ReViews

The Destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah, and Jericho: Geological, Climatological, and Archaeological Background

David Neev and K. O. Emery (New York/Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995) 175 pp., $35

The Bible’s spectacular accounts of the annihilation of Jericho and of Sodom and Gomorrah have encouraged much speculation over the years. Is it possible that natural catastrophes were responsible for the destruction of these cities? The Bible tells us only that “the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire … and he overthrew those cities” (Genesis 19:24–25); at Jericho, “The people shouted, and the trumpets were blown … and the wall fell down flat” (Joshua 6:20).

In this curious book, two geologists claim to have solved the riddle of the destruction of all three cities. Their solution is straightforward. They have noticed that the Dead Sea lies smack in the middle of a geological rift that extends from Turkey to the Red Sea, and that earthquakes occur along this rift (or strike-slip fault as the geologists call it). Thus, they brilliantly conclude that earthquakes destroyed Sodom, Gomorrah and Jericho.