Sodom and Gomorrah were part of a coalition of 5 fortified city-states, in which, besides them, there were three more cities: Sevoim, Adma and Sigor. The location determined the main sources of income for the inhabitants of these cities. The main occupation of the local population was agriculture, including winemaking. But they say that it did not disdain robberies.
Under the weight of guilt
However, it is believed that this was not their main sin. And the main thing is called homosexuality, which the inhabitants of Sodom were especially fond of, for which the Christian religion christened it a sin of Sodom. There is no direct indication in the Bible that the cities were destroyed precisely for the sin of Sodom or for “an abomination before the Lord,” as non-traditional sexual orientation was previously called. But in the Bible, the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah “hang all the dogs”, attributing to them a huge bouquet of all sorts of shortcomings: pride, selfishness, idleness, satiety, adultery, a craving for lies, support of villains and other abominations.
But the same disadvantages are inherent in the inhabitants of any city. However, the rest of the cities have stood for centuries - and nothing. This means that this is not the reason. Probably, some clue is contained in the book of the prophet Jeremiah: “I saw madness; they prophesied in the name of Baal and misled my people Israel. But in the prophets of Jerusalem I see a terrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies, support the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his wickedness; they are all before me like Sodom, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah."
And this clue consists in the mention of the pagan deity Baal. The fault of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah is that they worshiped their bloodthirsty and depraved gods. The inhabitants of these cities were the Canaanites. And one of the most revered pagan gods was Moloch, to whom newborn babies were regularly sacrificed. They were burned in the arms of a huge statue of Moloch with a bull's head. And in the name of another god Fegor (or Baal), sexual orgies were arranged, in which both old people and children took part.
If the Bible explained the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by human sacrifices and shameless orgies, everything would become clear and understandable. But there they preferred to tell a confusing and full of contradictions story about Lot.
In short, it can be represented as follows: the Jew Abraham gave his wife to the Egyptian Pharaoh, and for this he received many slaves and cattle. After that, he and his nephew Lot went from Egypt to Canaan. Both possessed huge herds and other property, "and there was no land for them to live together." Therefore, the relatives were divided. Abraham settled in Canaan and Lot in Sodom. Learning that God decided to punish Sodom and Gomorrah for their sins, as well as all the people living in them, Abraham asked the Lord to spare the cities for the sake of the righteous who might be there, and received a promise that these cities would be forgiven if at least ten righteous.
After that, God sent two angels to Sodom with an "inspection", who appeared to Lot disguised as travelers. And then the key moment: “They had not yet gone to bed, as city dwellers, Sodomites, from young to old, all the people from all over the city, surrounded the house and called Lot and told him: where are the people who came to you for the night? Bring them out to us; we get to know them. Lot went out to them at the entrance, and locked the door behind him, and said [to them], My brothers, do no harm; here I have two daughters who do not know her husband; I'd rather bring them out to you, do with them what you want, only do not do anything to these people, since they came under the roof of my house."
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And the whole story rests against the phrase: "We get to know them." It doesn't have to be sexually explicit. Somehow it’s hard to believe that the whole city has gathered to sleep with two travelers. Some researchers suggest that the Sodomites mistook them for spies. And in essence, it was so - the travelers entered secretly, did not show documents, did not report to the authorities, walked around the city, looking out for something. How could the Sodomites know that they were looking out for the righteous, and not for weak spots in the fortifications. Moreover, only recently the war ended. Here are the Sodomites and gathered to "know", in the context: to find out, to find out who they are, why they came. Normal situation.
And Lot, in the name of the laws of hospitality, begins to darken, invites the crowd of his daughters. At the same time, he is disingenuous - the daughters were married, and therefore they are unlikely to remain virgins. But the Sodomites do not want to sleep with them, by the way, and with Lot himself too. So they are not so perverted maniacs. And then the tragedy begins. Angels blind the Sodomites and take Lot out of the city with his wife and daughters, after which they order them to run and not look back. Lot's wife, who turned out to be overly curious, looked around, for which the Lord turned her into a pillar of salt. This can be explained as follows: the unfortunate woman walked last, she looked back at the city, and at this critical moment molten salt poured over her from head to toe.
As a result of a severe thermal burn, she died on the spot, and her body turned into a pillar of salt. Based on the biblical text, both cities perished in terrible agony: “And the Lord poured sulfur and fire from the Lord on Sodom and Gomorrah from heaven. And he overthrew these cities, and all this neighborhood, and all the inhabitants of these cities, and [all] the growth of the earth. " Moreover, not two cities were destroyed, but four - also Sevoim and Adma. Only Segor survived, and apparently in order to give shelter to Lot and his daughters. But for some reason, they did not live in the city, and Lot's family moved to a mountain cave.
Lot, but no one
A lot of blasphemous thoughts arise in connection with this story. For example, regarding Lot and his daughters. One gets the impression that they survived due to the fact that Abraham put in a word for them before God. It is difficult to call their deeds righteous. Protecting travelers. Lot did not stand up like a man to protect them, but cowardly offered to give up his daughters for violence against them. But the daughters themselves are good. After a miraculous rescue, they took turns to get dad drunk and entered into a love affair with him. But an explanation can be found for their action; the daughters believed that there were no more people on earth. And if so, someone must continue the human race.
But the most interesting thing began later: the eldest daughter of Lot from her own father gave birth to Moab, the ancestor of the Moabites, and the youngest - Ben-Ammi, the ancestor of the Ammonites. The Moabites and the Ammonites are Semitic, kindred, but not friendly to the Jews. These nations were bound not only by the sin of mothers. Both of them, just like the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah, worshiped Moloch and Baal. They also sacrificed newborn children. The Torah even forbade to accept representatives of these tribes into the Assembly of the Most High, i.e. to the people of Israel.
Causes of the disaster
Perhaps only the real existence of cities called Sodom and Gomorrah looks true in this story. Most experts agree that they really were and disappeared from the face of the earth as a result of some natural cataclysm. For example, archaeologist Graham Harris believes that 4,000 years ago, there was a massive earthquake in the area, during which methane accumulations under the Dead Sea ignited. Together with the escaping gas, burning salt flew in all directions, causing the death of Lot's wife. As a result of the disaster, the place where Sodom and Gomorrah stood was turned into quicksand. Then there was a tectonic shift, and both cities were washed into the sea. Some scholars express a version that sulfur rain really fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. Only not by the will of heaven, but because of a volcanic eruption.
And recently, scientists from the University of Bristol Mark Hampsell and Alan Bond, based on ancient Sumerian inscriptions on a clay tablet, concluded that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by an asteroid that crashed into the earth. With the help of computers, they recreated the appearance of the starry sky as it was on June 29, 3123 BC, and presented it as proof of the "asteroid version".
A rock similar to a pillar of salt can still be seen near the Dead Sea on Mount Sodom in Israel. Some scholars believe that it was on this place that the lost city of Sodom stood.
Magazine: Mysteries of History No. 6, Oleg Loginov
