Tell el-Hammam

Tell el-Hammam (also Tall al-Hammam) is an archaeological site in Jordan, in the eastern part of the lower Jordan Valley close to the mouth of the Jordan River. The site has substantial remains from the Chalcolithic, Early, Intermediate and Middle Bronze Age, and from Iron Age II. There are different attempts at identifying the site with a biblical city.

Tell el-Hammam
تل الحمام
Tell el-Hammam overlooking the Jordan Valley
Tell el-Hammam is located in Jordan
Tell el-Hammam
Shown within Jordan
Alternative nameTall al-Hammam
LocationJordan
RegionAmman Governorate
Coordinates31.8402°N 35.6737°E / 31.8402; 35.6737
History
CulturesChalcolithic, Early Bronze Age, Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age, Roman Age, Byzantine, Umayyad

Possible identifications in different periods
  • In the Late Bronze Age, the area around Tell el-Hammam is identified by many scholars as Abel-Shittim.[1]
  • 1st century CE – Livias (Latin: Liviada) under Herod Agrippa, 4 BCE.[2] Traditionally, the Roman city of Livias is identified with the small Tell er-Rameh,[3] although William F. Albright identified Livias/Bethharam with Tell Iktanu,[4] 2.75 km (1.71 mi) ESE of Tell er-Rameh. Recent excavations at Tell el-Hamman have led to the theory that nearby Tell er-Rameh was the commercial and residential centre of Livias, while the administrative centre was located at Tell el-Hammam.[5] In the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods (165 BC–AD 750) the site was part of the city of Livias (also known as Julias), an important city in Perea, rebuilt by Herod Antipas.[6]

Research history

Claude Reignier Conder recorded the site in the nineteenth century and Père Mallon described it in detail in 1932. Both noted remains of a Roman bath complex that have since disappeared, which presumably gave the tell its name ("Hill of the Hot Baths").[7] The renewed campaign of excavations discovered in 2011 a small Byzantine bath installation (5 m x 2 m), reminiscent of the Roman bath at Ramat HaNadiv (southern Mount Carmel, Israel).[5]

After a visit in 1941, Nelson Glueck identified it as the ruins of an Iron Age settlement, which he associated with biblical Abel-Shittim.[7] Australian archaeologist Kay Prag briefly surveyed the site in 1975–1976 while she was working at the adjacent Tell Iktanu.[7] She returned in 1990 to conduct a complete survey and excavate parts of the Bronze Age levels.[7]

Since 2005, excavations at the site have been directed by Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University,[8][9] an unaccredited biblical inerrantist institution in the United States.[10] Collins links the site to the legendary biblical city of Sodom,[11] a claim rejected both by scientists and by other biblical literalists.[12][13][14] In 2016, a team from the University of Oxford noted that the excavations had resulted in significant disruption to the ancient mound,[15] and archaeologists have expressed concern that by linking the site to Sodom the excavators encourage looting and the illegal trade of antiquities, because objects "marketed explicitly to people seeking a tangible connection with the Bible" are in high demand.[12]

Air burst claim

A group of researchers sponsored by the Comet Research Group, including one member of the current excavation team, published a paper claiming that Tell el-Hammam was destroyed cataclysmically by an air burst.[16] Two-thirds of the authors are members of the Comet Research Group,[17] which also claims that the Younger Dryas were caused by a comet impact.[18] The theory is presented in conjunction with the claim that the site may be the source of the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom.

Others raised doubts about the claim [19] and showed that the authors altered some of the images used as evidence.[20] The authors initially denied tampering with the photos, but eventually published a correction in which they admitted to having removed from photos things irrelevant to the scientific content such as tape measures or fingers, turning some photos 180°, and flipping one photo, obscuring a directional arrow.[21] Subsequent concerns that have been brought up in PubPeer have not yet been addressed by the authors, including the discrepancies between the claimed blast wave direction compared to what the images show, the unavailability of original image data to independent researchers, the lack of supporting evidence for conclusions, the referencing of young-Earth creationist literature, and misinformation about the Tunguska explosion.[22] On February 15, 2023, the following editor’s note was posted on this paper, "Readers are alerted that concerns raised about the data presented and the conclusions of this article are being considered by the Editors. A further editorial response will follow the resolution of these issues."[23]

An op-ed published in Sapiens Anthropology Magazine called the claim "pseudoscientific", suggested that it could erode scientific integrity, and warned that it may lead to the destruction of the site by looters. It also states that few knowledgeable archaeologists believe that the site represents Sodom or Gomorrah.[12]

Physicist Mark Boslough, a specialist in planetary impact hazards and asteroid impact avoidance, has undertaken a sustained critique in social media and in print of the hypothesis that an air burst was responsible for the destruction of human settlements at Tell el-Hammam. His critique calls attention to a perspective of biblical inerrancy that has been used in claims that an air burst destroyed the biblical town of Sodom.[24]

A review of the evidence for an impact event states that the proper criteria for showing an airburst have not been met.[25]

See also

References
    • Numbers 25:1
    • Deuteronomy 34:9
    • Joshua 2:1; 3:1
    • Thomson, William M. (1886). The Land and the Book: Lebanon, Damascus, and Beyond Jordan. Vol. 3. New York: Harper & Brothers. p. 669.
    • Glueck, Nelson (1934). "Explorations in Eastern Palestine, II". The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 15: ix–202. doi:10.2307/3768504. JSTOR 3768504.
    • Glueck, Nelson (October 1943). "Some Ancient Towns in the Plains of Moab". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 91 (91): 7–26. doi:10.2307/3219054. JSTOR 3219054. S2CID 163213632.
    • Miller, J. Maxwell; Tucker, Gene M. (1974). Ackroyd, P. R.; Leaney, A. R. C.; Packer, J. W. (eds.). The Book of Joshua (Cambridge Bible Commentaries on the Old Testament). Cambridge, New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0521097772.
    • Harrison, R. K. (1983). "Shittim". In Blaiklock, E. M. (ed.). The new international dictionary of biblical archaeology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Regency Reference Library from Zondervan Pub. House. p. 413. ISBN 978-0310212508.
    • MacDonald, Burton (2000). East of the Jordan : territories and sites of the Hebrew scriptures. Boston, MA: American Schools of Oriental Research. p. 90. ISBN 978-0897570312.
    • Merrill, Selah (1877). "Modern Researches in Palestine". Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York. 9: 109–125. doi:10.2307/196563. JSTOR 196563.
    • Merrill, Selah (1879). "Modern Researches in Palestine" (PDF). Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 11 (3): 109–115.
  2. Frangié-Joly, Dina (2015). "The Fort of Umm Hada (Historical and Archaeological Research)". ARAM Periodical. 27 (1&2): 105–123. ISSN 0959-4213.
    • Jastrow, Morris; Buhl, Frants (1906). "Beth-Aram". Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls. p. 119.
    • Vailhé, Siméon. "Livias". In Herbermann, Charles George (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 9. p. 315.
    • Glueck, Nelson (October 1943). "Some Ancient Towns in the Plains of Moab". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 91 (91): 7–26. doi:10.2307/3219054. JSTOR 3219054. S2CID 163213632.
    • Prag, Kay (January 1991). "A Walk in the Wadi Hesban". Palestine Exploration Quarterly. 123 (1): 48–61. doi:10.1179/peq.1991.123.1.48.
    • Donner, Herbert (1992). The Mosaic Map of Madaba : an introductory guide. Kampen, the Netherlands: Kok Pharos Pub. House. p. 39. ISBN 90-390-0011-5.
    • Dvorjetski, Esti (2007). Leisure, pleasure and healing : spa culture and medicine in ancient eastern Mediterranean. Leiden: Brill. p. 202. ISBN 978-90-04-15681-4.
  4. Albright, W. F. (1924). "The Jordan Valley in the Bronze Age0". The Annual of the American Schools of Oriental Research. 6: 13–74. doi:10.2307/3768510. JSTOR 3768510.
  5. Graves, David E.; Stripling, Scott (2011). "Re-Examination of the Location for the Ancient City of Livias". Levant. 43 (2): 178–200. doi:10.1179/175638011X13112549593122. S2CID 162399714.
  6. Josephus Antiquities 20.29; Jewish War 2.168; 2.252; see also Theodosius Top. 19.1; Harold W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas: A Contemporary of Jesus Christ (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 1980).87-91
  7. Prag, Kay (1991). "Preliminary Report on the Excavations at Tell Iktanu and Tell al-Hammam, Jordan, 1990". Levant. 23 (1): 55–66. doi:10.1179/lev.1991.23.1.55. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
  8. Collins, Steven; Aljarrah, Hussein (2011). "Tall al-Ḥammām season six, 2011 : excavation, survey, interpretations and insights". Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. 55: 581–607. ISSN 0449-1564.
  9. Collins, Steven; Hamdan, Khalil; Byers, Gary A. (2009). "Tall al-Ḥammām: preliminary report on four seasons of excavation (2006–2009)". Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan. 53: 385–414. ISSN 0449-1564.
  10. "About". Trinity Southwest University. Trinity Southwest University. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  11. Collins, Steven (2007). "Sodom: The Discovery of a Lost City". Bible and Spade. Associates for Biblical Research. 20 (3): 72.
  12. Kersel, Morag M.; Chesson, Meredith S.; Hill, Austin "Chad" (15 December 2021). "When Biblically Inspired Pseudoscience and Clickbait Cause Looting". Sapiens.
  13. Govier, Gordon (2021-09-24). "Sodom Destroyed by Meteor, Scientists Say. Biblical Archaeologists Not Convinced". Christianity Today. Retrieved 2021-09-26.
  14. Govier, Gordon (April 2008). "Looking Back: Claims to new Sodom locations are salted with controversy". Christianity Today. 52 (4): 15. Archived from the original on April 18, 2008. Retrieved September 25, 2021.
  15. Banks, Rebecca (2016). "Endangered Archaeology as captured with the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan Project: September 2016 Season". Endangered Archaeology in the Middle East and Africa. University of Oxford. Retrieved 2023-01-29.
  16. Bunch, Ted E.; LeCompte, Malcolm A.; Adedeji, A. Victor; Wittke, James H.; Burleigh, T. David; Hermes, Robert E.; Mooney, Charles; Batchelor, Dale; Wolbach, Wendy S.; Kathan, Joel; Kletetschka, Gunther; Patterson, Mark C. L.; Swindel, Edward C.; Witwer, Timothy; Howard, George A.; Mitra, Siddhartha; Moore, Christopher R.; Langworthy, Kurt; Kennett, James P.; West, Allen; Silvia, Phillip J. (September 2021). "A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 18632. Bibcode:2021NatSR..1118632B. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-97778-3. PMC 8452666. PMID 34545151.
  17. "Scientists & Members". Comet Research Group. 10 September 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  18. "Comets, Diamonds, & Mammoths". Comet Research Group. 9 September 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  19. Marcus, Adam (1 October 2021). "Criticism engulfs paper claiming an asteroid destroyed Biblical Sodom and Gomorrah". Retraction Watch. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  20. Bik, Elisabeth (2 October 2021). "Blast in the Past: Image concerns in paper about comet that might have destroyed Tall el-Hammam". Science Integrity Digest. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  21. Bunch, Ted E.; LeCompte, Malcolm A.; Adedeji, A. Victor; Wittke, James H.; Burleigh, T. David; Hermes, Robert E.; Mooney, Charles; Batchelor, Dale; et al. (22 February 2022). "Author Correction: A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea" (PDF). Scientific Reports. 12 (1): 3265. doi:10.1038/S41598-022-06266-9. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8864031. PMID 35194042. Wikidata Q111021706.
  22. Various commenters. "PubPeer - A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea Scientific Reports (2021) - 106 Comments". PUBPEER. Comments starting in September 2021.
  23. Kincaid, Ellie (February 21, 2023). "Journal investigating Sodom comet paper for data problems". Retraction Watch. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  24. Boslough, Mark (2022). "Sodom Meteor Strike Claims Should Be Taken with a Pillar of Salt" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 46 (1): 10–14.
  25. Jaret, Steven J.; Scott Harris, R. (25 March 2022). "No mineralogic or geochemical evidence of impact at Tall el-Hammam, a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea". Scientific Reports. 12 (1): 5189. Bibcode:2022NatSR..12.5189J. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-08216-x. PMC 8956582. PMID 35338157.
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