A team of archaeologists working in Jordan has discovered new evidence supporting the idea that the ancient city of Sodom was wiped out by a massive asteroid strike, reports jpost.com.
The findings could shed light on the origins of the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which describes how God rained fire and brimstone on the wicked cities.
The researchers, led by Dr. John Bergsma, professor of theology at Franciscan University in Ohio, have excavated the site of Tell el-Hammam, believed to be the location of Sodom. They have found signs of intense heat and destruction on pottery and human bones, as well as evidence of a sudden and violent end to the city’s prosperity.
According to Dr. Bergsma, these clues point to a catastrophic event that occurred about 3,700 years ago, when a large asteroid or comet exploded in the atmosphere above the city, creating a shock wave and fireball that vaporized everything in its path.
The impact would have been more powerful than an atomic bomb and would have caused widespread destruction in the region. Dr. Bergsma suggests that this event may have inspired the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah, which depicts God’s wrath against the sinful cities.
Although some scholars have dismissed the Biblical story as a myth or a metaphor, Dr. Bergsma argues that it is based on historical fact and that it reflects the cultural memory of a real disaster that struck the ancient Near East.
He also notes that other ancient sources, such as Egyptian texts and Mesopotamian tablets, record similar events of cosmic destruction that occurred around the same period.
Dr. Bergsma hopes his research will help bridge the gap between science and faith and reveal more about the history and culture of the ancient world.
“And he looked over the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and over all the face of the land of the plain, and he looked, and behold, the smoke of the earth was gone up as the smoke of a furnace.”
Genesis 19:28, depicting Abraham witnessing the aftermath of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
