JORDAN - THE DEAD SEA& LOT’S CAVE

THE DEAD SEA& LOT’S CAVE

The Dead Sea is one of the most dramatic places on Earth, with its stunning natural environment equally matched by its powerful spiritual symbolism. The Bible variously calls it the “Sea of Arabah”, the “Sal”, but the Sea”, or the “Eastern Sea”. Mediaeval texts refer to it as “the Devil’s Sea”, but the Arab people have always known it as Bahr Lut (Lot’s Sea).

The infamous Sodom and Gomorrah and other cities of the Dead Sea Plain were subject to some of the most dramatic and enduring Old Testament stories. In Genesis, God said he would destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah because of the inhabitant’s wicked and arrogant ways. But Abraham successfully argued with God that Lot and any other righteous people should be spared.

Lot and his 2 daughters survived and fled, seeking refuge in a cave on a hillside near the small town of Zoar (modern day Safi).Here, around this same cave, Byzantine Christians built a church and monastery dedicated to Saint Lot. The monastery complex has been excavated and can easily be visited today.

However, as they were leaving the burning city of Sodom, Lot’s wife disobeyed God ‘s order not to look back and was turned into a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19:26).A rock formation stands near the Dead Sea, said to be the remains of the salt pillar that was Lot’s wife.

The events in the lives of Abraham and Lot probably took place during the Early or Middle Bronze Age (around 2500-1500 BC) .Although not confirmed, the remains of the ancient walled towns of Bab ed-Dhra’and Numeira, in the southeastern Dead Sea central plain, are believed to be the sites of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. 

They both still show evidence of destruction by a fore which took place in the Early Bronze Age, after which they were never re-inhabited .The 3 other Cities of the Plain were “Admah, Zeboiim and Bela(that is Zoar) (Genesis 14:2) The remains of these places are still buried somewhere around the Dead Sea.

By the 6^th century AD in the early Christian era-more than 2000 years after the events from Genesis-the land of Jordan was dotted with Christian monasteries and churches.

The entire length of the Dead Sea’ eastern shore, from the River Jordan in the North to the broad plain of salt formations at the southern end, is easily accessible on fine roads from central and southern Jordan.