about four and a half thousand years ago - the time of the
> Biblical destruction.
>
> Flammable methane pockets lie under the Dead Sea shores; the
> earthquake would have ignited them, the ground would have turned to
> quicksand, and a massive landslide would have swept the cities into
> the water.
>
> Experiments carried out at Cambridge University have backed up this
> account.
>
> But more conclusive evidence is still needed; not unless the remains
> of Sodom and Gomorrah are found under the Dead Sea's salty waters
> will the theory be proved.
>
>
> [Moderator's Note:  I watched a documentary about six months ago on 
> The Learning Channel (TLC) or Discovery, a series called 'Mysteries 
> of the Bible: Sodom and Gomorrah', which I taped.  A group of 
> reasearchers, who have obtained to date the only permit to scuba 
> dive near the Jordanian line in the Dead Sea in search of 
> archaeological evidence of S and G, used sonar to detect unnatural 
> formations under the water. What they found is compelling and 
> supports the theory mentioned above -  two areas within a kilometer 
> or two of each other that are not naturally occurring underwater 
> salt pillars.  Salt has formed over most of what they found, part of 
> which was across the Jordanian line, but the film clearly shows a 
> CUT STONE peeking out in one segment, indicating a building. 
> Research could not be completed because of Jordanian pressure. 
> ~Shosh]