Dead Sea Topics

Study of the Dead Sea geological history is pertinent for estimating the ancient climate history of the region. It is also important for distinguishing geological formations from archaeological remains relative to the various claims made for the location of Sodom.

This article by Kagan et al. explains the use of the past Dead Sea levels as historical climate proxies. Overall, the various Dead Sea climate proxy studies project a wetter climate during the 1445-1404 BC period of the Exodus.

This 2002 article by Frumkin and Elitzer discusses the past Dead Sea levels and applies those data to biblical events and the boundaries of Benjamin and Judah.

SODOM: The geological and archaeological basis for the location and destruction of Sodom at Tel el-Hammam in Jordan is summarized in this Times of Israel article and detailed in this research article by Silvia et al.:

SODOM: Dr. Steven Collins has been excavating Tel el-Hammam for about 15 years. This 2007 article explains the early rationale for for the hypothesis that this tel was the site of ancient Sodom:

Balls of native sulfur have been found in some layers of the sedimentary formations southwest of the Dead Sea. Their occurrence is not vertically uniform, seemingly confined to the zone around -340/-330 meters below mean sea level (Varves of the Dead Sea). Here is an article explaining potential mechanisms for the native sulfur formation: