Many attempts have been made in the past to locate Sodom and the other cities of the Pentapolis, without any clear results. Marcus Laudien putssforward a new hypothesis in support of the long and well-known tradition that the area of these cities is now covered by the Dead Sea. M72ile most scholars presume thepentapolis to have been located in the shallow, southern part of the lake basin, this thesis favours a location near the western shore, south ofthe oasis ofEn-Gedi. Indicationrsfor this are taken fiom biblical texts and archaeological suroeys in the region of En-GediMasada which point to an undiscovered wealthy pre-Iron Age settlement there. A hydro-geolo@cal study shows a large drop in the lake's helfiom the late Chalcolithic to the end of the Early Bronzy Age. Further indications comefiom the occurrence of asphalt in this regon andfiom an underwater map which shows irregularities on the sea joor south of En- Gedi. Additional clues are taken @om ancient historians andgeogaphers. Many articles in the past have dealt with the possible location of Sodom.' Most of the authors agree that the cities of the Pentapolis were situated in the Dead Sea region but, with regard to their exact positions, there are different theories. One tradition states that the area of the Pentapolis was converted into the Dead Sea (as indicated in Genesis 14:3). This was suggested by Flavius Josephus,2 continued in the Jewish tradition3 and then taken up by the Arabs: The doomed cities were still located under the Dead Sea in many maps of the Levant during the Middle Ages? Another theory - placing Sodom north of the Dead Sea - was principally deduced from Genesis 13: 11, where Lot is said to have moved eastwards fiom a location north of Jerusalem to the plains of the lowerJordan, towards Sodom. However, today this theory is no longer tenable because archaeological surveys made in that area during the first half of the 20th century produced no confirmatory evidence. Flavius Josephus'j and Eusebius of Caeseraea7 state that the cities were located south of the Dead Sea. The mosaic map of Madeba (sixth century) also shows the city of Zoar to the south-east of the lake! The first archaeological surveys in that area, made by W. F. Albright, N. Glueck and others, did not lead to a solution? Later, in the 1970s, W. E. Rast and R. T. Schaub investigated the southern Ghor sites of Bab ed-Drah, Numeira, Es-Sd, Feifeh and Khanazir.'O In at least three of these sites - which were occupied until EB IIIIV - traces of a destruction by fire have been found. The facts appeared to support the suggestion that these ruins were the remains of the five cities of Abraham's time." The destruction of the Pentapolis Biblical chronology indicates the period of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was roughly between 2100 and 1900 BC.= However, this chronology remains controversial. In the past archaeologists have presented rough estimates concerning the dating of Abraham and Sodom. W. F. Albright attempted an historical classification of Abraham by means of his Hebrew associations (according to Genesis 14-13) and therefore suggested that the patriarch should be dated to the 19th century BC or somewhat later.13 Other theories - which tried to connect the migration of Abraham with the movement of the Amorites into Canaan - suggested a period between EB 1V and MB I1 (c. 2300-1600 BC).14 The settlement history of cities mentioned in the Genesis text (Shechem, Bethel, etc) also leads towards approximate results. As the majority of the cities in Palestine were abandoned during EB IV-MB I (c. 2300-2000 BC),15 this might place Abraham closer to MB 11-A. l6 Any attempt to compare the names of the kings of Mesopotamia mentioned in Genesis 14 with historical characters has also failed.17 Despite this uncertainty it seems reasonable to assume that the period of Abraham and the destruction of Sodom occurred in the century 2000-1900 BC or slightly later. MARCUS LAUDIEN received his electrical-engineering diploma from the TU of Munich in 1991 and his economic engineering diploma in 1994 from the same university, going on to undertake research for Siemens and IMS Connector Systems. He has excavated in Israel and Jordan. JACF VOL. 9 85 The biblical evidence for locating Sodom A sermon aboutJerusalem (Ezekiel 16:46) In an earlier discussion about the location of Sodom, it was claimed that one clue is to be found in Ezekiel's sermon calling Jerusalem to repentance (Ezekiel 16:46).18 Here a comparison between Samaria `north of you (i.e. Jerusalem)' and Sodom `south of you' was made, which clearly indicates that Sodom was situated to the south of Jerusalem. Lot's fertile land (Genesis 13: 10) Genesis 13:lO mentions the fertility of the whole plain of the Jordan `towards Zoar'. This indicates a boundary location for that city (probably in the south) l9 and implies that the whole land between the plain of the Jordan and Zoar had once been fruitful. Such a description could only apply to the western shore of the Dead Sea. The eastern shore consists of a steep sandstone scarp which could never have been fertile `like the land of Egypt'. On the other hand, the region along the western shore has many flat areas which, from a geomorphological point of view, could have once sustained vegetation as Genesis describes. ne route fKing Kedorlaomer (Genesis 14) The route of the invading kings described in Genesis 14 has been identified.2O Their march down from the north led them along the King's Highway, continuing east of the Arabah valley towards the region of the Red Sea, and then northwards up the Arabah to the Pentapolis. Whilst the route of march southwards is clear, the route back (west of the Rver Jordan as Genesis states) causes some problems. A return along the eastern side of the Jordan would have been much shorter and easier (because the area had already been conquered) .21 Yet the Mesopotamian army returned along the west side of the Dead Sea. If the Pentapolis had been situated to the south-east of the Dead Sea (as Rast et al. propose with their five candidate sites for the Pentapolis) heading up the western shore would have required a detour for the invaders. However, if the last city to be conquered was located to the west of the lake, then it would have been understandable for the return march to have continued north from that side of the Dead Sea. The route to Sodom fiom Hebron (Genesis 18- 19) The place where Abraham offered food and rest to his three guests (described in Genesis 18) was Mamre in the area of the town of Hebron. After lunch two of the men then made their way down to Sodom. In Genesis 19: 1 it is stated that they reached the city in the evening. Although the text is not explicit, it can be concluded from the context that this was the evening of the same day. The duration of their journey was therefore half a day. For a well-trained hiker it is possible to cover that distance down to the western shore of the Dead Sea (c. 37 km and a 1300-metre descent) in seven or eight hours,22 which means that they reached Sodom in late evening if it was located somewhere in the vicinity of En-Gedi. It would be impossible to reach Rast's sites, south-east of the Dead Sea, which are a further half- day's walk from En-Gedi. These biblical texts thus support the idea that Sodom was located near to the west coast of today's Dead Sea. According to the Bible, the whole area - before its destruction - was abundant in water and very fertile (being compared to Eden and Egypt). This attractive area (with fertile soils, bitumen - an important raw material in early history - and possibly the occurrence of salt) must have been populated for some considerable time before the age of Abraham (at least during the Chalcolithic period and Early Bronze Age). A pre-MBA community near En-Gedi An isolated Chalcolithic sanctuary near En-Gedi In 1956-57, during archaeological surveys in the vicinity of En-Gedi, Aharoni and Naveh discovered the remains of a remarkable Chalcolithic ~anctuary.2~ As no trace of a settle- ment had been located anywhere in the area around En- Gedi,25 they concluded that this isolated shrine must have been a central sanctuary for the population of the whole region (the Judaean mountains, northern Negeb, etc). B. Mazar, on the other hand, later disagreed with this broad interpretation. He conducted excavations at En-Gedi from 1961-62 and uncovered evidence which suggested to him that a prosperous community had to have been located in the near vicinity. . . . the large sacred enclosure north-west of the spring proves decisively that a flourishing settlement existed here in the Chalcolithic period.26 However, D. Ussishkin disagreed and once again assumed that the shrine had a central function for the whole region. It is the sole shrine of the Chalcolithic period known to us so far anywhere in the Judaean Desert ... Since no Chalcolithic settlement was found anywhere around En-Gedi and, significantly, there were no Chalcolithic remains in the immediate vicinity of the shrine, it could not have served any local popula- ti0d.2~ He even refers to the fact that not even a single associated building was found associated with the sanctuary. ... in fact, in view of the absence of such remains, even the location of the service units of the shrine, such as the storerooms and the priests' quarters, is still an open questionF8 Perhaps the absence of these buildings can be explained. If a so-far undiscovered flourishing settlement did once exist 86 JACF VOL. 9 Fig. 7:Map of the Dead Sea basin showing the lake coverage when the suface was at the -500m contour in the Early Bronze Age. The westem side of the lake has a gently sloping area of land, just to the south of En- Gedi, where the city of Sodom could have been located. in the vicinity, as Mazar has supposed, perhaps it now lies beneath the waters of the Dead Sea close to En-Gedi. The oasis at En- Gedi Even in antiquity the oasis of En-Gedi was well known for its fruitfulness. The Roman historian Pliny (23-79 AD) noted that this oasis was `second only to Jerusalem in the fertility of its land and in its groves of palm trees'.29 Early settlements in the Middle East were dependent on a permanent supply of water from springs or rivers to feed their populations and livestock and water their fields because, in the Early Bronze Age, water cisterns had not been in~ented.~' The modern productiveness of the four springs at the oasis of En-Gedi has been estimated at more than three million cubic metres per year.31 This corresponds to a third of the amount generated from the springs atJericho with more than nine million cubic metres per year."' Pollen analysis and archaeological studies indicate that the climate in the region of the Dead Sea in the Early Bronze Age was wetter than it is today. 33 It must also be taken into account that, at this time, the Judaean mountains were much more densely wooded than they are t0day.3~ Thus the Jordan valley benefited from a considerably more abundant water supply (just as Genesis states). From this it can be concluded that the oasis of En-Gedi must have played an important role in the food supply of the area. Inside caves (which were temporarily occupied during Chalcolithic times) on the rocky slopes above the western shoreline, remains of food crops were found which require growing conditions totally different to those of today's dry and barren landscape. It has therefore been concluded that only one place in the region could have had the agricultural potential for growing such crops. En-Gedi is the only place in the whole region where there is abundant water for cultivating these crops. All economic life must have centred around the sanctuary, and En-Gedi probably served as the supply centre of all the cave dwellers in the vicinity.35 If this oasis had served as a supply centre, one might have expect traces of a permanent settlement with its own storage facilities. Yet, as we have seen, despite intensive surveys, no remains of storerooms have been detected. Of course, it is possible that they simply have not, as yet, been found. But another explanation may be that En-Gedi was not the economic centre but merely the sanctuary of a larger settlement located at a lower altitude and now covered by the Dead Sea (as indicated in Genesis 14:3). fie treasure )om Nahal Mishmar In Nahal Mishmar, about ten kilometres south of En-Gedi (during archaeological excavations under the direction of P. Bar-Adon in 1961) a Chalcolithic treasure (crowns, mace- heads, standards, etc) was found in a cave. Most of the 429 copper objects were almost certainly manufactured The origin of this extraordinary find (`the earliest and most important collection of metal artefacts found anywhere in the was presumed to be connected with the sanctuary near En-Gedi3* However, because of the absence of a settlement in the vicinity, it is assumed that these objects must have been `offerings from the population of the sur- rounding area'. In view of the enormous value of the hoard, this seems doubthl. If indeed the hoard belonged to that temple, it means that there was no proportion between the wealth JACF VOL. 9 87 accumulated in the temple and the economic strength of the desert d~ellers.3~ Such an extraordinary concentration of copper artefacts indicates that only a very prosperous society could have afforded cultic regalia of this quality and quantity. . . . these [objects] were probably not private property, but belonged to the temple, and had been purchased by a wealthy community. How did they acquire their wealth? Surely not only from stockbreeding or from small-scale agriculture'.4n It has also been suggested that the sanctuary was sacred to larger Chalcolithic communities located far away?l But that would mean that the sanctuary with its hoard was com- pletely isolated and unprotected in the wilderness of the Judaean desert. I am of the opinion that such an exceptional hoard could only have been afforded by a flourishing, permanent com- munity in the surrounding area which had control over the sanctuary. Of course, it must be taken into account that the hoard is dated to about 1500 years earlier than the destruc- tion of Sodom (its age having been estimated at about 3500 BC42). So we would have to assume a long cultural continuity between the Chalcolithic population of the region and Abraham's late EB IV Sodomites, or that the two settlements were separated by an occupational hiatus. But it can be concluded that their wealth had the same source - the fertile land on the south-west shore of the Dead Sea and the availability of bitumen (which was used in the production of flint tools, boats, etc) as described in Genesis 13 and 14. These archaeological finds in the region of En-Gedi can be seen as an indication of a wealthy pre-Middle Bronze Age settlement in that area which remains undiscovered. The geology of the south-west Dead Sea basin Fluctuations in the water levels of the Dead Sea Geneses 14:3 hints at a remarkable expansion of the area covered by the lake's surface following the Sodom event. It has been known for a long time that the Dead Sea surface height has been subject to strong fluctuation^.^^ New analytical methods of assessing radio-nuclides in sediments permit us to determine lake levels in prehistoric times. Based on an analysis of Uranium isotopes in the Dead Sea ~ediments,4~ geoscientists D. Neev and J. K. Hall have determined the lake level changes for the last 20,000 ~ears.4~ The results indicate a strong increase in the area of the lake (by a factor of two) at about 2000 BC, which could roughly be seen as the era of Abraham. Therefore, during the late Chalcolithic and EB I-IV, large areas of today's Dead Sea basin were dry (assuming a period of a low level from about 6000 to 2000 BC as per R Koeppel in 1931).46 After aperiod of a high levels (2000-1000 BC) the lake was subsequently confined to the northern part of the basin again from about 1000 BC until the early Middle Ages. Despite inaccuracies in the measurements and contradictory hint at a large increase of the lake's level in early history. the results Bitumen and hydrocarbons in the Dead Sea area The close proximity of the bitumen pits/quarries may have been a major factor in the destruction of Sodom by fire.48 Escaping gas during an earthquake may have exploded, reigning down fire upon the nearby city. In the area of the Dead Sea bituminous substances occur mainly along the west coast (with the exception of a deposit in the vicinity of the mouth of the River Arnon). However, such deposits are not to be found in the north or the south-east. Near En- Gedi occurrences of asphalt have been revealed in the cores of boreholes.4g Historians from antiquity5O noted that lumps of asphalt occasionally rose to the surface and were picked up by boatmen for financial exploitation. An underwater map ofthe Dead Sea The contours of an underwater map (Fig. 2) made with the help of sonar (by the Dead Sea Geophysical Survey, 1978 51) show that: . . . the (Dead Sea) basin is asymmetric, with western slopes generally averaging 7 degrees and eastern slopes averaging 30 This again shows that the conditions for settlement on the eastern side of the valley were unfavourable because of the steep slopes bordering the lake when its level was much lower in late-Chalcolithic and EB times. By contrast, the contours on the western side indicate plains with gentle slopes at that time. If settlements once existed in this western part of the Dead Sea basin, they must have been located near the mouths of wadis in a relatively flat area suitable for growing agricultural crops. Furthermore, EB settlements were usually situated in `elevated locations for adequate The underwater map does indeed show an elevation on the lake bed, just four kilometres south of En-Gedi at 480 metres below sea level (co-ordinates: 92.5 N/S, 188.5 This elevation is not far from the mouth of the Nahal Hever gorge. Another geomorphological irregularity can be found at about one kilometre south of this elevation. Here there appears to be a crater with a diameter of some 100 metres (at 450 metres below sea level). Underwater craters are very rare because of the limited reasons for their 0Tigin.5~ So, could this be a large bitumen quarry located close to the site of Sodom? Ancient writers on the location of Sodom Stra bo/Posidonius The geographer Stsabo (64 BC to 23 AD) quotes Posidonius (c. 135-50 BC) in his description of the Dead Sea region. 88 JACF VOL. 9 Fig. 2: Sonar map of the Dead Sea near En-Gedi with the putative sites of Sodom. . . . near Moasada (Masada) are to be seen rugged rocks which have been scorched, as also, in many places, fissures and ashy soil, ... and therefore people believe the oft repeated assertions of the local in- habitants, that more than thirteen inhabited cities were in that region for which Sodom was the metro- polis. But those outside a circuit of about sixty stadia of that city escaped unharmed, and that by reason of earthquakes and of eruptions of fxe and hot waters containing asphalt and sulphur, the lake burst its bounds, and rocks were enveloped with fire. And, as for the cities, some were swallowed up and others were abandoned by those who were able to Strabo mentions the location of Sodom in the area of Masada. That citadel is about 15 kilometres south of En- Gedi and therefore just 10 kilometres south of the underwater elevatiodanomaly. The other thirteen cities were probably scattered over a wide area to the south of the Dead Sea. Flavius Josephus In a description of the Jordan valley, Josephus (37 to c. 100 AD) mentions the land of the Sodomites - located to the south of the Dead Sea. It extends from the land about Scythopolis in the north as far as the country of Sodom and the utmost limits of the Lake Asphaltites in the s0uth.5~ On this basis a location near Jebel Usdum (today to the south-west of the Dead Sea) has been proposed.5R But, if we take into account the fact that the Dead Sea was confined to the northern basin during most of antiquity, it should be seen as a clear hint of a location in the south-western part of the northern basin - in other words the area of Masada and En-Gedi. Dion Chrysostomos In a biography of the rhetorician Dion Chrysostomos (40 AD), Synesius of Cyrene (370 AD) notes one statement of Dion, according to which a settlement of the Essenes was located in the neighbour- hood of Sodom. ... in addition to this, Dion also, at some point, praises the Essenes - a very happy community - which is located by the Dead Sea in central Palestine, very near to S~dom.~~ It is known that the Essenes settled near En-Gedi, as well as at the more famous Qumran' further north. Pliny the Elder states that `the town of Ein Gedi ... lies below the Essenes'.60 Pliny uses the expression `below' not in the sense of `south of but `beneath` or at a lower altitude.6l In other words, this Essene community was located on a hill above the town of En-Gedi and, according to Dion, this was near to the ancient ruins of Sodom. Stephen of ByDntium About 530 AD Stephen of Byzantium summarised the geographic and ethnographic knowledge of ancient geo- graphers in an encyclopaedia (Ethnikon) of about fifty volumes.62 Under the heading `En-Gedi' it is mentioned that this oasis was situated in the vicinity of `Sodom of Under the heading `Sodom' he states that Sodom was once the metropolis of ten cities now covered by the water of the Salt Sea.64 If these two texts are combined, they yield a clear statement that Sodom was located in the neighbourhood of En-Gedi and is now hidden under the Dead Sea. As I mentioned earlier, both Eusebius andJosephus refer to Sodom's location as being to the south of the Dead Sea. From today's point of view this is obviously not the case as far as En-Gedi is concerned. However, all these statements would have been appropriate for much of antiquity when only the northern part of the Dead Sea existed. The area of MasaddEn-Gedi would then have been viewed as the southern part of the northern basin. From this perspective Hieronymus' placement of En-Gedi to the south of the Dead Sea makes absolute sense.65 JACF VOL. 9 89 Conclusions In this article, a fresh attempt has been made to shed new light on the lost cities of the Pentapolis. Several sources - from the Bible to ancient geographers or historians -provide indications for a location of Sodom in the region of En- Gedi. Furthermore, there are a number of archaeological issues regarding the disproportionate wealth in the region to the west of the Dead Sea during the late-Chalcolithic period. A hydro-geological study shows that, during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age, the lake's level dropped sharply and an underwater sonar map shows some unusual features on the sea floor in an area where the occurrence of asphdthitumen has been demonstrated. This hypothesis cannot claim to be completely consistent with other theories and should primarily be seen as a stimulus for further investigation. However, it may lead to a more productive solution to the quest for Sodom. That challenge now needs to be taken up by modern underwater archaeology. U Notes and References 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. S. Wolcott: `The Site of Sodom' in BS XXV (Andover, 1868), pp. 112- 51; M.-J. Lagrange: `Le Site de Sodome d'apres les textes' in RB 7932 (1932), pp. 489-514; F. Clapp: `The Site of Sodom and Gomorrah' in AJA XL (1936), pp. 323-44; W. Schatz: Genesis 74 -Eine Untersuchung (Frankfurt a. Main, 1972), pp. 169-91. Flavius Josephus: Antiquities of the Jews I, 9. S. Wolcott, op. cit. [l], 1868, p. 122; W. Schatz, op. cit [4], 1972, p. 177. F. Clapp, op. cit [3], 1936, p. 323; B. Kreiger: Living Waters (New York, 1988), p. 24. K. Nebenzahl: Maps ofthe Bible Landr (London, 1986). Flavius Josephus: The Jewish War IV, 8,2; Flavius Josephus: The Jewish War IV, 8,4. Eusebius from Ceaseraea, Onomtikon 42, If, 153,15f. Avi-Yonah: % Madaba Mosaic Map (Jerusalem, 1954). M. G. Kyle & W. F. Albright: `Results of the Archaeological Survey in the Ghor in the Search for thr cities of the Plain' in BS (1924), p. 277 W. E. Rast: `The Southeastern Dead Sea plain expedition' in AASOR 46 (Cambridge, 1981). W. C. van Hattem: `Once again: Sodom and Gomorrah' in BA (Spring 1981), pp. 87f; Anonym: `Have Sodom and Gomorrah been found' in BAR (SepUOct 1980). J. Adams: Ancient Records ofthe Bible (1946), pp. 174-75; J. Finegan: Handbook $Biblical Chronology (Princeton, 1964), p. 193. W. F. Albright: `Abraham the Hebrew - A new archaeological Interpretaion' in BASOR 163 (1961), pp. 44f. K. Kenyon: `Amorites and Canaanites' in The British Academy, London (1966), pp. 1-52; W. H. StiebingJr.: `When was the Age of the Patriarchs ? - of Amorites, Canaanites and Archaeology' in B& June 1977, pp. 186 W. Leineweber: Die Patriarchen im Licht der archaologischen Entdeckungen (Frankfurt a. M., (1980), p. 17. A. Mazar: Ardaeology in the Land of the Bible (New York, 1990), pp. 151f. W. H. Stiebing Jr., op cit. [23], p. 20. W. Schatz, op. cit. [4], 1972, pp. 89,98. Leineweber, op. cit. [24], 1980, p. 177. J. A. Loader: A Tale oftwo Cities, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Old Testament, early Jewish and Early Christian Traditions (Kampen, 1990), p. 52. W. Schatz, op. cit. [4], 1972, p. 189. Bid p. 191. The author has obtained personal information from experienced hikers in Israel that for trained men it is possible to cover the distance from Bani Na'im (East of Hebron) to En-Gedi in seven to eight hours (possible route along the tracks in the SPNI map 1:50000 7321,7314,7313,1312 and 7414). 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. Tristam: Land ofhael, p. 362. E. Stem & B. Mazar (eds): % nao enqdopaedia ofarchaeologicalexcavations in the Holy Land (Jerusalem, 1993), p. 405. P. Bar-Adon: ne Cave of the Treasure, The Israel Exploration Society (Jerusalem, 1980). B. Mazar et al.: En-Gedi: The First and Second Seasons officavations 7961 - 7962 (Jerusalem, 1966), p. 16. D. Ussishkin: `The Ghassulian Shrine at En-Gedi' in "Tel Aviv"' in Journal ofthe TelAviv University (Institute of Archaeology 7/1980). Ibid. Pliny the Elder: Natural History 1 V 73. A. Mazar, op. tit. [25], 1990, p. 142 Information brochure from En-Gedi, Nature Reserves Authority, Israel. Scient@ Basisfor Water Resources Management (1985), p. 212. A. Horowitz: `Preliminary palynological Indications as to the Climate of Israel during the last 6000 years' in Paleorient 2:2, (1974), pp. 407-14. A. Horowitz: % Ouatmry ofzsrael (Jerusalem, 1979), p. 320. P. Bar-Adon: The Cave of the Trearure (1980). P. Beck `Notes on the Style and Iconography of the calcolithic Hoard from Nahal Mishmar' in Essays in Ancient Civilisation Presented to Helene J. Kantor, Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilisatioa47 (Chicago, 1989); S. Shalev: `The Metallurgy of the Nahal Mishmar Hoard reconsidered' in Archaeomeq 35:l (1993), pp. 35-47. BAR (Nov. Dec. 1982), p. 43. D. Ussishkin: `The Ghassulian Temple in En-Gedi and the Origin of the Hoard from Nahal Mishmar' in BA34 (1971), pp. 23f. A. Mazar, op. cit. [25], 1990, p. 75. P. Bar-Adon: The Cave of the Treasure (1980). A. Mazar, op. cit. [25], 1990, p. 75. P. R. S. Moorey: `The Calcolithic hoard from Nahal Mishmar, Israel, in context' in Essays in Ancient Civilisation ..., (Chicago, 1989), p. 173. J. Enge: Der Anstieg des Toten Meeres 7880-7900 und seine Ei-klarung (Leipzig, 1931); C. Klein: On the Fluctuations of the Dead Sea since the Beginning of the 19th century (Jerusalem, 1961). A. Kaufmann: U-series dating ofDead Sea Basin carbonates, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 35 (1971), pp. 1269-281. D. Neev & J. K. Hall: ClimticFluctuations during the Holocene as r@ctedly the Dead Sea Levels (1977), p. 58. R. Koeppel: `Uferstudien am Toten Meer' in Biblica 13 (1932), p. 131. C. Klein: `Morphological Evidence of Lake Level Changes, Western Shore of the Dead Sea' in YES 31 (1982), pp. 67-94; D. Neev & K. Emery: ne Dead Sea, Depositionalprocesses and environments of evaporites. Geological Survey ofIrael Bulletin 41 (1967), p. 28. J. Penrose Harland: `Sodom and Gomorrah, The Destruction of the Cities' in BAVI/3 (Sept. 1943), pp. 41-54. A. Horowitz & Y. Langotzky: `F'reliminary Palynological Study of Hydrocarbons in Israel' in Geologie enMYnbouw, 44eJaargang(February 1965), pp. 61f. Tacitus: Historien V 6,3 f; Josephus Flavius: The Jewish War IV,8,4. J. K. Hall: The Dead Sea Geophysical Survey (Jerusalem, 1979). D. Neev, J. K. Hall: `Geophysical Investigations at the Dead Sea' in Sedimentary Geology 23 (1979), pp. 209-38 . W. E. Rast & T. Schaub `The 1977 Expedition to the Southeastern Dead Sea Plain, Jordan' in AASOR 46, (1981), p. 3. Coordinate system in Israel. M. Hovland & A.G. Judd: Seebed Pockmarks and Seepages, Impact on Geology, Biology and the Marine Environment (London, 1988), pp. 119 f. Strabo: Erdbeschreibung 16,2,43. Flavius Josephus: Antiquties of the Jews, 1, 11,4. Lagrange: Le site de Sodome d' api-es le textes, Revue Biblique (Pans, 1932), p. 500. Synesius from Cyrene: Dion Chrysostomos (Akademie Verlag Berlin 1959), Dion 3,2, p. 15. Pliny the Elder: Natural History 5,15, 73. A. D. Crown & L. Cansdale: `Qumran -was it an Essene settlement?' in BAR, SepUOct. 1994, p. 28. K. Ziegler, et al. (eds.): `Der Kleine Pauly' in Lexikon der Antike (1979). Westermann (ed.) Stephan von Byzanz: Ethnicorum quae supersunt, heading ``Eggada': (1839). Ibi4 heading "Sodoma". Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Altertumswissmch$en, heading `Engedi'. 90 JACF VOL. 9