Scientists have collected evidence that 3,700 years ago, an explosion of a cosmic body in the atmosphere destroyed settlements on the territory of modern Jordan. Everything within a radius of 25 kilometers was destroyed. People returned to these places only six or seven centuries later. The results are presented in a report at the annual convention of the American Schools of Oriental Research.
Excavations in the Middle Gur plain north of the Dead Sea in Jordan indicate that there was a Bronze Age civilization here for at least 2,500 years - until it suddenly disappeared 3,700 years ago. According to modern estimates, from 40 to 65 thousand people lived here in a relatively small area.
The researchers carried out radiocarbon dating and analysis of minerals found in the area. The data showed that a catastrophic event took place 3,700 years ago, as a result of which five relatively large and over a hundred small settlements were destroyed, and all local residents were to die. The most comprehensive evidence was collected in the remains of the city of Tell el-Hammam. Radiocarbon analysis showed that almost all the walls of buildings made of clay bricks suddenly and almost instantly disappeared: only stone foundations remained from them.
Additional evidence of the ancient catastrophe turned out to be traces of transformation into glass on the outer surfaces of many fragments of ceramic products of this period. Examination of these pieces revealed the presence of crystals of zircon (ZrSiO4), which should have formed in one second at temperatures of thousands of degrees. The authors believe that the strong wind accompanying the cataclysm literally covered the cities with tiny mineral particles. The authors compare the probable cosmic event with the explosion of the Tunguska meteorite in Siberia in 1908. Then no one died due to the sparsely populated region, but the blast wave knocked down a forest in an area of 2,000 square kilometers.