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The Torah (Pentateuch of Moses) tells and tells many stories when G-d punished humanity for its sins. One of these cases is the fall of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. , whose inhabitants were not particularly holiness and righteousness. According to biblical accounts, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by G-d for sins such as idolatry and debauchery are the most serious sins, to which the Lord pays attention first of all . In the literal sense of the word, these cities were burned to the ground. Heavenly fire and brimstone came down from the sky and consumed all the inhabitants of these cities. The Haggadah (part of the Oral Law, which is not part of Halacha, that is, not having the character of a religious-legal regulation) says that Sodom serves as the embodiment and symbol of depravity. And even such a righteous man as Abraham was unable to save the inhabitants of these cities, entering into an argument with the Almighty in order to avert His wrath and not punish sinners along with the righteous. But even ten righteous people were not found in Sodom and Gomorrah. The first biblical mention of these cities is contained in the description of the borders of Canaan (an ancient country on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; the Torah says that this is the Land Promised by G-d to Abraham and his descendants, flowing with milk and honey - Eretz Israel). These cities are said to lie east of Beth-el in the vicinity of the Jordan River. Another source states that Sodom and Gomorrah were located west of the southern tip of the Dead Sea (although some scholars believe it was near the northern tip), but the exact location is now unknown. There is a hypothesis about a geological cataclysm that befell this area. And that now the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah are on the seabed. The etymology of the names of these cities comes from the Hebrew word סְדוֹם - Sodom - which translated from Hebrew means “burning”, and Gomorrah - עֲמוֹרָה - “immersion, drowning”. The Torah says that on the eve of the destruction of the cities, Abraham received the G-d, who appeared to him in the form of three men at the grove of Mamre. Having learned about the impending punishment, Abraham, who had a nephew Lot (the only righteous man in these cities) who settled in Sodom, asked the Lord to spare the cities for the sake of the righteous who could be there, and received a promise that these cities will be pardoned if at least ten righteous people are found in them. But, unfortunately, there were no righteous people. One interesting incident connected with the story of these two cities is that of Lot, who in those days lived in the territory of Sodom and Gomorrah with his wife and two daughters. The angels directed Lot and his family to flee to the mountains, but Lot objected to them and suggested fleeing to the small city of Zoar, located closer to the mountains. God agreed to Lot’s proposal and promised not to destroy this city “to please” him. Immediately after Lot and his family fled, fire and brimstone rained down from heaven and everything was burned. God told them not to look back at what was happening to the cities, but Lot's wife disobeyed the prohibition, looked around and turned into a pillar of salt. By the way, not far from the shore of the Dead there is a rock shaped like a woman dressed in a veil or a long cloak. Perhaps this rock is Lot's wife, turned into a pillar of salt... Lot was afraid to live in Zoar, so he left the city and began to live in a cave with his daughters. The daughters, left without husbands, decided to get their father drunk and have sex with him in order to give birth to descendants from him and restore their tribe. First the eldest did this, the next day the youngest did so; both became pregnant by their father. The eldest gave birth to Moab, the ancestor of the Moabites, and the youngest gave birth to Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites. Interesting Facts:
The code of Sodomite laws included the following provisions: a. Any foreigner found in the area is allowed to rob and mock him. b. The duty of the Sodom judge is to ensure that every wanderer leaves the country penniless. c. Anyone seen giving bread to a beggar is put to death. d. Anyone who invites a foreigner to a wedding will be stripped of all their clothing as punishment. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah shows all of humanity that the Creator is absolutely not indifferent to how people live on Earth, how they act towards each other. This biblical story is a clear example of what not to do. Would you like to receive newsletters directly to your email?Subscribe and we will send you the most interesting articles every week! SODOM AND GOMORRAH It is easy to mistake the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah for fantasy. Indeed, the story of two cities destroyed by “fire and brimstone” for the sinful behavior of their inhabitants seems far-fetched. However, archaeological research confirms the existence of these cities and their terrible death. The story of Sodom and Gomorrah takes us back to the early period of Jewish history, long before the people of Israel settled in the Promised Land. The ancestors of the Jews led a semi-nomadic lifestyle, trading with neighbors, moving from one region of the Middle East to another in search of new pastures for livestock. Their leader during the time of Sodom and Gomorrah was the patriarch Abraham, revered as the founding father through his son Isaac by all the Jews, and through his other son Ishmael by all the Arabs. Abraham plays a prominent role in both the Old Testament and the Koran, where his life story is told essentially the same way. If we interpret biblical chronology literally, the events described took place around 2100 BC. e. Abraham was born in “Ur of the Chaldeans,” which is generally considered to be the Sumerian city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq). His family moved from there to Harran (northern Mesopotamia), where his father died. It was then, as stated in the Book of Genesis (12:1-5), that God revealed his fate to Abraham. Abraham had to leave Mesopotamia and settle in Canaan (present-day Palestine): “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and I will make your name great.” Taking his wife and relative Lot along with their household, Abraham headed to Canaan. After a short stay in Egypt (while there was a famine in Canaan), Abraham and Lot settled in the south of Canaan and took up cattle breeding. A conflict arose between the shepherds of Abraham and Lot over the right to use pastures, so Abraham proposed to separate. Lot and his family migrated further east to the plain on the other side of the Dead Sea (modern Jordan) and pitched their tents near the city of Sodom. The plain was “watered with water like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.” In modern times, the area is a barren wasteland with an oppressively hot climate and extremely scarce water resources. However, in the time of Lot, there were five prosperous cities on the plain: Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, Admah and Zoar. Ruled by five kings, they were powerful and wealthy enough to attack and defeat a coalition of Mesopotamian rulers. According to the Book of Genesis, all this was to change in one day. The Bible constantly refers to the “wickedness” of the inhabitants of the five cities, especially Sodom and Gomorrah. The nature of this depravity, which is usually mistaken for a tendency towards sexual perversion, remains not entirely clear. But among the sins of the Sodomites, inhospitality occupied one of the first places, and their downfall was only hastened by the rude treatment of the two angels whom Lot invited into his home as honored guests. The residents of Sodom demanded that Lot take them outside and began to break down the door, but were blinded by the angels, who announced to Lot that God had sent them to punish the city; he must immediately gather his family and seek refuge in the mountains, under no circumstances looking back. Lot took his wife and daughters and left the city, which soon turned into smoking ruins. His wife, as you know, violated the ban, turned around to look and turned into a pillar of salt. Lot's daughters and their father took refuge in a mountain cave; they were afraid that they were the only living people in the world. Then follows one of the colorful, but not entirely decent passages that often appear in the texts of the Old Testament. Lot's daughters got their father drunk and took turns sleeping with him; as a result, both conceived sons from him. These sons became the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites - Jordanian tribes who later turned into sworn enemies of the Israelites. After this we hear no more about Lot. As for Abraham, he observed the disaster from a safe distance from southern Palestine. When he looked in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah, he “...saw smoke rising from the earth like smoke from a furnace.” All the cities on the plain were destroyed by an angry God. No matter how you look at this story, it is replete with colorful details. The episode about Lot and his daughters is clearly a Hebrew “moral story,” invented for an almost comical purpose: to explain how “wicked” the Moabite and Ammonite enemies of the Israelites were, literally and figuratively. It is not difficult to guess the origin of the idea of turning Lot's wife into a pillar of salt. The Dead Sea is so rich in salt that fish cannot survive in it, and its coastline is dotted with columns of crystalline salt in a variety of shapes. The chance resemblance between one of these columns and a human figure could well give rise to the story of a man turned into a pillar of salt. This area is also very rich in native sulfur, which is sometimes found in the form of small balls. Could this circumstance give rise to the legend that God once brought sulfur (fire) rain down on the earth? Analogies with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah can be found in the myths of other peoples. For example, in the Greek myth of Orpheus, he managed to save his wife Eurydice from Hades only on the condition that she would not look back when she left the Underworld; she looked back, and Orpheus lost her forever. The story of the visit of two angels is very similar to another story from ancient myths as retold by the poet Ovid. It tells how the gods Mercury and Jupiter, who took on the form of mortals, came to a city in Phrygia (now central Turkey) and were unpleasantly surprised by the unfriendliness of the local residents. In retaliation for their ill treatment, the gods destroyed the entire city, sparing only a couple of elderly poor people who welcomed them into their home and offered them food. In fact, the story of a city being razed to the ground for the sins of its inhabitants was very popular. One does not have to look far for examples, so it is tempting to interpret the story of Sodom and Gomorrah in a purely folkloric sense. The best description of the surroundings of the Dead Sea in the 1st century. n. e. belongs to the Jewish historian Josephus, who retold the history of his people for Greco-Roman readers. Apparently, Joseph witnessed what he wrote about: “Adjacent to it (the Dead Sea) is the region of Sodom, once rich in its fertility and the prosperity of its cities, but now completely scorched. It is said that due to the sinfulness of its inhabitants it was destroyed by lightning. Even now there are traces of the fire sent by God, and even now you can see the shadows of the five cities. Each time, ash appears again in the form of unknown fruits, which by color seem edible, but as soon as they are touched with the hand, they turn into dust and ashes. Thus, the ancient legends about the land of Sodom are clearly confirmed.” The Bible scholars themselves had little to say in favor of the hypothesis about the reality of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Rev. T. C. Cheyne, Professor of Oriental Studies and Scripture Interpretation at Oxford University, in an article published in the Encyclopedia of the Bible in 1903, interpreted the story of Sodom and Gomorrah as a variant of the familiar myth of a catastrophic flood, where the sins of the people are punished by the Great One. flood In 1924, a team of archaeologists led by William Foxwell Albright discovered the remains of a Bronze Age settlement in a place called Bab el-Dakhra. After collecting a few clay shards, the name “Bab el-Dakhra” was applied to archaeological maps of the Jordan. But only in the 1970s. archaeologists began to realize the true significance of the discovery. Beneath the desert sands and dust lay a large settlement dating back to the Early Bronze Age (ca. 3100-2300 BC). Bab el-Dakhra is now known as one of the oldest cities in Palestine. Archaeologists excavated a temple there, other cultural centers and the remains of a powerful protective wall about 7 m thick, built of stone and clay bricks. But the most unexpected discovery was the nearby cemetery, one of the largest in the Middle East. According to various estimates, about half a million people are buried there (about three million pots with funeral gifts were also found there). Even before the excavations, it became clear that Bab el-Dakhru was destroyed by fire - pieces of spongy charcoal were scattered everywhere in the vicinity of the settlement. Subsequently, Bab el-Dakhra remained abandoned for two thousand years, until the beginning of the Hellenistic era. This is not the only Palestinian settlement to suffer this fate. Shortly after excavations began in 1975, archaeologists Walter Rest and Thomas Schaub discovered Numeria, another Early Bronze Age site 11 km to the south, also strewn with spongy charcoal that could be collected by the handful from the surface of the earth. Destroyed by fire at about the same time as Bab el-Dakhra, Numeria also remained abandoned for two thousand years. So, a certain pattern emerged in the excavations. By 1980, Rest and Schaub presented preliminary findings: the settlements they had discovered were the five "cities of the plain" spoken of in the Book of Genesis (Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboim, Admah, and Zoar). There was murmur in scientific circles. One academic immediately threatened to withdraw financial support from Rest and Schaub's expedition if they really intended to identify their excavation sites with the biblical "cities of the plain." Fortunately, such hysteria did not affect the continuation of work, and after about twenty years, experts stopped breaking their spears in the discussion about Sodom and Gomorrah. What was the reason for the destruction of five prosperous cities around 2300 BC? e.? Are there common points between archeology and religion? The Bible says that God rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and neighboring cities. Lightning strikes are often accompanied by a sulfurous odor, and some ancient authors, including Tacitus, believed that lightning was the cause of the destruction of cities. Josephus mentions “thunderbolts,” or simply “lightning.” As geologist Dorothy Vitaliano noted, “it is unlikely that a lightning strike by itself could have caused the fire that killed four cities.” (We are talking about four cities, since some claimed that the city of Zoar survived the disaster.) But let's consider one more factor. It has been known since ancient times that the Dead Sea area is rich in oil. The Book of Genesis mentions “tar pits” in the valley of Siddim near Sodom, and in the time of Josephus the Dead Sea was generally called the Lake of Asphalt because of the pieces of bitumen floating in it. Their numbers increased sharply after earthquakes; some reports mention boulders the size of houses. Sodom and Gomorrah were essentially sitting on a powder keg. Moreover, they were built on a major fault in the earth's crust - the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea are a continuation of the Great Rift in Africa, one of the main zones of seismic activity on the planet. An earthquake, of course, can lead to a fire. Dorothy Vitaliano agrees with the assumptions of her predecessors: “A powerful earthquake occurred in the Siddim Valley approximately 2000 BC. e. It was accompanied by emissions of natural flammable gases and bitumen, which were ignited by fire in household fires. If certain rocks with high bitumen content were used in the construction of external walls or buildings, they would provide additional fuel for the fire.” It is interesting to note that she wrote this in 1973, before the publication of Rest and Schaub's discovery. And recent studies have confirmed that earthquakes played a key role in the destruction of cities. Two prominent specialists, D. Negev from the Geological Survey of Israel and K. Amery from the Woodshall Oceanographic Laboratory in Massachusetts, devoted an entire book to the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah. According to them, from a geological point of view, it is quite possible that in the story of the lost cities there are echoes of the folk memory of a powerful seismic cataclysm at the end of the Early Bronze Age. Negev and Amery believe that the main fuel for the fire was hydrocarbons leaking from faults in the soil. Attention should be paid to the fact that the bitumen in this area is very rich in sulfur. Streams of hot salty water spilled as a result of the earthquake could lead to the formation of a deadly mixture of flammable gases rich in sulfur and hydrogen sulfide. So, can the mystery of Sodom and Gomorrah be considered solved? But let's wait to send the topic to the archive. It turned out that simultaneously with the earthquake, sharp climate changes occurred in the area located southeast of the Dead Sea. Lands that were once abundantly moist and quite fertile suddenly became drier and hotter. That is why, after the destruction of the cities, these places were not populated for so long. The severe drought lasted for about three hundred years, during which time barren wastelands formed. It is now becoming increasingly clear that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is just one small piece of a larger puzzle. Simultaneously with the sharp deterioration of climatic conditions, virtually all of the great urban centers of the Levant were destroyed, many by earthquake. In all of Turkey, at least 300 cities were burned or abandoned; Among them was Troy, which Schliemann considered Homer's Troy. At the same time, the Greek civilization of the early Bronze Age declined. In Egypt, the era of the Old Kingdom and the great pyramid builders came to an end: the country slipped into the abyss of anarchy. The level of the Nile fell sharply, and in the west the Sahara Desert reclaimed vast areas that were once fertile and well-watered. Today, many facts indicate that a natural disaster in the Middle East at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. was part of a global cataclysm. Moreover, some evidence leads scientists to look beyond Earth for an explanation. There is one reason that can explain the sharp increase in seismic activity and climate change due to the release of huge amounts of dust into the atmosphere: the collision of the Earth with large meteorites and fragments of comets. Thus, a relatively small fragment of cometary material that exploded over Podkamennaya Tunguska in Siberia in 1908 caused tremors recorded by seismographs around the globe and devastated vast areas of the taiga. A larger celestial body falling in the area of a fault in the earth's crust could lead to both an earthquake and volcanic eruptions. This consideration brings us back to the biblical description of events. What was the nature of the “fire from heaven” that, according to the Book of Genesis, destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah? The “lightning” in the chronicles of Josephus is not ordinary lightning, as it might seem at first glance. Of the two Greek words he uses to describe this event, keraunos ("lightning") and bolos ("projectile"), neither is used in the context of a normal thunderstorm, with thunder and lightning. In particular, the word keraunos was used to describe the sacred, most deadly weapon of the god Zeus, which he used only on special occasions. In the Hellenistic world, Zeus, as the god of thunder, was associated with a number of meteorite cults, and the "sky stones" were preserved and revered for centuries after their fall. It may seem like a big stretch that Sodom and Gomorrah, located on a fault line in the earth’s crust, and even above deposits of flammable hydrocarbons, were also hit by a meteorite. But if the disaster, according to contemporaries, occurred during a heavy meteor shower, causes and consequences could well have changed places in people’s minds. A meteorite or fragment of cometary material falling elsewhere could cause seismic tremors, while smaller fragments burning up in the atmosphere lit up the night sky... Thus, the much-ridiculed story of Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed by “heavenly fire” may be an interesting example of the human reaction in one small corner of the world to a catastrophe on a global scale. From the book Empire - I [with illustrations] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich5. 5. Sodom is Stabia, and Gomorrah is Herculaneum The death of the biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is the death of the famous medieval Italian cities of Stabia and Herculaneum as a result of eruptions From the book The History of the Degradation of the Alphabet [How We Lost the Images of Letters] author Moskalenko Dmitry NikolaevichSodom and Gomorrah (~3000–2000 BC) Further degradation began from the 2nd millennium BC from the territory of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. These are two ancient cities, the inhabitants of which, according to Old Testament legends, were mired in debauchery and for this were incinerated by the heavenly From the book Great Secrets of Civilizations. 100 stories about the mysteries of civilizations author Mansurova TatyanaBiblical Sodom found? About a year ago, Dr. Stephen Collins of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and his staff returned from four years of excavations on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. Based on his findings (ceramics, human and animal bones, From the book Gods of the New Millennium [with illustrations] by Alford Alan author Kubeev Mikhail NikolaevichSodom and Gomorrah, punished by God From the top of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley, from the Russian Candle bell tower, you can see in the east the place where the sinful and dissolute city of Sodom was located in biblical times. The salt mountain, 45 meters high, reminds us of this. From the book 100 great disasters author Kubeev Mikhail NikolaevichSODOM AND GOMORRAH PUNISHED BY GOD From the top of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley, from the Russian Candle bell tower, you can see in the east the place where the sinful and dissolute city of Sodom was located in biblical times. The salt mountain, 45 meters high, reminds us of this. From the book Unknown Russia. A story that will surprise you author Uskov NikolayOriginal Sodom It is characteristic that the Russian political vocabulary is permeated with allusions not just to violence, but to predominantly homosexual violence. Maybe that’s why the assessment of homosexuality scandalized the country so much, touching, I think, something essential in the collective From the book The Greatest Mysteries of History author Nepomnyashchiy Nikolai NikolaevichSODOM AND GOMORRAH The biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah is easy to mistake for fantasy. Indeed, the story of two cities destroyed by “fire and brimstone” for the sinful behavior of their inhabitants seems far-fetched. However, archaeological research confirms the fact From the book Russian Atlantis. To the history of ancient civilizations and peoples author Koltsov Ivan EvseevichWhere were Sodom and Gomorrah really? The Bible says that in the Valley of Siddim the Lord rained brimstone and fire from heaven on five cities with their surroundings and people. Such cities were Sodom (burning) and Gomorrah (drowning, immersion). These cities were punished for From the book Ancient Cities and Biblical Archaeology. Monograph author Oparin Alexey Anatolievich From the book The Road Home author From the book The Road Home author Zhikarentsev Vladimir Vasilievich From the book Russian Literature of the 19th–20th Centuries: Historiosophical Text author Brazhnikov I. L.4.6. “The Third Rome” and St. Petersburg Sodom The theme of the Third Rome began to enter the consciousness of writers of the Silver Age after the historiosophical cycle of Vladimir Solovyov and the fundamental monograph by V. N. Malinin (1901). The revolution and the collapse of Tsarist Russia again aroused interest in We often come across the expression “Sodom and Gomorrah”, but few people know about its meaning and origin. In fact, these are the two cities that the biblical tale tells about. According to history, they burned down because of the sins of the people who lived there. What sins are we talking about? Did these cities really exist? We will try to answer these and many other questions in this article. So, Sodom and Gomorrah: the meaning of legend and history.. Biblical storySodom and Gomorrah was first mentioned as the southeastern tip of Canaan, located east of Gaza, while the land here is called the eastern bank. Lot, Abraham's nephew, came here. The Bible even says that Jerusalem borders Sodom on the south and southeast sides. The inhabitants of Sodom were called Philistines or Hanakim in the Jewish manner, and the king of the city was a monarch named Ber. According to the Bible, the war that took place between the army of Chedorlaomer and the army of Sodom, which was subsequently defeated, also dates back to the life of Abraham, and Abraham’s nephew Lot was captured by enemies. The biblical stories say that Sodom was a rich and developed city, but the Lord God decided to punish the inhabitants because they were extremely sinful and evil, possessing many vices that righteous people would not accept. Tradition tells that God rained brimstone and fire on these cities in order to destroy both the lands themselves and their inhabitants for their misdeeds. In addition, according to the Bible, Adma and Sevoim were also destroyed, although to date there is no evidence that they actually existed. After the fire, the land of Sodom was inhabited by the descendants of Lot, the only ones who managed to escape the fire, and it became known as Moab. Trying to find citiesSince Sodom and Gomorrah are widely known even to non-religious people, many attempts have been made to find out more about their location and finally find evidence that they existed. So, not far from the Dead Sea, on its southwestern shore, there are mountains that consist mainly of rock salt and are called Sodomite. It would seem that this should be somehow connected with the biblical city, but in reality there is no reliable data on why this particular name was chosen.
Interest in the biblical tale is so widespread that between 1965 and 1979, five attempts were made to find the city that perished due to the sins of its inhabitants, but they were unsuccessful. The history of Sodom and Gomorrah did not leave Russian scientists indifferent, who, together with Jordanians, tried to discover what remained of the ancient city. Michael Sanders ExpeditionIn 2000, British scientist Michael Sanders became the leader of an archaeological expedition aimed at finding destroyed cities. Their work was based on images obtained from the American space shuttle. According to these photographs, the city could be located northeast of the Dead Sea, contrary to all data from the Bible. Scientists believed that they had managed to find the most accurate location of Sodom, the ruins of which, in their opinion, are located at the bottom of the Dead Sea. Jordan ValleySome scholars also believe that the ancient ruins located at Tell el-Hammam in Jordan may be the biblical city of sinners. Therefore, it was decided to undertake research in this area in order to confirm or refute the hypothesis. Excavations led by American scientist Stephen Collins, who relied on data from the book of Genesis, strengthen the assumption that Sodom was located in the southern region of the Jordan Valley, which is surrounded on all sides by depressions. “Sodom and Gomorrah”: the meaning of phraseologyThis expression is interpreted quite widely, but most often it denotes a place of debauchery in which the moral principles of society are neglected. It also happens that this expression is used to describe incredible chaos. From the names of the city of Sodom, the term “sodomy” appeared in the Russian language, most often denoting sexual relations between people of the same sex, that is, sodomy. The cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are most often remembered by people precisely in connection with this.
The meaning of a phraseological unit can also imply any non-traditional sexual contacts that are considered immoral in modern society. Such acts include oral, anal sex or any perversion. The Lord, according to legend, having destroyed the cities, punished sinners in order to show the whole world what awaits those who resort to unconventional sexual practices and disobey him. Sin of Sodom and GomorrahAccording to the text of the Bible, city residents were punished not only for sexual debauchery, but also for other sins, including selfishness, idleness, pride and others, but homosexuality was still recognized as the main one. Why exactly this sin is recognized as the most terrible is not known for certain, but in the Bible it is called an “abomination” before the Lord, and the legend calls on people “not to lie with a man as with a woman.”
Oddly enough, among such an ancient people as the Philistines, homosexuality was a generally accepted phenomenon, and no one condemned it. This probably happened because their ancestors were pagan tribes and peoples who lived in Canaan, far from According to legend, the Lord, fearing that the Jewish people could also turn to such a sinful way of life, sent them to and therefore commanded them to destroy the cities, so that their inhabitants do not spread around the globe. There are even lines in Genesis that say that corruption had become so widespread in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that it crossed all boundaries, which is why they had to be destroyed. Reflection in artLike many other myths and legends, the story of two cities of sinners was embodied in art. This biblical story is also reflected in the work of the great Russian writer Anna Andreevna Akhmatova, who wrote the poem “Lot’s Wife.” In 1962, a film was even made, which, in fact, is a rather loose interpretation of the biblical tale about the city of the fallen. Thus, in his famous cycle “In Search of Lost Time” there is a novel of the same name, which tells about the morally degraded bourgeoisie - “Sodom and Gomorrah”.
Pictures depicting debauchery and other sins also often remind us of the inhabitants of these cities, which the Lord himself decided to burn. There are at least a dozen paintings depicting Abraham's nephew, Lot, and his daughters, with whom, according to legend, he had sexual relations. Oddly enough, according to the legend, the initiators of incest were the daughters themselves, left without husbands who wanted to continue the family line. Lot, Abraham's nephewThe oldest surviving painting is a work by Albrecht Dürer, which is called “Lot’s Flight”. Here is an old man, accompanied by two daughters, and his wife can be seen in the distance, and everything looks pretty decent. However, in later works by masters of various eras and movements one can find a radically different interpretation. For example, the work of Simon Vouet entitled “Lot and His Daughters” shows us an already elderly man playing with his half-naked daughters. Similar paintings are also found in such painters as Hendrik Goltzius, Francesco Furini, Lucas Cranach, Domenico Maroli and a number of others. Interpretation of the biblical legendAccording to the Book of Genesis, Sodom and Gomorrah are cities that the Lord punished for disobedience and non-compliance with everyday laws. How is the legend interpreted now? What do scientists think about the reasons for the death of these sinful cities? Now some scientists who are in one way or another connected with religion believe that in reality our modern world is mired in vice and debauchery, but we are so accustomed to it that we no longer notice it. They believe that modern people have become so accustomed to what is disgusting to the Lord that all these perversions and vices have become habitual. They believe that we are actually on the path to destruction, accepting everything that happens around us. For example, one of the Russian scientists, Doctor of Technical Sciences V. Plykin, writes in his book that, not knowing the laws of the Universe, modern people have created their own laws, which, in fact, are artificial and, not being a righteous life, lead society to death .
The same scientist believes that scientific and technological progress also has a negative impact on the moral foundations of humanity, which only aggravates everything and brings people closer to the world of vice. What are Sodom and Gomorrah in the modern world? Some also believe that because people only care about getting the most out of life without caring about the consequences, humanity is producing negative energy. To believe or not in this approach is, of course, everyone’s business. Maybe it’s not worth transferring ancient laws to modern society. Fact or fiction?The biblical story of the cities of sinners is known throughout the world. Vices such as sodomy, idleness, pride, and selfishness caused the death of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The legend tells of the Philistine people, who were so mired in sin that they became unworthy to walk on the earth of the Lord God.
Now, so many centuries after the events described, it is impossible to say whether these cities actually existed, and whether they were burned “by a rain of brimstone and fire” for the misdeeds of their inhabitants. A huge number of attempts have been made to find the remains of these settlements, but in reality none of them have been successful. ConclusionAccording to legend, when two angels came to the city to find at least ten righteous people, they saw only vice and debauchery there. And then the Lord, angry, decided to burn the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. That this happened exactly like this is written in the book of Genesis, but the legend remains a legend, and no archaeological evidence has been found that could prove it. However, whether this actually happened or whether this, like many other ancient legends, is an absolute fiction, is not so important. The most important thing here is to be able to learn a lesson from this story so that modern people do not wallow in the same vice and debauchery and are not punished in the same way as the ancient Philistines, who caused the burning of Sodom and Gomorrah - two cities overflowing with sinners. SODOM AND GOMORRAH Collier's Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 . See what "SODOM AND GOMORRAH" is in other dictionaries:Sodom and Gomorrah- Painting by K. de Keyninck. Con. 16th century Hermitage Museum. Saint Petersburg. SODOM AND GOMORRAH, in the Bible, two cities at the mouth of the Jordan River or on the western coast of the Dead Sea, whose inhabitants were mired in debauchery and for this were incinerated by fire sent from heaven... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary From the Bible. According to the Old Testament, the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Palestine were known for sins, debauchery, and the dishonest attitude of the townspeople towards strangers when they asked them for overnight accommodation. God Yahweh's patience ran out and he decided to punish... Dictionary of popular words and expressions - (Heb. Sìdôm, ãmôrâh; Greek. Σόδομα Γομόρρα), in the Old Testament legend, two cities whose inhabitants were mired in debauchery and were incinerated for this by fire sent from heaven. The Bible localizes S. and G. “in the valley of Siddim, where is now the Salt Sea” (Gen. 14, ... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology In the Bible there are two cities at the mouth of the river. Jordan or on the western coast of Dead Sea, whose inhabitants were mired in debauchery and for this were incinerated by fire sent from heaven. God only brought Lot and his family out of the flames. Peren. disorder, chaos, debauchery... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary SODOM, a, m. (colloquial). Disorder, noise, turmoil. Raise with. Ozhegov's explanatory dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949 1992 … Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary This term has other meanings, see Sodom and Gomorrah (meanings). Destruction of Sodom and ... Wikipedia Sodom and Gomorrah- only units , stable combination Extreme disorder, complete confusion, fuss, turmoil. What is happening there [in Germany] now, what a bombing! Sodom and Gomorrah! (Ovechkin). Synonyms: sodo/m Etymology: Based on the names of ancient Palestinian cities... ... Popular dictionary of the Russian language In biblical mythology, two cities at the mouth of the river. Jordan or on the western coast of the Dead Sea, whose inhabitants were distinguished by depravity, for which God (Yahweh) destroyed these cities, turning the country into a dead, barren desert. The Legend of S. and... Great Soviet Encyclopedia In the Bible, there are two cities at the mouth of the Jordan River or on the western coast of the Dead Sea, whose inhabitants were mired in debauchery and for this were incinerated by fire sent from heaven. God only brought Lot and his family out of the flames. In a figurative sense, a mess... encyclopedic Dictionary Archaeologists have long wondered where the cities overthrown by God, about which the Bible tells, could be located. The decision was made to trust the only source of information in the Bible. The Bible says that Lot fled to the mountains, but the mountains were surrounded by a dead sea on both sides. But the mention of tar pits in (Gen. 14:10) prompted the idea to look for cities southeast of the Dead Sea, there was a lot of tar as a natural oil product, and finally the search was crowned with success. Sodom and Gomorrah were found under a thick layer of ash. Photo of the excavations. Interesting fact 1 We had enough evidence, but we also knew that it was not enough to convince others. We returned home and began to pray. Ron was sure that if these ruins were truly the remains of cursed cities, God would surely have preserved some kind of irrefutable evidence of this. A few months later, in October 1990, we returned here again. This time he took with him Richard Reeves from Murphy, North Carolina. They drove to the same place and found that it had just rained, which is very rare in this area. Richard then saw a large piece of debris that had apparently recently fallen from above, possibly due to rain. After examining this fallen stone, they realized that this was the proof we had been praying for. On it, everywhere in the ashes, like berries in the grass, reddish rings appeared around yellow balls of sulfur. Looking around, they saw that such rings were everywhere. We have no doubt that God has answered our prayers, because these rings became visible only after the rain washed away the ashes that previously covered everything.
Interesting fact 2 Sulfur rain shocked scientists More than the whole opening, it excited everyone. Balls of various sizes were found, some as large as a thumbnail, others as large as an egg. In fact, thousands of sulfur balls have been discovered at these sites. Balls of sulfur similar to these have not been found anywhere except at the site of these ruins. I suggest that this evidence is based on biblical scripture that was miraculously preserved by God right at the scene of the disaster. We don't know exactly how this happened, but we do know that these burning balls of sulfur rained down on the cities. We know this because the sulfur was tested and shown to burn. As sulfur rain began to fall, all the objects in the city began to burn, and after some time, a high temperature rose from the amount of burning sulfur. It was estimated that the temperature reached about 4000 degrees. This created a sight similar to the smoke from the furnace that Abraham saw on the plain. This evidence corresponds not only to the biblical account of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but also to other places in scripture. I believe that we have indeed found evidence that these are the remains of Sodom and Gomorrah.
What we find here is that God sent this burning brimstone upon the cities in the form of rain. The word "rain" is completely suitable to describe this phenomenon. The sulfur fell to the ground just like rain falls. There are millions of them such balls are found in the surrounding ash. We opened some so you can see the sulfur inside, while others we left untouched. But I repeat, there are millions of such balls here. This clearly indicates that God rained brimstone and fire on these cities. Interesting fact 3 It is shown that news of Sodom and Gomorrah and their unusual death are contained not only in the Bible, but also in the works of historians It is noteworthy that the location of the cities of the Siddim Valley, mentioned by ancient authors, was then fully confirmed during archaeological excavations. ● Tacitus Cornelius, a Roman historian of the 1st-2nd centuries AD, writes the following: “... the plains spread out, which... were once fertile and covered with populous cities, and then burned out by heavenly fire... the remains of cities are visible to this day, the earth has been as if... charred and cannot bear fruit. Every plant, whether planted by a person’s hand or self-produced... withers, turns black and crumbles to dust. As for the destruction of once glorious and great cities, I am ready to believe that they were burned by heavenly fire.” ● Sanhunyaton, a Phoenician historian in his “Primitive History,” writes: “The Valley of Siddim collapsed and became a lake” [cit. to 7, p. 83]. ● Josephus Flavius, a Roman historian of the 1st century AD, writes in his writings: “... the region of Sodom, once rich in its fertility and the prosperity of its cities, is now completely scorched... due to the sinfulness of its inhabitants, it was destroyed by lightning.” “Being proud of their wealth and abundance of property, the Sodomites at that time began to treat people condescendingly... they stopped being hospitable and began to treat all people unceremoniously. Angry, ... the Lord God decided to punish them for such insolence, destroying their city and devastating their country so much that neither plant nor fruit would grow from it anymore... The Lord struck the city with fiery lightning, burned it along with its inhabitants and, likewise, devastated the entire region." News of Sodom was also in the works of the ancient Greek historian Poseidonius, who claimed that the cities of the Siddim Valley were located not far from the Masada fortress; Sizenius of Cyrene, that one of the Essenes’ settlements was located near ancient Sodom; Stephen of Byzantium, that ancient Sodom was once located near the source of En-Gedi. Interesting fact 4 In 1964, an Italian archaeological expedition led by Professor Paolo Mattie began excavations at the site of Tell Mardih in Syria, which continued until 1982. As a result of almost twenty years of research, the ancient city of Ebla was discovered. Among the unique finds discovered in Ebla, the first place, of course, is the discovery of a state archive in its royal palace, in which 17,050 cuneiform tablets were found. Among the dozens of cities mentioned in them, scientists found mention of: Sodom, Gomorrah and Zoar. In these documents, the cities of the valley appear as trading partners of Ebla, buying silver and textiles from her. For many years, a number of scientists, mainly from countries of the socialist camp, for ideological reasons, as well as enemies and envious people of Matthieu and Pettinato, tried to refute this, but they failed to do so. Interesting fact 5 Lot's wife One of the biblical messages about the death of Sodom most of all aroused the distrust of skeptics, namely the mention of The fact is that in 79. h.e. era, when Pompeii died as a result of the eruption of Vesuvius, volcanic ash covered not only the city itself, but also the people who were in it. “The finest ash created a real miracle of preservation with its prey. It enveloped the bodies, capturing the slightest details, and when this cover subsequently hardened, and the corpses themselves decayed, their forms were still preserved... This spectacle does not leave anyone indifferent. When archaeologists from the expedition of Claude Poncharel discovered the ruins of two ancient cities dating back to the 2-3 centuries BC, they could not imagine that they were literally three miles from a historical sensation. They “walked” these three miles in two weeks. Moreover, as often happens, the sensation was born, generally by accident. The sandstorm that broke out noticeably changed the familiar landscape, and in place of a huge dune, one of the guys noticed a white object protruding several inches above the remaining ridge. We decided to see what it was. Carefully, trying not to harm, they cleared what was left of the centuries-old dust. And with each stroke of the scraper, a pillar appears. More precisely, it was a white column with the outline of a woman. The carbon analysis of the find caused even greater amazement among scientists. Firstly, he made it possible to determine that this is not a sculpture, but a real person with a heart, lungs, liver and other organs. Secondly, the approximate age of the find is about four thousand years, which is its biblical age. Interesting fact 6 The ancient ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah were discovered at the bottom of the Dead Sea. A group of researchers, led by English archaeologist Mike Sanders, studied the bottom of the Dead Sea and came across the salt-covered remains of an ancient settlement. Scientists have come to the conclusion that these are the ruins of the legendary cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bible directly indicated their location - the Valley of Siddom, in the Dead Sea region. At the same time, ancient cities were found on one of the peninsulas in the Dead Sea, and cemeteries next to them. Experts were immediately puzzled by the fact that the cemeteries were older than the cities themselves. A lot of sulfur was found near the graves, and they started talking almost seriously that the bodies belonged to sodomites. The idea to dive to the bottom of the Dead Sea came to Sanders when he found an ancient map. The cities we were looking for were in the north of the modern Dead Sea. Then, in satellite images, the archaeologist noticed strange formations on the seabed. Then the scientist hired underwater diving specialists and a small submarine. Thus, the Biblical reports about Sodom and other cities of the Valley of Siddim received their full confirmation in the fields of history, archaeology, ethnography and geology. Brief conclusion It is shown that news of Sodom and Gomorrah and their unusual death are contained not only in the Bible, but also in the works of ancient historians: Tacitus, Sankhunaton, Josephus, Strabo, etc.; It has been established that in the archives of the ancient city of Ebla there is a mention of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which acted around 2100 BC as trading partners of Ebla; As a result of archaeological excavations, it is shown that it took place around 2000 BC. a disaster accompanied by an earthquake, massive fires, which led to the destruction of several cities, in particular in the places of Bab el-Dahre and Numeria, in the Dead Sea; As a result of underwater archaeological research, the presence of traces of buildings on the bottom of the Dead Sea has been shown; Geological research has established a catastrophe that took place in the Dead Sea area around 2000 BC, which led to a change in the landscape of the area and was accompanied by an earthquake, emissions of natural flammable gases and bitumen, and the formation of thick black smoke containing large amounts of sulfur and hydrogen sulfide; Thus, the Biblical messages about the existence of the cities of the Siddim Valley and their destruction as a result of a terrible catastrophe have today been fully proven by comprehensive historical, archaeological and geological research. |
antiquity: Tacitus, Sankhunaton, Josephus, Strabo, etc. Examining the works of historians of the Ancient world, and, and this is very noteworthy, all of them, with the exception of Josephus, were pagans and had an extremely negative attitude towards both Jews and Christians,
that Lot's wife became a pillar of salt. However, after excavations in the ancient city of Pompeii (Italy), even people who did not believe in God could no longer deny the possibility of such a phenomenon.| Read: |
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