Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

SODOM AND GOMORRAH

Online Encyclopedia

Originally appearing in Volume V25, Page 343 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.

Encyclopedia Home :: SIV-SOU

Spread the word:

del.icio.us it!

SODOM AND GOMORRAH , in biblical See also:

GEOGRAPHY (Gr. yil, earth, and ypiickty, to write)

geography, two of five cities (the others named Admah,, Zeboiim and See also:

Bela or Zoar) which were together known as the " cities of the Kikkar" (circle), somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Dead See also:

Sea. They occupied a fertile region, chosen by , See also:

Lot for his dwelling (Gen. xiii. 10-12). They were attacked by the four See also:

GREAT

great See also:

East-ern See also:

KINGS, FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF

kings and spoiled, but restored by the intervention of Abram and his men coming to the aid of Lot (Gen. xiv.). They were proverbial for wickedness, for which they were destroyed by a See also:

RAIN (O.E. regn; the word is common to Teutonic languages, cf. Ger. Regen, Swed. and Dan. regn; it has been connected with Lat. rigare, to wet, Gr. 13pixeav)

rain of " See also:

FIRE (in O. Eng. f j'r; the word is common to West German languages, cf. Dutch vuur, Ger. Feuer; the pre-Teutonic form is seen in Sanskrit pu, pavaka, and Gr. irup; the ultimate origin is usually taken to be a root meaning to purify, cf. Lat. purus)

fire and See also:

BRIMSTONE

brimstone " (Gen. xix.). The site of the cities, the historicity of the events narrated of them and the nature of the See also:

CATASTROPHE (Gr. Karaurpoch, from KaraQrp4ecv, to over-turn)

catastrophe that destroyed them, are matters of hot dispute. See also:

MODERN

Modern names, more or less similar to the See also:

ancient appellations, have been noted in different parts of the Dead Sea See also:

AREA

area; but no certain See also:

IDENTIFICATION (Lat. idem, the same)

identification can be based on these similarities. The most striking coincidence is See also:

JEBEL (plur. jibed)

Jebel Usdum, by some equated with confidence to Sodom. The names are radically identical; but the See also:

hill is merely a See also:

salt-See also:

ridge 600 ft. high and 7 M. See also:

long, and cannot possibly represent an ancient See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city. The most that can be said is that the names have lingered in the See also:

Jordan valley in a vague tradition—very likely helped by, if not entirely due to, See also:

LITERARY

literary accounts of the catastrophe—just as has the name of Lot himself in the Arab name of the Dead Sea. The catastrophe has been explained as a volcanic eruption, or an explosive outburst of See also:

gas and oil stored and accumulating at high pressure. The latter, to which See also:

PARALLELS

parallels in geologically similar regions in See also:

AMERICA

America are not unknown, is the most probable natural explanation that can be offered.

(R. A. S.

End of Article: SODOM AND GOMORRAH

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.

» Add information or comments to this article.

Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.

Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
SODIUM [symbol Na, from Lat. natrium; atomic weight...

[next]
SODOMA, IL (1477-1549)