Sodom
The city of the plain that Genesis says was destroyed by fire from heaven after angels led Lot out.
- Named in
- Genesis 13–19; later prophets and New Testament
- Setting
- Cities of the plain, near the Dead Sea
- Destruction
- 'Brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven' (Genesis 19:24)
- Survivors
- Lot and his daughters; Lot's wife turned to salt
- Proposed sites
- Southern Dead Sea (Bab edh-Dhra); Tall el-Hammam, Jordan
- Status
- Location unknown
What is Sodom known for?
Sodom is one of the 'cities of the plain' in Genesis, near the Dead Sea. In Genesis 19, two angels visit Lot, Abraham's nephew. They look fully human and eat a meal, then strike a hostile crowd with blindness and lead Lot's family out. The LORD rains 'brimstone and fire' on Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot's wife looks back and becomes a pillar of salt.
The story became a byword for divine judgment in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, where the Qur'an tells the story of Lut. The city's site has never been confirmed. Older proposals placed it near the southern end of the Dead Sea, including the Early Bronze Age sites of Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira. Excavators at Tall el-Hammam, northeast of the Dead Sea, argue for their site instead.
A 2021 paper claiming that a cosmic airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, and possibly inspired the Sodom story, was retracted in 2025. Mainstream scholars treat Sodom as a story of moral and religious meaning, whatever memories of real disasters may lie behind it.
Angelic visitors, a blinding weapon and fire from heaven, and the disputed Tall el-Hammam airburst theory.
Mentioned on these pages
Sources
- Genesis 19 (KJV), Bible GatewayPrimary text
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Lot'Reference
- Wikipedia, 'Sodom and Gomorrah'Reference
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