It so often happens that many significant discoveries and scientific discoveries fall to the lot not of venerable scientists, but of ordinary enthusiasts, often far from classical science, but ready to seek and determined to win. It is possible that they will soon be credited with another important discovery - a group of Russian and Jordanian amateur researchers seem to be close to the final solution of one of the greatest mysteries of history.
In April of this year, in the waters of the Dead Sea, they found what appears to be the ruins of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah that disappeared without a trace in Biblical times. About how it happened and what will happen next, we learned from one of the expedition members, Yuri Kudinov.
How did it happen that you and your colleagues decided to turn to this ancient biblical riddle?
Yuri Kudinov: We, being a group of enthusiasts, have been researching various mysteries in various places for a long time. Not so long ago, for example, we investigated the place of the fall of the Tunguska meteorite, studied the mysterious drawings of the Nazca desert in Peru, now we are busy with the mysteries of the Dead Sea. As a rule, our research is filmed with a video camera and at the end of the trip we get a documentary. These films are often shown on the Kultura and Zvezda TV channels. Turning to the biblical story of the deaths of Sodom and Gomorrah, we wanted to establish whether these cities really were, and if so, where they were. After all, these cities are mentioned both in the Bible and the Koran. Nobody seems to doubt that they existed, but where they were, today no one can say for sure.
Photo: utro.ru
As I understand it, it all comes down to the fact that they were on the Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea?
Yu. K.: Yes, only now they are at the bottom of the sea. Quite a lot of excavations are underway on the coast itself, but archaeologists have not yet found anything special. However, there is the Church of St. George. It contains a mosaic of the 4th century. AD, which depicts a map of the Dead Sea and its surroundings from that time. So it clearly depicts Lot's cave. The legend of Lot, who left Sodom with his family on the eve of the death of the city, is known to be an integral part of the entire story of Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Actually, this is already a kind of confirmation that you need to look somewhere nearby. In the same legend, as you remember, Lot's wife, while fleeing from the city, disobeyed the warning of the Almighty and turned around to see what was happening behind them, after which she turned into a pillar of salt. There are indeed pillars of salt there, there are several of them, and different people point to different of them, saying that this is the very pillar.
Have you tried using space imagery?
Yu. K.: We tried it. We absolutely officially ordered pictures of this place from space. We have satellite images, nothing is visible there. Moreover, we were advised to order space surveys, we were told that, in principle, it is possible to photograph everything that is under water at a depth of 100 meters. But, unfortunately, due to the high density of the water, it was not possible to see anything concrete there. That is, at the expense of the ability to see everything from space is a myth.
That is, you had to search in the classical way?
Yu. K.: Yes, we managed to find a photograph of an old map, which is kept in one of the universities in Israel. This map clearly shows the cities - there are four of them. Including - Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities are located at the confluence of rivers into the Dead Sea. Now these rivers are long gone or they do not flow into the Dead Sea. The only river flowing into it today is the Jordan. The sea itself is located more than 300 m below sea level. And naturally, no rivers flow from there. Along the banks it is clearly visible how the coastal part literally collapses. Radon springs beat along the entire coast - it is very salty and hard water. And they erode the shore, which slides into the water in large pieces.
That is, what used to be land, including the ancient coastal cities, today may already be the sea?
Yu. K.: Yes. That is why we wanted to confirm the theory that today it is necessary to search not on land, but in the sea. After all, even in the Bible it is written that where these cities used to be, now there is a salty sea. That is, their flooding occurred in biblical times.
Is that why you decided to search in the water?
Yu. K.:Yes. But there are some difficulties: shipping and the use of any floating craft in the Dead Sea is prohibited in any form. That is, in principle, there are no boats there. We decided, so to speak, to "photograph" the part of the water area that interests us. We took a sonar - this is a device that, using the reflected sound of a certain frequency, allows us to take a picture of the bottom. The principle is the same as for a camera. Only if the camera uses light for this, then there is sound. Sonar also practically photographs the bottom. We loaded our equipment onto a kind of raft and swam ourselves - it was pushed. It is not difficult to swim there. The water is dense - you can't drown. The main thing is that no water gets into your eyes and ears - it will burn everything out. The water contains 40% of all kinds of minerals. It is even viscous and oily to the touch, like kerosene.
Photo: utro.ru
And we, using this raft, using GPS, plotting points on the map, conducted research for several days. We passed a small section with him near the confluence of an ancient river, next to which Sodom was indicated on the map. And when we deciphered the sonar records, in some of the images one could see objects of clearly man-made origin. Unfortunately, the resulting image is of low resolution.
However, if a scientist looks at it, he can see a lot there. We have shown these images to scientists, they say that we really need to look here. Although, of course, it is rather difficult for an ordinary unprepared person to see anything in these pictures. And then we decided to take an autonomous underwater video camera equipped with its own motors and control system. You have probably seen such cameras in various underwater exploration films. It is controlled remotely via a cable using a special joystick. Our only problem was that the cable was only 50 m long, which significantly narrowed its range.
And during our last trip there in April this year, we filmed with this camera. It was hard to shoot, of course. Water is very dense and when a ray of light hits it, a solid white wall appears in front of the lens. It's about the same when you turn on the headlights of a car in a deep fog. The brighter the light, the denser the wall.
So it is there in the water. We experimented with light for a very long time, adjusted, focused. As a result, in four days we still managed to shoot a small ten-minute film, with a more or less distinguishable picture. Thus, we can very clearly distinguish a column-like object lying at the bottom. There are other objects, in the form of large eggs, some circles overgrown with salt. That is, today we can clearly say that these are hand-made objects. The presence of the column indicates that there were definitely some structures in this place.
And what is the depth there?
Yu. K.: The deepest depth in this place is 30 meters. The column lies 18 m and 30 m from the coast.
That is, your research was limited by the length of the apparatus wire. Namely, fifty meters?
Yu. K.: Yes. Therefore, we examined a relatively small area. But even these photographs show that there really were some structures, and, judging by the column, rather large. And most importantly - if all this is compared with an ancient map, then this is most likely the city of Sodom. The difficulty also lies in the fact that all this must be studied further. But for this it would be good for a person to descend under the water. We even wanted to organize a youth camp there, so that people would come and also join the research.
Is it possible to dive there if the authorities do not even allow the use of boats?
Yu. K.: We have permission from the Jordanian Antiquity Department to conduct research. And if we do this within the framework of permits, explaining that it is our people diving, that this is our work, then, under our responsibility, they, I think, will allow it all. After all, searches are being conducted with the participation of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. Besides, one thing we would be looking for there some treasure - gold, diamonds. We are working for history. And for the history of mankind.
The difficulty lies elsewhere - it is almost impossible to dive there physically. The density of the water is such that a diver has to hang a huge amount of cargo on himself. But a depth of 18-30 m already in ordinary water is fraught with undesirable consequences from a long stay there, and here you can immediately get decompression sickness. Therefore, now we want to create some kind of project so that we can explore this place with the participation of 30-40 people. After all, there are only two windows in time when you can swim - these are November and April. In summer, the temperature rises to 50 degrees and it is impossible to do anything there. Although the main difficulty is still very salty and dense water, which is difficult to immerse in. And now we are racking our brains how to do it all.
How is your research funded?
Yu. K.: Financially, we are not particularly dependent on anyone. We work for a year, then we throw off and go. Tickets are inexpensive, so is accommodation.
What about the permission of the local authorities?
Yu. K.: We have been working there for a long time - for three years, they know us well. We have all the official permissions. The part of the coast where we work is officially assigned to our group. Before the expedition, every time we send a request for permission to work there and there, all permissions are given.
Is it now clear that Sodom has been found, or is this premature?
Yu. K.: If we could find also a sign with the inscription Sodom, which we put at the entrance to the city, then, of course, it would be possible. In the meantime, we can firmly say that in this place at the bottom of the Dead Sea there are ruins of ancient settlements that need to be investigated further. But in any case, what we have done is already a big plus. Previously, all searches ended in failure. Nothing of the kind was found.
There is already visual evidence here. Here lies this column at the bottom and it can be seen from it that, despite the fact that it is overgrown with salt, it is still a column, and not something else. We need to investigate further.
I believe that the very fact of the discovery of the ruins of an ancient city there is already some kind of contribution to science. The main thing here is, of course, the very essence: for a long time people argued about where these cities were - Sodom and Gomorrah. Someone said that they were from the Israeli side, someone found in the mountains some kind of sulfur with which they were allegedly once burnt, but in any case, based on the ancient map and the ruins we found, it can be assumed that they are still at sea.
Are you going to return there?
Yu. K.: Yes. We have an expedition scheduled for November. We ask for a boat. But the problem is that there is simply nowhere to take it. The nearest boats are in the Red Sea. But getting it from there is rather difficult. Therefore, we are thinking to bring an inflatable boat from here, it would be nice with a small motor. Then, if possible, it will be possible to survey a much larger area with the help of sonar.
According to our plan, we want to "photograph" the entire surface in order to clearly distinguish these "clots", where, in fact, the ruins are. And then lower the camera to these places and take pictures. We will try to mount a device that would give the best visual picture. The "Gnome" device, with which we filmed all this, we took from the Institute of Oceanology. Now we will negotiate with them, maybe they will put together a more complicated device for us, which will give a better picture.
Of course, we would like a person to go down there. But while people are ready to do this, we did not come across. Some say that you will have to hang a lot of weight on yourself, others believe that you need to use a heavy, rigid spacesuit with a screw-on helmet and air pumping. Some say that this is generally impossible, since with such a density of water, nitrogen will immediately begin to be produced in a person's blood. Meanwhile, time goes by, November is coming soon.
As far as I understand, at this stage it is impossible to talk about the opening yet?
Yu. K.: One can talk about a discovery when various eminent scientists begin to recognize it. When it is presented appropriately in academia. We do not present anything anywhere yet. We capture everything we find with documentaries. Historically, the most interesting thing is that no one has ever seriously explored the bottom of the Dead Sea. And against this background, our work made it possible to find real artifacts. The same column we found is one such artifact.
Probably they won't be allowed to lift anything from the bottom anyway?
Yu. K.: I think they will. You cannot explore without lifting anything. Scientists need to see everything with their own eyes, feel it with their hands … For this, something must be done with all this. Now we need to figure out what to do specifically, with whom to do it and with what forces. We do not have all the answers to these questions yet.
Well, do you yourself have any thoughts to raise something from there?
Yu. K.: Of course. The only question is on the technical side, how to do it. After all, for this you need to go down there, you need some kind of adaptation. Perhaps we will pick up some small items. First you just need to find them.
