Dr. Dylan Johnson

So it's not all negative, but it definitely shows us a moment when those motifs and those archetypes would have been of great interest to biblical writers because Ezekiel dedicates essentially an entire chapter to it.

So it's not all negative, but it definitely shows us a moment when those motifs and those archetypes would have been of great interest to biblical writers because Ezekiel dedicates essentially an entire chapter to it.

Right, so 1970s, kind of a decade of great interest in Sodom and Gomorrah. So we have Rast and Shab who are conducting these archaeological surveys all around the southern plain of the Dead Sea. They're finding sites like Badadara and Andumayra. And right around this time in 1976, Italian archaeologists in Syria, in western Syria, discovered a massive archive of an ancient city known as Ebla.

Right, so 1970s, kind of a decade of great interest in Sodom and Gomorrah. So we have Rast and Shab who are conducting these archaeological surveys all around the southern plain of the Dead Sea. They're finding sites like Badadara and Andumayra. And right around this time in 1976, Italian archaeologists in Syria, in western Syria, discovered a massive archive of an ancient city known as Ebla.

Right, so 1970s, kind of a decade of great interest in Sodom and Gomorrah. So we have Rast and Shab who are conducting these archaeological surveys all around the southern plain of the Dead Sea. They're finding sites like Badadara and Andumayra. And right around this time in 1976, Italian archaeologists in Syria, in western Syria, discovered a massive archive of an ancient city known as Ebla.

The city is also extremely ancient. The texts date to sometime around 2300 BCE. So to give you an idea, this is about the time of Sargon of Akkad. These are extremely old texts, but they're very difficult to decipher. Even today, some 50 years after their discovery, you can imagine how difficult it was to decipher them in the initial years after their discovery. Nonetheless,

The city is also extremely ancient. The texts date to sometime around 2300 BCE. So to give you an idea, this is about the time of Sargon of Akkad. These are extremely old texts, but they're very difficult to decipher. Even today, some 50 years after their discovery, you can imagine how difficult it was to decipher them in the initial years after their discovery. Nonetheless,

The city is also extremely ancient. The texts date to sometime around 2300 BCE. So to give you an idea, this is about the time of Sargon of Akkad. These are extremely old texts, but they're very difficult to decipher. Even today, some 50 years after their discovery, you can imagine how difficult it was to decipher them in the initial years after their discovery. Nonetheless,

A certain epigrapher of the expedition, Giovanni Pettinato, he starts trying to work through these texts. He finds a document that seems to be listing various cities, and he notes some of the cities or interprets some of the cities. as nothing else but these cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, Adma, and Bela, or Zoar. And he makes a very ostentatious claim.

A certain epigrapher of the expedition, Giovanni Pettinato, he starts trying to work through these texts. He finds a document that seems to be listing various cities, and he notes some of the cities or interprets some of the cities. as nothing else but these cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, Adma, and Bela, or Zoar. And he makes a very ostentatious claim.

A certain epigrapher of the expedition, Giovanni Pettinato, he starts trying to work through these texts. He finds a document that seems to be listing various cities, and he notes some of the cities or interprets some of the cities. as nothing else but these cities of the plain, Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, Adma, and Bela, or Zoar. And he makes a very ostentatious claim.

He goes to a couple conferences and says, hey, look, these are the names of the cities of the plain. These cities that Rast and Shaub are uncovering, they are showing up in roughly contemporary texts from ancient Syria. They're real. Sodom and Gomorrah did exist.

He goes to a couple conferences and says, hey, look, these are the names of the cities of the plain. These cities that Rast and Shaub are uncovering, they are showing up in roughly contemporary texts from ancient Syria. They're real. Sodom and Gomorrah did exist.

He goes to a couple conferences and says, hey, look, these are the names of the cities of the plain. These cities that Rast and Shaub are uncovering, they are showing up in roughly contemporary texts from ancient Syria. They're real. Sodom and Gomorrah did exist.

Now, the problem was we knew so little about Eblite, which is a very obscure Semitic language, and it's written in really archaic Sumerian signs, basically. So what Pettinato was translating then, first off, wasn't published, so no one could really check his work outside of the members of the excavation, and the other member of the excavation disagreed with him vehemently.

Now, the problem was we knew so little about Eblite, which is a very obscure Semitic language, and it's written in really archaic Sumerian signs, basically. So what Pettinato was translating then, first off, wasn't published, so no one could really check his work outside of the members of the excavation, and the other member of the excavation disagreed with him vehemently.

Now, the problem was we knew so little about Eblite, which is a very obscure Semitic language, and it's written in really archaic Sumerian signs, basically. So what Pettinato was translating then, first off, wasn't published, so no one could really check his work outside of the members of the excavation, and the other member of the excavation disagreed with him vehemently.

So what ultimately happens is this claim, it got scaled back one by one, city by city. The reading was wrong until we finally ultimately understood what this text was, which is describing cities in Mesopotamia. It has nothing to do with Jordan. So it fizzled out, but you can imagine the 1970s there. They're finding the remains of cities. We're finding texts that may mention them.

So what ultimately happens is this claim, it got scaled back one by one, city by city. The reading was wrong until we finally ultimately understood what this text was, which is describing cities in Mesopotamia. It has nothing to do with Jordan. So it fizzled out, but you can imagine the 1970s there. They're finding the remains of cities. We're finding texts that may mention them.

So what ultimately happens is this claim, it got scaled back one by one, city by city. The reading was wrong until we finally ultimately understood what this text was, which is describing cities in Mesopotamia. It has nothing to do with Jordan. So it fizzled out, but you can imagine the 1970s there. They're finding the remains of cities. We're finding texts that may mention them.