Recent archaeological findings and theological analyses suggest that the city of Sodom, described in the Book of Genesis, was destroyed by an explosion with a power 1,000 times greater than an atomic bomb.
Archaeologists and theologians recently collaborated to analyze new discoveries that may explain the mysterious disappearance of the ancient city of Sodom mentioned in the Old Testament. Dr. John Bergsma, a theology professor at the Franciscan University in Ohio, believes that the evidence found at the Tall el-Hammam site in the southern part of the Jordan Valley may indicate an explosion of a massive cosmic object.
The disappearance of Tall el-Hammam about 3,600 years ago had long been a puzzle for archaeologists. No signs of prolonged siege or military conflict were found at the ruins of the city. However, other indications pointed to a catastrophic cause of destruction.
One of the factors that caught Bergsma’s attention was the traces of extreme heating on fragments of pottery, human skeletons, and other artifacts. According to the scientist, this suggests a sudden, high-temperature destructive event.
Additionally, Trinity glass fragments were found on pottery shards at Tall el-Hammam—residue formed on the desert surface after nuclear bomb tests on Trinity on July 16, 1945, near Alamogordo, New Mexico. This material mainly consists of sandstone containing quartz grains and feldspar, melted by an atomic explosion.
The presence of Trinity confirms the theory of a high-energy event, such as an explosion or asteroid impact, that occurred in this region. Bergsma also noted the unique condition of human remains at the excavation site.
“The human skeletons remained intact until the middle of the spine, after which only traces of burning are visible, and the upper part of the body is missing,” he described. “Significant evidence was found that a massive thermal explosion from the sky at an altitude of about 25 degrees above the horizon incinerated these two cities on the Jordanian side of the river.”
Stephen Collins, dean of the College of Archaeology at Trinity Southwest University and chief archaeologist at Tall el-Hammam, proposed a theory that the aerial explosion over the city could have been even larger than the event in the Tunguska taiga in 1908.
According to NASA, on June 30, 1908, an asteroid entered the Earth’s atmosphere and exploded in the sky over Siberia. Local witnesses in the sparsely populated region reported a fiery ball, a large explosion, massive forest fires, and kilometers of fallen trees. Due to the remoteness of the event, it did not attract much attention. The first scientific expedition reached the area only in 1927 but still found sufficient evidence of destruction caused by shockwaves and the thermal explosion from the aerial burst.
As reported by CBN News, Collins co-authored a paper confirming that the city was destroyed by a “thermal event.”
“The violent conflagration that ended Tall el-Hammam’s existence left melted pottery, scorched foundation stones, and several feet of ash and debris mixed in a dark-gray mass, as if in a kitchen blender,” he noted.
Collins, in collaboration with archaeologist Phillip J. Silvia, wrote that the “physical evidence from Tall el-Hammam and nearby sites indicates a high-impact thermal and blast event, consistent with what is described in Genesis 19.” In this paper, they concluded that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by the aerial explosion of a meteorite.
The article, initially published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports in 2021 but updated in May of the same year, supports these conclusions. Using a supercomputer to analyze on-site data, the authors suggested that the destructive force at Tall el-Hammam was at least 15 megatons. The bombing of Hiroshima had a power of 15 kilotons, equivalent to the explosive force of 15,000 tons of TNT. Tunguska’s estimated damage was 5 megatons or 5 million tons of TNT, according to the article.
Using the supercomputer for data analysis, the authors suggested that the destructive force at Tall el-Hammam was at least 15 megatons. The bombing of Hiroshima had a power of 15 kilotons, equivalent to the explosive force of 15,000 tons of TNT. Tunguska’s estimated damage was 5 megatons or 5 million tons of TNT, according to the article.
CBN News reported that Collins, in collaboration with a team of researchers, used a supercomputer to analyze the data and concluded that the destructive force at Tall el-Hammam was at least 15 megatons. The bombing of Hiroshima had a power of 15 kilotons, equivalent to the explosive force of 15,000 tons of TNT. Tunguska’s estimated damage was 5 megatons or 5 million tons of TNT, according to the article.
The authors used a supercomputer to analyze on-site data and suggested that the destructive force at Tall el-Hammam was at least 15 megatons. The bombing of Hiroshima had a power of 15 kilotons, equivalent to the explosive force of 15,000 tons of TNT. Tunguska’s estimated damage was 5 megatons or 5 million tons of TNT, according to the article.
The book of Genesis 19:27-28 describes the aftermath in the valley: “Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.”
The high-energy aerial explosion also seems to have caused the formation of a large amount of salt, reminiscent of the account in Genesis 19 of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt, Relevant reports.
“As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, ‘Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!'” — Genesis 19:17
“The salt was thrown upward due to high shock pressure,” said James Kennett, honorary professor of Earth science at the University of California. “And it is entirely possible that the impact partially hit the Dead Sea, which is rich in salt.”
Bergsma told Relevant that he is convinced that what archaeologists found explains what happened to the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
“It really changed my view of the map of the Old Testament because what it indicated to me that sounded too fantastic to be history… was actually shown to be a historical event,” he said.
Source: CBN
