The Bible states that Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt when she stopped running and looked back at the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the plane in which these cites stood.
Gen. 19: 24 -26
Now the transformation of Lot’s wife into a white pillar of salt is most
unusual.
In fact, no other time in the entire Tanach is any similar transformation
ever again recorded.
It sounds more like a variant of the Greek myth of Medusa, the snake
haired woman who turned anyone who looked at her face into stone.[i]
So, it is not surprising that many non-Orthodox Jews and non-Jews over
the centuries have been sceptical that such a transformation occurred.
But such legitimate scepticism should by now have evaporated with the
excavations since 1748 of the long-lost Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum
in southern Italy: which were instantly obliterated by fallout from the massive
eruption of the volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in 79 A.D.[ii]
In an instant, the volcanic spewn ash, molten debris and gases descended
from above and quickly encrusted everyone in their chemical bath: whether they
were just sitting or relaxing outdoors or while indoors asleep (with windows
open) or trying to flee. And eventually, they were encased in the ensuing lava
flow.[iii]
As of now, over 1000 ‘bodies’ have been recovered: people mummified
sitting, sleeping, walking and running. [iv]
In the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, no volcano seems to have been
involved. Instead, the seismic event
would have been a massive earthquake and further collapse of the ground
under the plain along the Jordan River and Dead Sea.
The Jordan Rift Valley, long the lowest point on Earth, is at the
juncture- actually the gap -- between the African and Arabian tectonic
plates.[v]
Records exist of a massive earthquake with a 7.3 magnitude which took
place here in 1033 and which is estimated to have killed 70,000 people.[vi]
And it is estimated the valley would instantly drop between 11 feet
and 16 feet in any such major event.[vii]
A traumatic disruption of the entire land surface like a falling
elevator, with a resultant counter upward push of dislocated matter: Newton’s Third Law.[viii]
While previous scientific estimates believed such massive shifts in the
Earth’s crust would occur here only every 10,000 years (which would not align
with Sodom and Gomorrah’s destruction in the 18th century BCE [ix])
more recent research has found major earthquakes occur in the Jordan rift
valley every 1,300 to 1,400 years.[x]
The Bible describes the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and vicinity as
follows:
Gen. 19: 23 - 28
During this earthquake and sink upheaval – more accurately a ‘down’ heaval
– along with structural debris, mineral salts also must have been spewed up: chemicals
for which the Dead Sea area has long been famous.
The Dead Sea is well known for its unique saltiness and mud rich in
chemicals for medical treatment of skin conditions: especially magnesium,
potassium, calcium, bromine[xi] and sulphur.[xii]l
As well, its southern part has also long been known for its many
natural tar or bitumen pits which were used as sources of asphalt
for centuries.[xiii]
These tar pits are mentioned in Gen. Ch 14 (verses 3, 8 and
10) as being in the Valley of Siddim, also called the Valley of the Dead Sea (Hebrew
Salt Sea) in Gen. 14:3 and thereafter in 2 Kings 14: 7.[xiv]
As such, any massive earthquake and ‘sinkhole’ event which
obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah and their vicinity – now believed buried under
the south portion of the Dead Sea,[xv]
would also have spewed up into the atmosphere chemicals and salts of the area,
and readily flammable tar.
Which would return earthward soon thereafter.
Brimstone and Fire
(Gen. 19:24)
Brimstone is the ancient name for sulphur,[xvi]
a chemical found in the mud of the Dead Sea.
Sulphur is highly flammable and so too the tar of the vicinity’s pits.
Once heaved up due to the earthquake, they would have returned to earth
as the sulphur and burning fire “from above” as stated in verse 24.
Smoke rising like from a furnace (Gen. 19: 28)
When Abraham the next day looked out toward the ‘remains’ of Sodom and Gomorrah, all was enveloped in a rising smoke like from a furnace.
Again, the predictable result of burning tar, burning wooden structures
as they collapsed, and the chemical salts and sulfur of the valley of the Dead
Sea.
So, the Bible’s text is consistent with what is now known of the area,
its geology and chemical composition.
Lot’s wife’s transformation
If someone is too close when these spewed up chemicals start to land:
during the earthquake and rift valley collapse, he or she would be showered
with this deadly, toxic chemical bath and instantly mummified as where the
people of Pompeii and Heracleum noted above.
Lot’s wife, though originally able to leave before disaster struck the city
and plane, on hearing the noise of the apocalyptic destruction,n stopped
running, turned to look and while mesmerized by what she saw, was embalmed in
the caustic chemicals of this event: just like the people of Pompeii and
Heracleum.
Transformed into a white, encrusted pillar of salt for staying too long,
too close.
[ii] Ancient Roman Life Preserved at Pompeii | National
Geographic and Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD - Wikipedia
[vii] Ibid.
[ix] See the Jewish chronology chart at Chabad.org, “Timeline of Jewish
history”
