Archaeology

After Jacob’s tense encounter with his father-in-law Laban at Galeed (Gen 31) he resumed his journey home. As he was approaching the land God had promised to him, he had an angelic encounter at a place which he called the “camp of God.”

1 Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim. (Gen. 32:1-2 BEREAN)

Jacob had an encounter with God as he was leaving the land of promise at Bethel (Gen 28:10-17) and had another on his way back. Now, as he returns to face his past and his brother, God again reassures him of divine presence and protection. David assigned two names to the place where he camped. He named it Mahanaim (meaning “two camps”) and, after wrestling with an angel there, also called it Peniel (Genesis 32:30), which means “face of God.”

Sarah, died at the age of 127 years and her husband, Abraham, buried her in the Cave of Machpelah near Hebron. Sarah is the only woman in the Bible whose age at the time of death is recorded. This is a reminder of her importance in God’s plan. Herod the Great memorialized the location of her tomb with one of his massive construction projects in the 1st century BC. 

Since Abraham did not own any land in Canaan, he had to purchase a burial place. He approached the sons of Heth to inquire about purchasing a cave to use as a family tomb. Abraham negotiated with Ephron to purchase a piece of land just east of Hebron for four hundred shekels of silver (Gen 23:17-18).

Many experts do not accept that Tall el-Hammam is Sodom. As I noted in the first article in this series, the prevailing theory for the past century has placed Sodom at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Perhaps even beneath the surface of the Dead Sea. 

It’s hard to go against a century of tradition, and the common belief in a southern location has resulted in several objections to a northern location. To wrap up this series on Tall el-Hammam, let’s look at the common objections raised against a northern location for Sodom.

How well does the date of the destruction of Tall el-Hammam line up with the Bible’s chronology for the destruction of Sodom? We’ve already considered that Tall el-Hammam is in the right place to be Sodom. It’s also been observed that Tall el-Hammam contains the right stuff to be Sodom. However, if Tall el-Hammam’s destruction was hundreds of years before or after the time of Abraham, it can’t be Sodom.

In the previous blog post and accompanying video, we compared the area of Tall el-Hammam with the Bible’s description of the location of Sodom. As a candidate for the ruins of Sodom, Tall el-Hammam definitely meets the Bible’s geographical criteria. If Tall el-Hammam is Sodom, the artifacts from the excavations should also be consistent with the Bible’s description. What have archeologists discovered at Tall el-Hammam?

Size and architecture

The Bible describes Sodom as a fortified city based on the fact that it had a gate. 

The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth (Gen. 19:1 ESV)