Sodom and Gomorrah

The Bible describes two cities destroyed by fire from the sky — and archaeologists digging at a real Bronze Age site found a destruction layer that some argue matches an actual cosmic airburst event.

Genesis describes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah being destroyed by "burning sulfur" falling from the sky as divine punishment. Archaeological excavation at Tall el-Hammam, a real Bronze Age site in Jordan, has revealed evidence of a sudden, catastrophic, high-temperature destruction event — leading some researchers to propose a real cosmic airburst as a possible origin for the story, though the identification with Sodom remains scientifically contested.

⇄disputed

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Quick facts

→Genesis describes Sodom and Gomorrah's destruction by fire and sulfur falling from the sky, alongside the story of Lot's wife turning to a pillar of salt.
→Tall el-Hammam, a real Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley, shows archaeological evidence of a sudden, catastrophic destruction event around 1650 BC.
→A 2021 scientific paper proposed the site was destroyed by an airburst from a disintegrating meteor, citing melted pottery, shocked quartz, and unusually high-temperature destruction evidence.
→The 2021 paper's methodology and conclusions have been directly disputed and criticized by other archaeologists and researchers in subsequent published rebuttals.

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Tall el-Hammam (location)

Real Bronze Age archaeological site in Jordan showing evidence of sudden catastrophic destruction around 1650 BC, proposed by some researchers as a possible basis for the Sodom and Gomorrah narrative.

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