Vale of Siddim
Encyclopedia
Vale of Siddim or Valley of Siddim ("Salt Sea", "sea of the Arabah
", "east sea", Arabic: Bahr Lut (the Sea of Lut), "Lake Asphaltitus", "Dead Sea") is a Hebrew bible
place name mentioned in the book of Genesis Chapter 14.
In the early 2nd millennium BCE, during the days of Lot, the Vale of Siddim was a river valley
where a great battle occurred between four Mesopotamian armies and five cities of the Jordan plain
.
Siddim is thought to be located on the southern end of the Dead Sea
where modern bitumen deposits have been found in respect to the tar pits (asphalt, slime pits) mentioned in . This scripture indicates that the valley was filled with many of these pits that the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah
fell into during their retreat from Mesopotamian forces. It has been suggested by theologians that the destruction of the cities of the Jordan Plain by divine fire and brimstone may have caused Siddim to become a salt sea, what is now the Dead Sea. It is also theorized that tectonic shifting along the Jordan-Gihon rift
may have caused this valley's further submersion under the Dead Sea, and that the "divine fire and brimstone" was an explosion of natural gas
released by a ground movement.
Arabah
The Arabah , also known as Aravah, is a section of the Great Rift Valley running in a north-south orientation between the southern end of the Sea of Galilee down to the Dead Sea and continuing further south where it ends at the Gulf of Aqaba. It includes most of the border between Israel to the...
", "east sea", Arabic: Bahr Lut (the Sea of Lut), "Lake Asphaltitus", "Dead Sea") is a Hebrew bible
Hebrew Bible
The Hebrew Bible is a term used by biblical scholars outside of Judaism to refer to the Tanakh , a canonical collection of Jewish texts, and the common textual antecedent of the several canonical editions of the Christian Old Testament...
place name mentioned in the book of Genesis Chapter 14.
In the early 2nd millennium BCE, during the days of Lot, the Vale of Siddim was a river valley
River Valley
River Valley is the name of an urban planning area within the Central Area, Singapore's central business district.The River Valley Planning Area is defined by the region bounded by Orchard Boulevard, Devonshire Road and Eber Road to the north, Oxley Rise and Mohamed Sultan Road to the east, Martin...
where a great battle occurred between four Mesopotamian armies and five cities of the Jordan plain
Cities of the Plain
Cities of the Plain is the final volume of American novelist Cormac McCarthy's "Border Trilogy", published in 1998. A film adaptation to be directed by Andrew Dominik has been announced for release in 2012...
.
Siddim is thought to be located on the southern end of the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
where modern bitumen deposits have been found in respect to the tar pits (asphalt, slime pits) mentioned in . This scripture indicates that the valley was filled with many of these pits that the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....
fell into during their retreat from Mesopotamian forces. It has been suggested by theologians that the destruction of the cities of the Jordan Plain by divine fire and brimstone may have caused Siddim to become a salt sea, what is now the Dead Sea. It is also theorized that tectonic shifting along the Jordan-Gihon rift
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
may have caused this valley's further submersion under the Dead Sea, and that the "divine fire and brimstone" was an explosion of natural gas
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
released by a ground movement.