City of Sodom Discovered?

[Patrick Waterson]

Or so an archaeological team seems to think, having undertaken excavations at Tall el Hammam.

The official Tall el Hammam project website lists what has been found to date.  In essence, there is plenty of archaeology but no cast-iron confirmation.  There are pros and cons in the identity debate: the principal objections are not archaeological but semantic and chronological, and while the semantic objections may carry some weight if the writers of Genesis thought the same way as the objector, the chronological objection has the advantage or difficulty that under the present chronology all proposed dates for the period are untenable.

Either Sodom has been found or it has not.  Hopefully the excavators will chance upon the archives and we shall learn exactly what city has been discovered.

[Sharur]

Fascinating, Patrick. There's a lot of free PDF downloads available on that project website, certainly, and at least not all promoting the "we've found Soddom" motif.

However, the whole presents in succinct form the problems in interpreting any archaeology in the Palestine-Levant region, with the various pro- and anti-Bible camps endlessly sniping at one another without resolution. In the absence of period signposts (e.g. "Town of Soddom - Population 20,000 0 + a Pillar of Salt"), or as you say archives, it's likely we may never know for sure. And that's assuming Soddom ever existed under that name/identity as described 

[Patrick Waterson]

In the absence of period signposts (e.g. "Town of Soddom - Population 20,000 0 + a Pillar of Salt"), or as you say archives, it's likely we may never know for sure.

Very nicely put.

At least we could console ourselves by having another look at Chedorlaomer's campaign (Genesis 14.10:4-16).

In the days of Am′raphel king of Shinar, Ar′ioch king of Ella′sar, Ched-or-lao′mer king of Elam, and Tidal king of Goi′im, 2 these kings made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomor′rah, Shinab king of Admah, Sheme′ber king of Zeboi′im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo′ar). 3 And all these joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Ched-or-lao′mer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Ched-or-lao′mer and the kings who were with him came and subdued the Reph′aim in Ash′teroth-karna′im, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Sha′veh-kiriatha′im, 6 and the Horites in their Mount Se′ir as far as El-paran on the border of the wilderness; 7 then they turned back and came to Enmish′pat (that is, Kadesh), and subdued all the country of the Amal′ekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Haz′azon-ta′mar. 8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomor′rah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboi′im, and the king of Bela (that is, Zo′ar) went out, and they joined battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 with Ched-or-lao′mer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goi′im, Am′raphel king of Shinar, and Ar′ioch king of Ella′sar, four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen pits; and as the kings of Sodom and Gomor′rah fled, some fell into them, and the rest fled to the mountain. 11 So the enemy took all the goods of Sodom and Gomor′rah, and all their provisions, and went their way; 12 they also took Lot, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 Then one who had escaped came, and told Abram the Hebrew, who was living by the oaks[or terebinths] of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and of Aner; these were allies of Abram. 14 When Abram heard that his kinsman had been taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen of them, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 And he divided his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and routed them and pursued them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 Then he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his kinsman Lot with his goods, and the women and the people.

Not much in the way of OB information, but one could consider a scenario along these lines - I suspect it may already have been done.  It would need two army lists: Middle Bronze Elamite Imperial and Siddim Valley Confederacy.  One could assume a standard mix of chariots, archers and spearmen types of varying effectiveness and morale.  One suspects the Siddim chaps may have had command and coordination problems because two parts of the army fled in different directions when things got sticky, implying a lack of cogency on the battlefield.  Conceivably Chedorlaomer may have concentrated on a contingent in the middle of the Siddim line, or its junction with the next contingent along, and split the defenders, who then panicked collectively and exeunt severally.

This might suggest five distinct contingents on the Siddim side against a more coordinated force (left, right, centre and overall commander) on the Elamite side.

Just a thought.

[Jim Webster]

Not much in the way of OB information, but one could consider a scenario along these lines - I suspect it may already have been done. 

I did an article in Slingshot a year or three back 

Also one on Abimelech who is a great example of a Canaanite warlord

[Sharur]

Not much in the way of OB information, but one could consider a scenario along these lines - I suspect it may already have been done. 

I did an article in Slingshot a year or three back 

All a bit weird this. I was just re-reading Jim's article this week (Slingshot 253)!

I put together some notes on the "north to south" campaign before the Vale of Siddim events against the legendary giants (Rephaim to Horites) subsequently too (Slingshot 285).

Been looking at it all again developing some ideas for using the "Hordes of the Things" rules for these semi-legendary, did-they, didn't-they, battles of the past, where we have little hard information as Patrick says on who did what to whom, where and when. This has possibilities for the less legendary, but still ill-recorded, historical past too, of course - e.g. third millennium BC Mesopotamia.

[Patrick Waterson]

I put together some notes on the "north to south" campaign before the Vale of Siddim events against the legendary giants (Rephaim to Horites) subsequently too (Slingshot 285).

Been looking at it all again developing some ideas for using the "Hordes of the Things" rules for these semi-legendary, did-they, didn't-they, battles of the past, where we have little hard information as Patrick says on who did what to whom, where and when. This has possibilities for the less legendary, but still ill-recorded, historical past too, of course - e.g. third millennium BC Mesopotamia.

May these thoughts prove fruitful.