(OPINION) A famed archaeologist believes he has found the biblical city of Sodom in modern-day Jordan and says there is evidence that proves the city was wiped out by fire.
Steven Collins, Dean of the College of Archaeology at Trinity Southwest University, told Joel. C Rosenberg in a new episode of “The Rosenberg Report” how he and his team uncovered the Biblical cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Jordan. He says he used the scriptures as clues to find the location.
“There’s so much specific information about the location of these cities that you would practically have to be blind and illiterate not to be able to find the location of Sodom because there are at least 25 known pieces of geography that you can triangulate between to take you to the city of Sodom. It’s not difficult,” he explained.
He told Rosenberg that many archeologists assumed the cities were located near the Dead Sea because of William Albright, an archaeologist who set out to discover the cities in 1924.
Albright believed the rising sea waters covered its location, but nothing was discovered on the sea floor. In 2001, Collins launched his exploration using a different approach.
“Here’s the problem with Albright’s location of Sodom. He never ever provides an exegesis of Genesis Chapter 13, which is the verbal map to get to the city of Sodom.… He just basically shot off the top of his head,” said Collins.
Collins focused his search on the Jordan River Valley. From there he used clues from the Bible, including a reference made in Genesis 13:10.
“The proper question to ask in the location of Sodom is, ‘Where was Lot standing when he lifted up his eyes and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan was well-watered?’ It was Bethel and Ai,” Collins explained. This led Collins and his team to Tall el-Hammam. They were cleared by the Jordanian government to start a dig in that area.
