Dr. Dylan Johnson

So these would have been ruins by the time biblical writers are composing these stories. So you can kind of imagine that. And maybe I can touch a little bit on the fact that there were archaeological surveys in and around the region. Scholars looking for Sodom and Gomorrah, of course. Serious surveys also going on in the 1970s. Thomas Schaub. and his co-director, Walter Rast.

So these would have been ruins by the time biblical writers are composing these stories. So you can kind of imagine that. And maybe I can touch a little bit on the fact that there were archaeological surveys in and around the region. Scholars looking for Sodom and Gomorrah, of course. Serious surveys also going on in the 1970s. Thomas Schaub. and his co-director, Walter Rast.

So these would have been ruins by the time biblical writers are composing these stories. So you can kind of imagine that. And maybe I can touch a little bit on the fact that there were archaeological surveys in and around the region. Scholars looking for Sodom and Gomorrah, of course. Serious surveys also going on in the 1970s. Thomas Schaub. and his co-director, Walter Rast.

They did a fairly thorough survey of the region in 1973. They do find a couple of sites, Bad-e-Dara, which is an early Bronze Age site. So early Bronze Age is putting us somewhere around 3200 to 2000 BCE, something like that. And this was a fairly big site, and it did come to a fairly dramatic end around the end of the early Bronze Age there.

They did a fairly thorough survey of the region in 1973. They do find a couple of sites, Bad-e-Dara, which is an early Bronze Age site. So early Bronze Age is putting us somewhere around 3200 to 2000 BCE, something like that. And this was a fairly big site, and it did come to a fairly dramatic end around the end of the early Bronze Age there.

They did a fairly thorough survey of the region in 1973. They do find a couple of sites, Bad-e-Dara, which is an early Bronze Age site. So early Bronze Age is putting us somewhere around 3200 to 2000 BCE, something like that. And this was a fairly big site, and it did come to a fairly dramatic end around the end of the early Bronze Age there.

And then about 13 kilometers south of that, they found another site, Numaira. So there we have our two, Sodom and Gomorrah. Pick which one you want to be which. And it also is destroyed around this time period. But again... This puts us about 1,500 years between the destruction of those cities and the composition of those texts.

And then about 13 kilometers south of that, they found another site, Numaira. So there we have our two, Sodom and Gomorrah. Pick which one you want to be which. And it also is destroyed around this time period. But again... This puts us about 1,500 years between the destruction of those cities and the composition of those texts.

And then about 13 kilometers south of that, they found another site, Numaira. So there we have our two, Sodom and Gomorrah. Pick which one you want to be which. And it also is destroyed around this time period. But again... This puts us about 1,500 years between the destruction of those cities and the composition of those texts.

So my inclination then is not that these cities are Sodom and Gomorrah or that the narratives describing their destruction are really connected to these archaeological sites. But what I can imagine is that people...

So my inclination then is not that these cities are Sodom and Gomorrah or that the narratives describing their destruction are really connected to these archaeological sites. But what I can imagine is that people...

So my inclination then is not that these cities are Sodom and Gomorrah or that the narratives describing their destruction are really connected to these archaeological sites. But what I can imagine is that people...

Biblical writers and Israelites and Judahites who living in the region, who would have obviously encountered the strange geological features of the landscape and perhaps see these types of ruins, would have come up with stories explaining how these cities, which nobody could live there at that time, could have existed. Perhaps the landscape was once fertile.

Biblical writers and Israelites and Judahites who living in the region, who would have obviously encountered the strange geological features of the landscape and perhaps see these types of ruins, would have come up with stories explaining how these cities, which nobody could live there at that time, could have existed. Perhaps the landscape was once fertile.

Biblical writers and Israelites and Judahites who living in the region, who would have obviously encountered the strange geological features of the landscape and perhaps see these types of ruins, would have come up with stories explaining how these cities, which nobody could live there at that time, could have existed. Perhaps the landscape was once fertile.

And in fact, we have a biblical description of this area as essentially a Garden of Eden. And it was fertile until they sinned and the region was more or less desolated. So that's kind of what I imagine the history being is ancient encounters with the landscape. You don't need to go any further than the biblical text itself, than the book of Genesis itself. There's two explanations.

And in fact, we have a biblical description of this area as essentially a Garden of Eden. And it was fertile until they sinned and the region was more or less desolated. So that's kind of what I imagine the history being is ancient encounters with the landscape. You don't need to go any further than the biblical text itself, than the book of Genesis itself. There's two explanations.

And in fact, we have a biblical description of this area as essentially a Garden of Eden. And it was fertile until they sinned and the region was more or less desolated. So that's kind of what I imagine the history being is ancient encounters with the landscape. You don't need to go any further than the biblical text itself, than the book of Genesis itself. There's two explanations.

for that possibility, right? One is this group of four kings from the East came and destroyed these cities. And the landscape was always like that, at least in that story. And then Genesis 18 and 19 and some other texts offer an alternative explanation about how that region transformed from what was once a fertile landscape into a desolate place.

for that possibility, right? One is this group of four kings from the East came and destroyed these cities. And the landscape was always like that, at least in that story. And then Genesis 18 and 19 and some other texts offer an alternative explanation about how that region transformed from what was once a fertile landscape into a desolate place.