The ancient city of Tall-El Hammam, located in the southern part of the Jordan River Valley northeastly from the Dead Sea, was destroyed due to the fall of a large space body about 3,600 years ago. Catastrophe certificates were discovered by scientists of the University of California, which bind it to the description of the death of the biblical city of Sodom. Their article is published in the Journal Scientific Reports.
Scientists have discovered a 1.5-meter interval in the medium bronze-century layer II, which is characterized by the presence of debris and shards of ceramics with places converted into the glass surface, as well as molten construction material. All this indicates an abnormally high temperature (above two thousand degrees Celsius), which people of that time could not reproduce with the help of existing technologies.
According to archaeologists, an explosion occurred near the city as a result of the fall of the cosmic body, similar to the Tungusian meteorite, whose explosion power in 1908 is estimated at 12 megaton of the TroTiloic Equivalent. In Tall El Hammam, the catastrophe led to the destruction of the palace and the surrounding buildings, as well as the death of people whose skeletons were fragmented.
In the course of further analysis of the soil and anomalous layer, scientists revealed tiny splas rich in iron and silica, as well as molten metals. A shock quartz was also discovered – grades, whose crystal structure was strongly deformed as a result of extremely high pressure.
Although the discovery is consistent with the description of the destruction of Sodom in the Old Testament, there is no evidence that Tall El Hammam is indeed Sodom. However, the catastrophe could give rise to the oral tradition, which served as a source of inspiration for the events described in the Bible.