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Sodom

Sodom was an ancient city-state described in the Book of Genesis as part of the "Cities of the Plain" in the Jordan Valley, geographically situated in the fertile lowland (kikkar) east of the Jordan River and near the Dead Sea, which met its end through catastrophic destruction by fire and brimstone sent from God as punishment for the unparalleled wickedness of its population.^[1]^[2] The biblical narrative in Genesis 19 depicts two divine messengers arriving in the city, only for the male inhabitants to surround Lot's house and demand the visitors for sexual violation—a collective act of aggression highlighting the city's depravity, which precipitated the immediate judgment following a prior divine decree that the "outcry" against Sodom was grave (Genesis 18:20).^[3] This event, intertwined with the parallel destruction of Gomorrah and other nearby settlements, underscores themes of moral corruption encompassing not only sexual perversion but also broader societal failings such as pride, gluttony, and neglect of the vulnerable, as later referenced in prophetic literature (Ezekiel 16:49-50).^[4] While the precise location remains unidentified archaeologically, with proposed candidates including sites south of the Dead Sea like Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira or northern ones like Tall el-Hammam—where evidence of a mid-second-millennium BCE cataclysmic event has been excavated but not conclusively linked to the biblical account—no empirical consensus confirms Sodom's existence or the supernatural mechanism of its demise as narrated.^[5] The story's enduring significance lies in its role as an archetypal warning against ethical collapse, influencing theological interpretations of justice and later cultural concepts like "sodomy" derived from the city's name, rooted in the Genesis depiction of same-sex assault as emblematic of its sins.^[6]

Biblical and Historical Context

Genesis Narrative

The narrative of Sodom's destruction is recounted in Genesis 18–19, set within the patriarchal era traditionally dated around 2000 BCE according to biblical chronology calculations deriving from the Exodus and subsequent timelines.^[7]^[8] In Genesis 18, the Lord appears to Abraham near the oaks of Mamre, accompanied by two angels in human form, and reaffirms the promise of a son to Sarah despite her advanced age, prompting her laughter from within the tent. God then discloses the intent to investigate the grave outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah due to their sins, leading Abraham to intercede on behalf of the cities. Abraham negotiates sequentially with God, first asking if fifty righteous individuals would spare the cities, then reducing the number to forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten, with God agreeing each time not to destroy the places for the sake of that minimum threshold of righteous inhabitants.^[9] In Genesis 19, the two angels proceed to Sodom, where Abraham's nephew Lot encounters them at the city gate and urgently invites them to his home for the night, preparing a feast despite their initial reluctance. As the visitors rest, the men of Sodom, young and old from every quarter of the city, surround Lot's house and demand that he bring out the strangers so they may "know" them—employing the biblical term for sexual intercourse. Lot pleads with the mob to refrain, offering his two virgin daughters in their place to do as they wish, but the crowd presses against the door, threatening to treat Lot worse than the visitors and attempting to break in. The angels intervene by pulling Lot inside, striking the assailants with blindness so they cannot find the entrance, and reveal their divine mission to destroy the city for its wickedness, urging Lot to gather his family and flee without delay.^[10] The angels compel Lot, his wife, and two daughters to evacuate, as his sons-in-law dismiss the warning as jesting, and instruct them not to look back or stop in the plain, directing flight to the hills; Lot requests permission to seek refuge in the nearby small city of Zoar instead, which is granted. As dawn breaks, the Lord causes burning sulfur to rain from the heavens upon Sodom, Gomorrah, and the entire plain, overthrowing the cities, their inhabitants, and vegetation. Lot's wife disobeys by looking back and becomes a pillar of salt, while Abraham observes from afar the smoke rising like from a furnace across the landscape. Lot subsequently relocates from Zoar to a cave in the hills out of fear.^[10]

References in Other Biblical Texts

Sodom is referenced in several prophetic books of the Old Testament as a paradigm of divine judgment for moral corruption. In Ezekiel 16:49-50, the prophet describes Sodom's iniquity as encompassing pride, overabundance of food, carefree prosperity, failure to support the poor and needy, haughtiness, and the commission of an "abomination" (Hebrew to'evah), which prompted God's removal of the city upon witnessing it.^[11] Isaiah 1:9-10 compares Judah's near-destruction to that of Sodom and Gomorrah, preserved only by a remnant, while addressing Jerusalem's leaders as "rulers of Sodom" for their hypocrisy in ritual without ethical obedience.^[12] Similarly, Jeremiah 23:14 likens the prophets of Jerusalem to Sodom's inhabitants for adulterous behavior, deceit, and enabling evildoers, rendering the city wholly corrupt like Gomorrah.^[13] These allusions reinforce Sodom's role as an archetype of societal decay warranting annihilation, extending beyond the Genesis account to critique contemporary Israel's ethical lapses. In Lamentations 4:6, the punishment of Sodom is deemed greater than that of Judah's siege, emphasizing its sudden overthrow by unspecified "iniquities."^[14] In the New Testament, Sodom exemplifies eschatological judgment on unrepentant sin. Matthew 10:15 warns that towns rejecting Jesus' disciples will face a harsher fate on judgment day than Sodom and Gomorrah.^[15] Jude 1:7 cites Sodom and Gomorrah's indulgence in sexual immorality and pursuit of "strange" or "unnatural" flesh (sarkos heteras) as incurring eternal fire, serving as a warning against similar deviations.^[16] 2 Peter 2:6-10 portrays God as reducing Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, making them an example of future punishment for the ungodly, contrasting with the rescue of righteous Lot amid the city's lawless deeds and sensual indulgence by those who follow "the flesh" in defiling passion.^[17] Collectively, these texts maintain Sodom's depiction as a cautionary instance of comprehensive wickedness—encompassing social neglect, ethical corruption, and forbidden desires—culminating in irreversible divine retribution, without resolving interpretive variances in its precise sins.

Theological and Moral Implications

The destruction of Sodom in Genesis 19 exemplifies divine justice executed against persistent human wickedness, highlighting the stark contrast between God's holiness and the depravity of sinful societies.^[10] ^[18] In the narrative, God investigates the outcry against Sodom's grave sins before raining sulfurous fire from heaven, obliterating the city and its environs as a direct consequence of unchecked moral corruption.^[19] ^[20] This event underscores a causal mechanism wherein cumulative vice erodes societal foundations, culminating in catastrophic judgment rather than mere coincidence or natural disaster.^[21] Theologically, Sodom serves as a paradigmatic warning of total moral decay's endpoint, where failure to uphold basic relational duties like hospitality signals deeper infidelity to divine order, though the priority lies in covenantal rebellion against God's standards.^[22] New Testament allusions reinforce this as an exemplar of ungodly indulgence leading to perdition, cautioning against complacency in environments of escalating iniquity.^[23] Unlike interpretive tendencies to allegorize the account for contemporary moral equivalence, the text presents the annihilation as a literal historical intervention, resisting dilutions that obscure its emphasis on irremediable sin's inevitable downfall.^[20] ^[24] Lot's deliverance amid the ruin illustrates God's mercy toward the relatively righteous, yet his character—marked by hesitation, compromise in settling near Sodom, and post-escape moral lapses—reveals the insufficiency of partial obedience absent deeper transformation.^[25] ^[26] As the sole figure deemed just enough for rescue, Lot embodies tormented vexation by surrounding evil without full separation from it, teaching that proximity to depravity imperils even the spared.^[27] This duality affirms redemption's availability through divine initiative while exposing human frailty's limits in averting personal and generational fallout from flawed fidelity.^[28]

Archaeological Investigations

Proposed Locations

The primary candidates for the location of biblical Sodom lie in the region of the Dead Sea (Salt Sea), anchored by descriptions in Genesis 13:10-12 of the "plain of the Jordan" (kikkar ha-Yarden) as a fertile, well-watered area eastward from Bethel and Ai, extending toward Zoar, and Genesis 14:3's placement of the cities of the plain—including Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (Zoar)—in the Valley of Siddim, associated with bitumen pits and later submerged under the Salt Sea.^[29] These textual indicators point to a cluster of settlements in a lowland plain southeast of Hebron (Abraham's base in Genesis 13:18), with Sodom as the prominent urban center among them.^[30] In the southern sector of the Dead Sea, Bab edh-Dhra has been proposed as Sodom since surveys in the 1920s and excavations from 1972-1984 led by Walter Rast and R. Thomas Schaub, revealing an Early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2350 BCE) fortified settlement spanning 10-14 hectares with evidence of dense occupation, industrial activity, and a large adjacent cemetery holding over 500 tombs, consistent with a major regional hub matching the biblical portrayal of a dominant city of the plain.^[31] Nearby Numeira, a smaller contemporaneous site 1 km east (ca. 5 hectares), is often linked to Gomorrah, forming a paired urban complex in the ancient Lisan Peninsula area, which aligns with the southern shoreline's historical association with Siddim's bitumen features and proximity to traditional Zoar identifications south of the modern Dead Sea.^[32] This southern hypothesis draws support from geographical continuity with Hebron's direction (southeast) and the plain's encirclement by mountains, as implied in the kikkar terminology denoting a rounded or encircling lowland.^[5] An alternative northern proposal centers on Tall el-Hammam in the Jordan Valley, 13 km northeast of the Dead Sea's northern tip, advocated by Steven Collins since excavations began in 2005, citing the site's exceptional size (36 hectares, the largest Bronze Age urban center in the region during Middle Bronze I-II, ca. 2000-1550 BCE) and position on the expansive kikkar plain eastward from Bethel, which Collins interprets as fulfilling the biblical emphasis on a vast, fertile expanse visible from central highlands.^[33] Proponents argue this location better matches Lot's eastward journey from Bethel without requiring a southward detour around the Dead Sea, positioning Sodom as a gateway city controlling trans-Jordanian trade routes.^[34] However, critics contend it conflicts with textual ties to the Salt Sea's southern submersion of Siddim, the small scale of Bela/Zoar (favoring southern identifications), and the lack of clear proximity to the other cities of the plain, rendering the northern site less congruent with the clustered geography in Genesis 14.^[29] Scholarly consensus leans toward southern sites or skepticism of precise identifications, viewing northern claims as influenced by maximalist interpretations prioritizing site scale over integrated biblical topography.^[5]

Evidence of Catastrophic Destruction

Excavations at Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, Early Bronze Age sites in Jordan, have uncovered thick burn layers indicative of intense fires, including collapsed mudbrick structures and widespread ash deposits dating to approximately 2350 BCE.^[31]^[35] These layers contain evidence of sudden structural failure, with roofs caving in due to extreme heat, consistent with a rapid catastrophic event rather than gradual abandonment.^[36] At Tall el-Hammam, a Middle Bronze Age site, archaeologists identified a 1.5-meter-thick destruction layer rich in carbon, ash, and materials subjected to temperatures exceeding 1700°C, including melted pottery, mudbricks, and proposed shocked quartz grains.^[37] A 2021 study attributing this to a cosmic airburst was retracted in 2025 due to insufficient support for the airburst claims, though subsequent analyses have reported persistent findings of high-temperature meltglass and fractured quartz suggestive of extreme thermal shock.^[38]^[39] Natural sulfur deposits and bitumen residues around the Dead Sea region, including spherical sulfur concretions, have been documented in archaeological contexts, aligning with descriptions of fiery destruction involving brimstone-like materials.^[35] Recent 2025 excavations by archaeologist Titus Kennedy at Jordanian sites near the Dead Sea revealed additional fire-ravaged ruins with consistent burn evidence, reinforcing patterns of abrupt thermal devastation in the area.^[40]^[41]

Scholarly Debates and Recent Findings

Scholars supporting the identification of Tall el-Hammam as Sodom cite its location in the Jordan Valley north of the Dead Sea, aligning with a Middle Bronze Age destruction layer dated to approximately 1650 BCE via radiocarbon analysis, which coincides with regional shifts from urban to nomadic patterns during the patriarchal era.^[37] This site's evidence includes high-temperature melting of pottery and structures, suggesting a catastrophic event consistent with the scale of a major settlement's obliteration, though the precise mechanism remains under scrutiny following methodological challenges to earlier interpretations.^[42] Critics argue that Tall el-Hammam fails biblical geography, as Genesis describes Sodom in the southern plain near Zoar, not the northern valley, and the site's reoccupation after about 600 years of abandonment contradicts expectations of permanent desolation implied in later texts like Isaiah 13:19-20.^[5] The absence of inscriptions or artifacts explicitly naming "Sodom" undermines direct linkage, with alternative explanations favoring seismic activity or warfare over singular cataclysms, as the Jordan Valley's tectonic activity could account for destruction without invoking extraordinary causes.^[34] In 2025, the hypothesis of a cosmic airburst at Tall el-Hammam—proposed in a 2021 Scientific Reports paper linking melted materials to a meteor explosion—was retracted due to insufficient evidence distinguishing airburst effects from conventional fires or earthquakes, prioritizing empirical verification over speculative models.^[43] Archaeologist Steven Collins' ongoing excavations at Tall el-Hammam reveal persistent abandonment patterns post-destruction, with no immediate Iron Age resettlement, bolstering claims of long-term uninhabitability but not resolving identification debates.^[44] Meanwhile, excavations led by Titus Kennedy at sites associated with Zoar, such as near es-Safi in the southeast Dead Sea region, advance the southern-location theory by tracing Lot's escape route and uncovering Middle Bronze Age remains that fit a clustered pentapolis destroyed circa 2000-1700 BCE, emphasizing continuity with known Moabite toponyms over northern alternatives.^[45] These efforts highlight empirical gaps in northern models, such as mismatched sulfur deposits, while southern sites like Bab edh-Dhra show aligned conflagration layers, though definitive inscriptions remain elusive across proposals.^[35]

Nature of Sodom's Sin

Primary Biblical Description

In Genesis 19, the men of Sodom, described as encompassing "all the people from every quarter" including young and old, surround Lot's house at night and demand that his two male visitors—divine angels in human form—be brought out to them so that the Sodomites may "know" them, a biblical idiom denoting sexual intercourse.^[46] This collective action constitutes an attempted gang rape, violating ancient Near Eastern codes of hospitality that obligated hosts to protect guests from harm.^[46] Lot's offer of his virgin daughters as substitutes is rejected, underscoring the targeted nature of the demand toward the male visitors, after which the angels intervene by striking the mob with blindness to enable escape.^[46] Ezekiel 16:49-50 expands on Sodom's iniquity as encompassing pride, excess of food, and idle prosperity without extending aid to the poor and needy, culminating in the commission of an "abomination" (Hebrew toʿēbâ), a term denoting grave moral or ritual violations that prompted divine removal.^[47] This portrayal frames Sodom's offenses as a pattern of social neglect intertwined with detestable acts, distinct from yet compounding the Genesis incident. New Testament references reinforce sexual dimensions: Jude 1:7 states that Sodom, Gomorrah, and nearby cities "indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh" (Greek heteras sarkos, implying deviation from normative relations), serving as an exemplary punishment involving eternal fire.^[48] ^[49] Similarly, 2 Peter 2:6-10 cites the cities' overthrow and reduction to ashes as a warning against ungodly pursuit of fleshly desires and lawless deeds, linking Sodom's fate to broader corruption.^[50] ^[51] These texts collectively depict Sodom's sins as multifaceted, centered on inhospitality expressed through violent sexual aggression, social injustice, and unnatural lusts warranting total destruction.

Traditional Interpretations Emphasizing Sexual Immorality

In ancient Jewish exegesis, the destruction of Sodom in Genesis 19 was frequently attributed to prevalent homosexual practices, including pederasty and acts defying natural sexual order. Philo of Alexandria, in his work On Abraham, described the Sodomites as indulging in "unlawful forms of intercourse" such as the pursuit of males by males, likening their behavior to beasts in rut and emphasizing pederasty as a hallmark of their depravity.^[6] Flavius Josephus, in Antiquities of the Jews (Book 1, Chapter 11), portrayed the Sodomites' assault on Lot's angelic visitors as an attempt at sexual violation, driven by their impudence and rejection of natural relations, resulting in divine blindness and annihilation.^[52] These interpretations framed such acts not as isolated vices but as symptomatic of a societal inversion where lust supplanted restraint, eroding communal bonds.^[6] The term "sodomy" emerged from this biblical episode, denoting anal intercourse—particularly between males—as the paradigmatic "sin of Sodom" in Late Latin (peccatum Sodomiticum) and medieval Christian usage, reflecting the view that Sodom's fate exemplified judgment on deviations from procreative heterosexuality.^[53] Early Christian writers built on this, seeing the Genesis narrative's demand to "know" the male visitors (Genesis 19:5) as unambiguous homosexual intent, rejected even when Lot offered his daughters, underscoring an unnatural preference for same-sex relations.^[54] New Testament texts reinforced this emphasis, with Jude 1:7 citing Sodom and Gomorrah for "giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh" (Greek: sarkos heteras), traditionally understood as homosexual pursuits akin to the angels' non-human nature yet extending to male-male eroticism as a violation of created sexual dimorphism.^[55] Similarly, 2 Peter 2:6-10a condemns Sodom's "lawless deeds" in a context decrying "sensuality" (aselgeia) and "polluting the flesh," linking the cities' overthrow to unchecked sexual license that mirrored fallen angels' rebellion against divine order.^[56] In these views, sexual immorality served as the causal core of Sodom's corruption, precipitating total societal decay by inverting natural hierarchies and inviting retributive fire as empirical divine response to persistent deviance.^[6]

Modern Alternative Views and Critiques

Some modern interpreters, particularly in progressive theological circles since the late 20th century, have reframed Sodom's destruction as primarily a matter of inhospitality or failure to aid the poor, drawing selectively from Ezekiel 16:49, which lists pride, excess, idleness, and neglect of the needy as Sodom's "iniquity."^[57] This view posits the demand to "know" Lot's angelic guests in Genesis 19:5 as a violation of ancient Near Eastern hospitality norms rather than sexual intent, thereby decoupling the narrative from condemnation of homosexuality.^[58] Such interpretations have been critiqued for textual selectivity, as Ezekiel 16:50 immediately appends "they committed abomination toevah before me," a term echoing Leviticus 18:22's designation of male same-sex intercourse as an abomination, suggesting sexual deviance as integral to Sodom's guilt rather than incidental.^[59]^[60] The Genesis account's explicit mob demand for sexual access to males, paralleled in Judges 19's similar assault on a visitor termed a "disgraceful nevalah" involving rape, underscores erotic aggression as the precipitating outrage, not mere rudeness to strangers.^[61] New Testament references, including Jude 1:7's attribution to "sexual immorality" and "unnatural desire" for "flesh of another kind," further link Sodom to homoerotic pursuit over generic inhospitality.^[6] Emphasizing social injustice as exhaustive ignores the biblical pattern of compounding sins, where economic neglect accompanies but does not eclipse sexual "outrage" as the catalyst for judgment, as evidenced by the narrative's focus on the angels' male form triggering the assault.^[62] Critiques highlight how these alternative readings often stem from post-1960s efforts to align scripture with contemporary sexual ethics, minimizing homosexuality's role amid institutional biases in academia and media toward normalizing such practices, which privileges ideological conformity over holistic exegesis.^[63] A comprehensive textual analysis demands integrating all cited faults—social, prideful, and sexual—with the latter's narrative prominence as the immediate divine trigger, consistent with ancient Jewish and early Christian attestations of Sodom as emblematic of same-sex sin.^[6]^[61]

Cultural and Religious Legacy

In Abrahamic Traditions

In Judaism, the narrative of Sodom's destruction appears in Genesis 19:1-29, depicting the men of the city surrounding Lot's house to sexually assault his male angelic visitors, prompting God to rain fire and brimstone upon the cities as retribution for their wickedness. Talmudic expansions in Sanhedrin 109a-b elaborate on Sodom's societal depravity, including laws that penalized acts of charity with fines or death, and customs like stretching guests taller than beds or amputating those too short, fostering a culture of isolationism and cruelty amid material abundance that bred haughtiness.^[64] These texts retain the Genesis emphasis on sexual vice alongside inhospitality and bloodshed, as evidenced by the mob's demand in Genesis 19:5. Midrashic interpretations, such as those in Genesis Rabbah, underscore Lot's personal flaws—including his initial choice to dwell near Sodom for its fertility (Genesis 13:10-13) and his offer of his daughters to the mob (Genesis 19:8)—yet affirm his relative righteousness, as he urged restraint and hosted the angels, contrasting the city's total corruption.^[65] In Christianity, Sodom symbolizes divine judgment on sexual perversion, explicitly invoked in the New Testament Epistle of Jude 1:7, which states that Sodom, Gomorrah, and surrounding cities "indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire," serving as an example of eternal fire for those who similarly deviate.^[16] Patristic writers reinforced this, with Augustine of Hippo decrying Sodom-like acts as "shameful acts against nature" that nations and individuals must detest and punish to avoid similar ruin, linking them to broader unnatural vices.^[66] Early church teachings consistently viewed the Genesis account as a caution against sodomy, interpreting the attempted assault on angels as emblematic of rejecting natural relations for male-male lust, as echoed in 2 Peter 2:6-8 portraying Lot as tormented by the lawless deeds around him.^[67] In Islam, the Quran describes the people of Lut (Lot) in Surah Al-A'raf 7:80-84 as committing an immorality unprecedented among worlds: approaching men lustfully instead of women, leading to their destruction via an overwhelming cry and a shower of clay stones, with only Lut and believers spared. This account parallels Genesis but centers the sin on inverting natural sexual order, as Lut warns his people of defying Allah's messengers by forsaking women for males, resulting in inverted communities overturned by divine intervention.^[68] These traditions converge on Sodom as a historical archetype of collective moral inversion—encompassing pride, injustice, and distortion of innate relational hierarchies—culminating in empirical catastrophe, underscoring causal consequences of sustained defiance against divinely ordained norms without mitigation by repentance or hospitality.^[69]^[16]

Influence on Ethics and Warnings Against Vice

The narrative of Sodom's destruction has served as a cautionary archetype in ethical teachings across Abrahamic traditions, emphasizing vices such as pride, excess, and neglect of the vulnerable as precursors to societal collapse. Ezekiel 16:49 explicitly identifies Sodom's iniquity as arrogance, overabundance of food leading to idleness, prosperous complacency, and refusal to aid the poor and needy, framing these as root causes of divine judgment rather than isolated moral lapses.^[70]^[47] This portrayal underscores a causal mechanism wherein unchecked self-indulgence erodes communal bonds and invites retribution, influencing rabbinic and patristic commentaries that warn against similar patterns of elite detachment from the destitute as harbingers of downfall.^[63] Complementing this, New Testament texts like Jude 1:7 highlight Sodom's indulgence in sexual immorality and pursuit of "strange flesh" (Greek sarkos heteras, denoting unnatural relations), positioning the city's fate as an exemplar of judgment on deviant appetites that defy created order.^[48]^[55] Early Jewish and Christian interpreters, including Philo of Alexandria and the authors of the Testament of Naphtali, linked these acts to broader abominations, deriving ethical proscriptions against homosexual practices and coercive sexuality as violations precipitating communal ruin.^[6] This biblical model informed historical legal frameworks, such as medieval canon law and English common law precedents like the 1533 Buggery Act, which criminalized "sodomy" — anal intercourse between men or with animals — explicitly invoking Sodom's precedent to deter behaviors seen as analogous to the city's attempted violation of hospitality and natural law.^[71] In contemporary ethical discourse, the Sodom motif persists as a warning against moral relativism that normalizes prideful autonomy, economic gluttony, and inversion of sexual norms, with proponents arguing these mirror causal factors in observed societal declines, such as family fragmentation and urban decay, prioritizing scriptural precedents over evolving cultural tolerances. Critics of progressive reinterpretations, which downplay sexual elements in favor of solely social failings, contend that such views selectively excise Jude's emphasis on perversion, undermining the holistic biblical critique of vice as cumulatively destructive.^[72] This preventive orientation prioritizes averting analogous downfalls through adherence to delineated boundaries, evidenced in ongoing theological exhortations against emulating Sodom's complacency amid prosperity.^[73]

Toponymic and Geographical Uses

Historical Sites

Various archaeological sites near the Dead Sea have been proposed as candidates for the biblical Sodom, based on geographical alignment with Genesis 13:10–12's description of a fertile plain east of the Jordan River and evidence of ancient destruction layers. These proposals remain speculative, lacking definitive epigraphic or artifactual confirmation of the toponym "Sodom," and scholarly debate persists over chronological fits with patriarchal-era timelines (circa 2000–1500 BCE).^[2] Bab edh-Dhra, situated approximately 15 kilometers southeast of the Dead Sea in modern Jordan, is a leading southern candidate. Excavations from 1973 to 1981 uncovered a fortified urban center occupied during the Early Bronze Age (roughly 3300–2350 BCE), featuring extensive cemeteries, industrial areas for copper processing, and over 500 charnel houses for secondary burials. The site exhibits signs of abrupt destruction by intense fire around 2350 BCE, with collapsed mud-brick structures and ash layers up to 1 meter thick, followed by abandonment until the Iron Age. Proponents argue this matches the biblical account of fiery overthrow, though the Early Bronze dating precedes most chronological reconstructions of Abraham's era.^[33]^[31] Adjacent Numeira, about 1 kilometer north of Bab edh-Dhra, has been linked to Gomorrah in paired identifications. This smaller Early Bronze Age settlement (circa 2400–2350 BCE) also shows evidence of sudden conflagration, with burned walls and collapsed roofs, suggesting coordinated regional catastrophe.^[31] An alternative northern proposal centers on Tall el-Hammam, 12 kilometers northeast of the Dead Sea's northern tip. This large Middle Bronze Age site (occupied circa 2000–1550 BCE) revealed a 1.5-meter-thick destruction layer dated to approximately 1650 BCE, including pottery shattered by extreme heat (over 2000°C), shocked quartz, and melted metals—indicators of a high-energy event like an airburst or earthquake-induced combustion. The site's size (36 hectares, larger than contemporary Jerusalem) and strategic location fit descriptions of a prominent city in the "kikkar" (circle/plain) of the Jordan. However, a 2021 study proposing a cosmic airburst as the cause was retracted amid methodological disputes, and critics highlight mismatches with biblical southward orientations and post-destruction reoccupation issues.^[2]^[74]^[34] From antiquity through the medieval period, travelers and pilgrims traditionally identified defunct ruins and geological features at the Dead Sea's southern basin—such as salt formations and bitumen outcrops—as Sodom's remnants, influenced by Josephus's first-century descriptions of visible destroyed sites and Byzantine-era maps placing the pentapolis there. These lore-based associations, echoed in accounts by figures like the 12th-century traveler Benjamin of Tudela, preceded modern archaeology but offered no empirical verification beyond topographic lore.^[75]

Modern Place Names

In the United States, several rural hamlets and unincorporated communities retain the name Sodom, typically originating from 19th-century settlements where early residents invoked the biblical city's reputation for moral laxity or rowdiness to describe local conditions. One such locale is the hamlet of Sodom in the town of Johnsburg, Warren County, New York, named around 1800 by settler Samuel Morehouse at the intersection of Sodom Cross Road and Peaceful Valley Road.^[76] This naming reflected the area's nascent character amid frontier hardships, though the community remains sparsely populated today. Another example is Sodom, an unincorporated community in Trumbull County, Ohio, situated in the northeastern part of the state near the Pennsylvania border. Established in the 19th century, it persists as a geographic designation on maps and in local records, underscoring the biblical allusion's persistence in American toponymy without denoting active endorsement of associated biblical vices. Historical place names like Sodom in Connecticut—such as the former designation for areas in Stamford tied to mill-workers' Sabbath-breaking—illustrate similar patterns, though many have evolved or faded; these evoke cultural memory of the Genesis narrative in regional histories.^[77] Outside the U.S., minor locales bearing the name appear in geographic databases across a few countries, but lack prominent modern usage or documentation beyond archival references.

Representations in Entertainment

Literature and Film

In John Milton's epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), the biblical destruction of Sodom serves as an illustrative precedent for divine judgment on human depravity, with the fallen angel Belial invoking the "streets of Sodom" in Book II to argue against further aggression, referencing the violation of hospitality there akin to events in Gibeah (Judges 19). This integration underscores themes of sin's consequences within Milton's broader narrative of the Fall, portraying Sodom not as a central plot but as emblematic of unchecked vice warranting annihilation.^[78] The Marquis de Sade's unfinished novel The 120 Days of Sodom (written 1785, first published 1904) appropriates the biblical motif of urban libertinism to catalog escalating atrocities orchestrated by four wealthy perpetrators secluded in a remote chateau, systematically enumerating 120 sexual "passions" divided by severity.^[79] Far from faithful to Genesis 19, Sade's work inverts the cautionary tale into a philosophical manifesto on absolute liberty, emphasizing sadistic excess over moral rebuke, with the cities' names symbolizing proto-anarchic hedonism rather than specific historical or scriptural fidelity.^[80] The 1962 biblical epic Sodom and Gomorrah, directed by Robert Aldrich with uncredited contributions from Sergio Leone, stars Stewart Granger as Lot and dramatizes the Hebrews' proximity to the cities amid pervasive corruption, including torture and betrayal, before their fiery obliteration.^[81] Premiering in Italy on October 4, 1962, the film—a multinational production shot in Rome and Morocco—deviates substantially from the source by fabricating military alliances, a seductive queen (played by Anouk Aimée), and expanded interpersonal conflicts, prioritizing spectacle and sensuality over the terse Genesis account of inhospitality and angelic intervention.^[82]^[83] Contemporary documentaries reexamine Sodom through archaeological lenses, such as National Geographic's Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin: Sodom & Gomorrah (2023), which investigates Tall el-Hammam in Jordan as a candidate site destroyed circa 1650 BCE by a suspected cosmic airburst, evidenced by melted pottery, shocked quartz, and a 1,500°C temperature spike, while weighing this against the biblical depiction of brimstone rain.^[84] Similarly, the Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse episode on Sodom and Gomorrah (2022) posits cataclysmic events like airbursts or volcanism as historical kernels for the narrative, critiquing traditional interpretations by prioritizing geophysical data over purely theological ones, though fidelity to the moral emphasis of Genesis remains secondary to empirical reconstruction.^[85] These productions highlight ongoing debates, with proponents like archaeologist Steven Collins arguing Tall el-Hammam's sudden desolation aligns with the story's timeline and scale, potentially validating a core event amid interpretive variances.^[86]

Music and Performing Arts

The German thrash metal band Sodom, formed in 1982 in Gelsenkirchen by bassist/vocalist Tom Angelripper and drummer Aggressor, adopted its name from the biblical city to symbolize extremity, destruction, and taboo-breaking aggression, hallmarks of their raw, blackened sound within the Teutonic thrash metal scene.^[87]^[88] The group, part of the "Big Four" alongside Kreator, Destruction, and Tankard, has released over 15 studio albums, with early works like Obsessed by Cruelty (1986) featuring lyrics and cover art evoking apocalyptic judgment and moral outrage akin to Sodom's fate.^[87] Greek author Nikos Kazantzakis penned the play Sodom and Gomorrah, serialized in Nea Estia magazine from March to June 1949, depicting the cities' inhabitants grappling with hubris, injustice, and inevitable divine catastrophe through tragic dialogue and choral elements.^[89] The work, later published in book form as part of Theatro III, critiques human depravity by humanizing figures like Lot amid escalating vice, performed in adaptations emphasizing ethical collapse.^[90] Modern theatrical interpretations include the Youth Theatre of Uzbekistan's Sodom and Gomorrah - XXI (premiered circa 2010s), a plastique-dance production reimagining the biblical destruction as a cautionary spectacle of contemporary societal excess through abstract movement and multimedia.^[91] Such stagings invoke Sodom as a plot device for exploring moral entropy, often without direct scriptural fidelity to prioritize interpretive symbolism.

Other References

Scientific and Geological Analogues

The Dead Sea Transform fault system, a left-lateral strike-slip boundary extending from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba, underlies the region associated with Sodom and drives recurrent seismic activity, with paleoseismic records from sediment cores indicating major earthquakes during the Bronze Age, including disturbed layers at depths corresponding to circa 1900–1600 BCE.^[92] These events can fracture sediments and trigger releases of pressurized fluids or gases from subsurface reservoirs, potentially causing explosive hydrothermal or thermobaric effects that propagate fires across flammable terrains.^[93] Natural bitumen (asphalt) deposits are prolific along the Dead Sea margins, where seeps eject solid blocks that historically surfaced in quantities sufficient for ancient export, as documented by Roman-era observers who named the body Lacus Asphaltites for its tarry emanations.^[94] Bitumen, rich in hydrocarbons and sulfur compounds, ignites readily and burns with intense heat and sulfidic fumes, offering a geological parallel to descriptions of flaming "brimstone" (a term denoting sulfurous matter); seismic ruptures could propel such material aerially, igniting widespread conflagration akin to observed sinkhole-induced gas flares in the modern rift zone.^[95] Geologists have proposed that earthquake-induced liquefaction or venting in bitumen-saturated strata, as evidenced by the slime pits of the Siddim Valley in historical texts corroborated by subsurface mapping, could simulate catastrophic incendiary downpours without invoking extraterrestrial causes.^[96] Excavations at Tall el-Hammam, a Middle Bronze Age settlement in the Jordan Valley approximately 13 km northeast of the Dead Sea, uncovered a destruction horizon dated to around 1650 BCE featuring shocked quartz, melted pottery, and mudbrick vitrification consistent with instantaneous temperatures over 2,000°C across a 25-hectare area.^[37] An initial hypothesis attributed this to a low-altitude cosmic airburst generating a supersonic shockwave and thermal pulse, drawing analogy to the Tunguska event of 1908, but the study faced methodological critiques regarding proxy interpretations and chronological alignments, leading to its retraction in 2025 after peer review confirmed insufficient evidentiary support for the airburst model.^[97]^[37] Alternative causal mechanisms, such as intensified seismic or gas-ignition events within the rift's volatile geology, remain under debate but highlight the region's capacity for abrupt, high-energy devastations mirroring inferred fiery cataclysms.^[93]

Symbolic or Idiomatic Usage

The term "sodomite" originated in the late 14th century from the biblical city of Sodom, referring to a person who engages in sodomy—unnatural sexual intercourse, particularly anal sex between men, as imputed to the inhabitants of Sodom in Genesis 19.^[98]^[53] This association stems from the narrative where men of Sodom demanded to "know" male visitors, interpreted traditionally as an intent to commit homosexual rape, leading to the city's destruction.^[54] Although some contemporary biblical scholars emphasize inhospitality or social injustice as primary sins (citing Ezekiel 16:49), the lexical linkage to sexual deviance persisted in Western languages, appearing in legal codes like England's Buggery Act of 1533, which criminalized such acts under the term derived from Sodom.^[99] "Sodom" and especially "Sodom and Gomorrah" became proverbial symbols in rhetoric for cities or societies steeped in vice, moral corruption, and deserving catastrophic ruin, evoking divine judgment via fire and brimstone as described in Genesis 19:24.^[100] This idiomatic usage dates to early Christian exegesis, where Sodom exemplified God's wrath against unrepentant wickedness, a motif in 16th-century sermons warning of earthly retribution.^[101] In English idiom, the phrase denotes extreme debauchery or ethical decay, as in references to chaotic environments likened to these biblical locales.^[102] In modern political discourse, particularly among conservative Christian commentators, "Sodom" serves as a rhetorical archetype for cultural decline marked by sexual licentiousness and ethical erosion. For instance, evangelist Billy Graham in 1957 likened New York City to Sodom and Gomorrah during a crusade, decrying urban immorality as portending judgment.^[103] Similar invocations appear in critiques of American society, framing phenomena like normalized homosexuality or hedonism as harbingers of downfall akin to Sodom's fate, often drawing from Second Temple Jewish and early church traditions attributing homoerotic sins to the city.^[104]^[6] These usages prioritize the biblical narrative's causal link between vice and destruction over revisionist emphases on non-sexual failings, reflecting a continuity in prophetic warnings against societal hubris.^[72]

References

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https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2013:10-12%3B%2019:24-25&version=ESV
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Where Is Sodom? - Biblical Archaeology Society
Feb 20, 2013 · Sodom and its sister cities are located in the large oval-shaped, fertile plain just north of the Dead Sea called simply ha-kikkar, or “the Disk” (Genesis 13, ...
[3]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019:1-11%3B%2018:20&version=ESV
[4]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2016:49-50&version=ESV
[5]
Arguments Against Locating Sodom at Tall el-Hammam
Dec 10, 2024 · There are two megalithic structures beneath the dead Sea . If it were ever shown that they represent Sodom and Gomorrah…then Dr Collins would ...
[6]
The Ancient Pedigree of Homosexuality as the Sin of Sodom
A tradition within Second Temple Judaism and the primitive church attributes sexual sins, including homosexuality, to Sodom and its neighbors.Abstract · 3. Second Temple Traditions... · 3.2. The Ruin Of Sodom And...
[7]
When Was the Age of the Patriarchs? | ArmstrongInstitute.org
Using this date, the math is easy: Adding 430 years to 1446 b.c.e. (the Exodus) puts Abraham's birth around 1951 b.c.e. with his entry into Canaan 75 years ...
[8]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+18-19&version=ESV
[9]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+18&version=ESV
[10]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+19&version=ESV
[11]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel+16%3A49-50&version=ESV
[12]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+1%3A9-10&version=ESV
[13]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah+23%3A14&version=ESV
[14]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Lamentations+4%3A6&version=ESV
[15]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+10%3A15&version=ESV
[16]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude+1%3A7&version=ESV
[17]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A6-10&version=ESV
[18]
Enduring Word Bible Commentary Genesis Chapter 19
(4-5) The wickedness and depravity of the men of Sodom. Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people ...
[19]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+18%3A20-21%3B19%3A24-25&version=ESV
[20]
https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/destruction-sodom-future-judgment/
[21]
Genesis 19 Commentary | Precept Austin
Jan 18, 2024 · ... (Genesis 13), Lot settled in the city of Sodom. When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness, Lot and his daughters fled ...
[22]
Genesis 13:13 But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly ...
The New Testament references Sodom's sin as a warning (2 Peter 2:6-8, Jude 1:7), illustrating the consequences of living in persistent rebellion against God.Missing: fidelity | Show results with:fidelity
[23]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2%3A6-8%3BJude+1%3A7&version=ESV
[24]
Sodom and Gomorrah | A Historical, Archaeological and Theological ...
Jan 24, 2023 · In this article I will attempt to show and analyze the various viewpoints on the Sodom narrative in the Bible by carefully examining the arguments on both ...
[25]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+19%3A15-17%2C30-38&version=ESV
[26]
https://answersingenesis.org/bible-characters/a-lot-of-righteousness/
[27]
You Asked: How Could Sinful Lot Have Been Righteous?
Feb 7, 2012 · So, at least in Genesis 19, the evidence certainly leans against seeing Lot as righteous. ... flaws Righteous Lot because of the promise to ...
[28]
Genesis 19 - Walking With Giants
He was 'righteous' in that he did not share in Sodom's wickedness; however his was a weak and flawed character, lacking Abraham's moral strength and godliness.
[29]
Locating Sodom: A Critique of the Northern Proposal
The evidence fails to support Steven Collins's proposal of Tall el-Hammam as biblical Sodom but instead points to Bab edh-Dhra south of the Dead Sea.
[30]
https://www.bibleplaces.com/blog/2012/01/biblical-problems-with-locating-sodom/
[31]
The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom & Gomorrah
The Bible tells of not one, but two, traumatic events that occurred in the final days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Genesis 14 describes an attack against the Cities ...
[32]
Bab adh-Dhra - Expedition Dead Sea Plain
Van Hattem (1981) carried this suggestion further by identifying Bab edh-Dhra' as Sodom. In a recent article which analyzes the tradition of Sodom Rast has ...
[33]
Uncovering the Biblical City of Sodom | ArmstrongInstitute.org
In fact, 19th-century geographers consistently placed Sodom and Gomorrah north and east of the Dead Sea. And continuing on into the 20th century, in spite of ...
[34]
Biblical Problems Identifying Tall el-Hammam as Sodom
Mar 10, 2021 · The fact that Sodom, in the days of the prophets, was still a waste land, rules out Tall el-Hammam as being Sodom as it was occupied again at ...<|separator|>
[35]
Part 2 - Finding Sodom and Gomorrah with Dr. Titus Kennedy
Jul 11, 2025 · Summary: Part 2 summarizing a recent podcast where Dr. Titus Kennedy talked about the location of Sodom and Gomorrah, southeast of the Dead Sea.
[36]
Locating Sodom: A Critique of the Northern Proposal
Feb 26, 2016 · The author points to the burn layer at Numeira, testifying to the fiery destruction that overcame the city at the end of the EB III period. As ...
[37]
RETRACTED ARTICLE: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el ...
Potential written record of destruction. There is an ongoing debate as to whether Tall el-Hammam could be the biblical city of Sodom (Silvia and references ...
[38]
Retraction Note: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el ...
Apr 24, 2025 · The claims that an airburst event destroyed the Middle Bronze Age city of Tall el-Hammam appear to not be sufficiently supported by the data in the Article.Missing: study | Show results with:study
[39]
Modeling how a Powerful Airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, a ...
Jun 28, 2024 · In this study, we investigate and present new evidence for shock-fractured quartz, brecciated meltglass, and the SW-to-NE orientation of melted ...
[40]
https://worldisraelnews.com/archaeologist-says-jordan-sites-match-biblical-account-of-sodoms-fall/
[41]
https://unitedwithisrael.org/watch-archaeologist-claims-new-evidence-in-jordan-confirms-biblical-destruction-of-sodom-and-gomorrah/
[42]
Was Biblical Sodom Destroyed by a Cosmic Blast?
Oct 1, 2021 · The study further suggests that this explosion could be the basis for the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19). A number of ...
[43]
Was Sodom destroyed by a comet? Journal pulls controversial study
Jul 14, 2025 · Scientific Reports retracts 2021 Tall el-Hammam “airburst” paper after reviewers say the evidence does not add up.
[44]
The Search for Sodom: Claims and Controversy Part 2
Jan 3, 2025 · During evening lectures we learned about the evidence for the alleged Sodom site. ... Tall el-Hammam, possibly Sodom. The remaining ramparts of ...
[45]
Finding Sodom and Gomorrah with Archeologist Dr. Titus Kennedy
Jun 27, 2025 · Dr. Titus Kennedy talked about the location of Sodom and Gomorrah, which he believes to be southeast of the Dead Sea.
[46]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2019&version=NIV
[47]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ezekiel%2016%3A49-50&version=NIV
[48]
Jude 1:7 In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around ...
In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of ...Audio · Cross · Study
[49]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jude%201%3A7&version=NIV
[50]
2 Peter 2:6 if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ...
He reduced to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and condemned them to overthrow, making them an example to people who might in future be living godless ...
[51]
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Peter%202%3A6-10&version=NIV
[52]
Josephus: The Complete Works - Christian Classics Ethereal Library
4. But God was much displeased at their impudent behavior, so that he both smote those men with blindness, and condemned the Sodomites to universal destruction.
[53]
Sodomy - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Compare Late Latin peccatum Sodomiticum "anal sex," literally "the sin of Sodom," from Latin Sodoma. In Middle English also synne Sodomyke (early 14c.). also ...
[54]
What does the Bible say about anal sex? - Got Questions
May 26, 2023 · The words sodomy and sodomize come from this biblical account. Sodomy is, literally, “the sin of Sodom.” The strict understanding of sodomy, ...
[55]
What is the strange flesh in Jude 1:7? | GotQuestions.org
Jul 8, 2025 · The traditional understanding of this passage is that the “strange flesh” refers to homosexual desire similar to what was exhibited in Sodom in Genesis 19.
[56]
Enduring Word Bible Commentary 2 Peter Chapter 2
The sin of angels can be thought of in two main ways: in the ... Yet the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah tormented his righteous soul from day to day.
[57]
What Did God Hate About Sodom? | Catholic Answers Magazine
Jul 28, 2025 · In later biblical writings Sodom becomes a symbol of depravity and consequent divine judgment. ... sins of social injustice. On the other ...<|separator|>
[58]
The Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is not about "Hospitality"
Dec 4, 2012 · The sin of Sodom “has nothing to do with homosexual acts, or homosexual rape. Rather,” they said, “It is only about violations of hospitality rules of the ...
[59]
What was the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? | GotQuestions.org
Jan 27, 2023 · It is the same word used in Leviticus 18:22, where homosexuality is an “abomination.” Jude 1:7 also weighs in: “Sodom and Gomorrah and the ...
[60]
[PDF] IDENTIFYING THE SIN OF SODOM IN EZEKIEL 16:49–50
Many affirming scholars triumphantly assert that based upon Ezekiel's teaching, Sodom's sin cannot be homosexuality especially as reflected in today's “loving, ...
[61]
https://answersingenesis.org/contradictions-in-the-bible/what-was-primary-sin-sodom-gomorrah/
[62]
What Was the Sin of Sodom and Gomorrah? - Stand to Reason
Mar 8, 2013 · The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were guilty of many things, but foremost among them was the sin of homosexuality.
[63]
Pride Month and Ezekiel 16:49 - Denny Burk
Jun 3, 2022 · When Ezekiel says that Sodom had “pride” and “committed abominations,” he is explicitly linking Sodom's sin to the homosexual acts that God ...
[64]
Don't Be Fair - Ethics 5:10 - OCJewish.com - Chabad.org
In the words of the Talmud: "The men of Sodom were corrupted only on account of the good which G‑d had lavished upon them... They said: Since there comes forth ...
[65]
Who Was Lot in the Bible? - Guest Columnists - Parshah - Chabad.org
The Talmud describes many of the sins and cruelties of the inhabitants of Sodom, including immorality and bloodshed. But they were particularly against the ...
[66]
Nations Are Accountable to God for the Sin of Sodomy
In his Confessions, St. Augustine condemns the unnautral sin against nature of sodomy and homosexuality and warns that nations and individuals will be ...Missing: Patristic fathers Origen
[67]
What the Early Church Believed: Homosexuality - Catholic Answers
... sodomy; and they refer ... “[T]hose shameful acts against nature, such as were committed in Sodom, ought everywhere and always to be detested and punished.Missing: Origen | Show results with:Origen
[68]
https://islamicstudies.info/tafheem.php?sura=7&verse=80&to=84
[69]
The Isolationists of Sodom and Gomorrah - Chabad.org
And so the prophet Yechezkel (Ezekiel) describes the sin of Sodom as “arrogance,” saying “She and her daughters had plenty of bread and untroubled tranquillity; ...
[70]
Ezekiel 16:49 Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom
This was the sin of your sister Sodom and her daughters: Pride, too much food, undisturbed peace, and failure to help the poor and needy.Audio · Cross · Study
[71]
[PDF] Sodomy Laws: The Government's Vehicle to Impose the Majority's ...
This article will trace the origin of sodomy laws from biblical times to the ... In recent years, many states, which in the past had sodomy laws in ...
[72]
The Sin of Sodom and Implications Today — Quest - Kirk Durston
Jul 22, 2022 · The sin of Sodom is often thought to be sexual immorality while others argue it was a failing of social justice.
[73]
Don't Neglect the Needy (Ezekiel 16:49) - Radical.net
Jul 8, 2025 · Ezekiel 16:49 urges us to repent from spiritual complacency. God, we pray that you would forgive us and free us from the guilt of Sodom.
[74]
Journal 'Nature' Retracts Study About Ancient City's Destruction ...
Sep 22, 2021 · Journal 'Nature' Retracts Study About Ancient City's Destruction Linked to Biblical Story of Sodom. Around 1650 B.C.E., the Bronze Age city of ...
[75]
https://www.bibleplaces.com/blog/2006/05/sodom-identified/
[76]
[PDF] Important Places – The First Hundred Years - Home - Warren Public
Hamlet - Sodom. Sodom was named by Samuel Morehouse who came to this place in 1800 and lived on the corner of Sodom Cross Road and Peaceful Valley Road. He ...
[77]
A PLACE CALLED SODOM, CONN. - Hartford Courant
Jun 6, 1994 · In Stamford, for example, the place known now as Turn of River was called Sodom “because of the Sabbath-breaking mill-workers there.” And in ...
[78]
Paradise Lost: Book I | RPO - Representative Poetry Online
John Milton, Paradise Lost. 2nd edn. 1674. 1Of Man's first disobedience, and ... Sodom and of members of the tribe of Benjamin in Gibeah (Genesis 19:1 ...Missing: exact | Show results with:exact
[79]
120 Days of Sodom | Sadism, Libertinism, Marquis de Sade
Sep 6, 2025 · 120 Days of Sodom, a sexually explicit account of several months of debauchery, written in 1785 in French as Cent vingt journées de Sodome, ...
[80]
'The most impure tale ever written': how The 120 Days of Sodom ...
Oct 7, 2016 · ... novel called The 120 Days of Sodom, or The School of Libertinage. Though Sade never saw his scroll again, its story was far from over.<|separator|>
[81]
Sodom and Gomorrah (1962) - IMDb
Rating 5.7/10 (2,395) Sex, torture, and betrayal in Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, leader of the Hebrews, believes that his people can co-exist with the Sodomites--a disastrous ...
[82]
REVIEW: "SODOM AND GOMORRAH" (1962) STARRING ...
Aug 10, 2024 · Cast with English, French, Italian, and Spanish actors, the Biblical epic was filmed in Rome and Morocco. It debuted in Italy on October 4, 1962 ...
[83]
Sodom and Gomorrah (1963) - Rotten Tomatoes
Rating 50% (8) Hebrew leader Lot (Stewart Granger) leads his people to a fertile valley adjacent to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, hotbeds of vice and corruption.
[84]
Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin: Sodom & Gomorrah (Full ...
Dec 24, 2023 · Buried Secrets of the Bible with Albert Lin: Sodom & Gomorrah (Full Episode) | National Geographic. 5M views · 1 year ago #SodomAndGomorrah ...
[85]
Ancient Apocalypse: Sodom and Gomorrah | Full History Documentary
Jul 6, 2023 · The Ascent of Civilization | Extra Long Documentary: https://youtu.be/BdYiQiIdoI8 The biblical story of Sodom. It's stood for thousands of ...
[86]
Discovering the Lost City of Sodom (w/Dr. Steve Collins) - YouTube
Jan 5, 2023 · How strong is the archaeological evidence for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah at Tall el-Hammam? Our guest for this episode is Dr.
[87]
Sodom - Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives
Jul 20, 2002 · Contrary to reports of the band forming in 1981, Sodom was started by Tom Angelripper and Aggressor in 1982 in the western German industrial ...Sodom · Witching Metal · The Arsonist · Obsessed by Cruelty
[88]
Eternal devastation: the untold story of thrash metal's other Big Four
Aug 27, 2020 · First off the starting blocks were Sodom. Hailing from Gelsenkirchen, in the industrial region of the Ruhr Valley in western Germany, they ...
[89]
Sodom and Gomorrah - kazantzaki.gr
Sodom and Gomorrah · N. Kazantzakis, Sodoma ke Gomorra, Nea Estia vol. 45, issues 520-527 (1.3.-15.6. · N. Kazantzakis, Theatro III. Tragodies me diafora themata.
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Two plays : Sodom and Gomorrah and Comedy : a tragedy in one ...
Aug 4, 2020 · Two plays : Sodom and Gomorrah and Comedy : a tragedy in one act ; Publication date: 1982 ; Publisher: St. Paul, Minn. : North Cetnral Pub. Co.
[91]
SODOM AND GOMORRAH - XXI - Nabi
The Youth Theatre of Uzbekistan has introduced to the view of an audience its new performance the plastique/dance show SODOM & GOMORRA - XXI, the performance ...
[92]
Dead Sea Chronicles Part VII: Sodom, Gomorrah, and the Seismic ...
Jan 20, 2025 · A thick disturbed zone within the Dead Sea sediment core, assignable to the Sodom and Gomorrah event, occurs at a depth of about 18.5 feet.
[93]
Sodom and Gomorrah: Fires Created by Ignition of Combustible Gase
Bentor explores the version of earthquake destroying the Sodom and Gomorrah cities and causing flood, which explains why Lot and his family escaped “brimstone ...
[94]
Sodom and Gomorrah
Dead Sea salt Sodom Apple, native to the Dead Sea area, with opened fruit ... This gave the Dead Sea its Roman name: Lake Asphaltitis (the Lake of Asphalt).Missing: seeps | Show results with:seeps
[95]
The Dead Sea: Its Forgotten Resource—Asphalt - Cry For Jerusalem
Apr 18, 2021 · One can now begin to imagine in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah along the Dead Sea that a lightning strike might have ignited asphalt in the ...Missing: seeps earthquakes
[96]
"…and the vale of Siddim was full of slime [= bitumen, asphalt?] pits ...
For this reason, it has commonly been taken for granted that pits of bitumen existed in the Dead Sea area, and into which the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fell ...
[97]
Sodom comet paper to be retracted two years after editor's note ...
Apr 23, 2025 · Scientific Reports has retracted a controversial paper claiming to present evidence an ancient city in the Middle East was destroyed by an exploding celestial ...Missing: study | Show results with:study
[98]
Sodomite - Etymology, Origin & Meaning
Late 14c. "late" originates from Old French and Late Latin via Greek, meaning both "one who practices sodomy" and "resident of biblical Sodom."
[99]
Does the Bible Really Say….that Sodomites were sodomites?
Jun 13, 2019 · So, is the story of Sodom actually a story about sodomy? And were the Sodomites actually sodomites? What does Genesis itself say about the ...
[100]
50 Biblical Phrases, Idioms, & Metaphors - World History Encyclopedia
Feb 16, 2022 · To be as old as Methuselah is to be very old. Fire & Brimstone. This is what God rained down on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins.
[101]
A Singular Example of the Wrath of God: The Use of Sodom in ...
Aug 2, 2005 · The story of Sodom was preeminently a warning about God's wrath and its impending manifestation on earth. This note remained in Luther's ...
[102]
SODOM AND GOMORRAH Definition & Meaning - Dictionary.com
Sodom and Gomorrah definition: In the Book of Genesis, the two evil cities that God destroyed with a rain of fire and brimstone (sulfur).Missing: idiomatic | Show results with:idiomatic
[103]
Evangelist Billy Graham compares U.S. to Sodom
Jul 27, 2012 · “When Billy Graham came to Madison Square Garden in 1957, he made comments comparing New York City to Sodom and Gomorrah and was roundly ...Missing: rhetoric | Show results with:rhetoric
[104]
American Sodom - Theopolis Institute
Jan 28, 2016 · Sodom has been a key symbol in the American culture wars. On the one side, we have an aggressive movement among homosexuals that has first decriminalized ...Missing: modern | Show results with:modern