The UnXplained (History Channel series hosted by William Shatner) featured a segment titled “4,000- Year- Old City Destroyed by God’s Wrath” (from the “Acts of God” episode, Season 4 Episode 5, aired around April 2022). It discusses the biblical destruction of Sodom and links it to the archaeological site of Tall (or Tell) el-Hammam in the Jordan Valley, northeast of the Dead Sea in modern Jordan.

In the Bible (Genesis 18-19), Sodom (along with Gomorrah and other “cities of the plain”) is destroyed by “brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven” due to the wickedness of its inhabitants. Lot and his family are warned to flee; his wife looks back and is turned into a pillar of salt. The story has long been viewed by many scholars as legendary or etiological (explaining ruins or the barren landscape near the Dead Sea).

Excavations led by Steven Collins (Trinity Southwest University) since the mid- 2000s have revealed a large Middle Bronze Age city (roughly 4,000– 3,700 years old at its peak), with fortifications, a palace area, and evidence of sudden, intense destruction around 1650 BCE (± roughly 50 years by radiocarbon and pottery). Some researchers estimate it could have held tens of thousands of people and was the dominant site in the region (the “kikkar” or plain north of the Dead Sea). Collins and others have argued it matches biblical geographic descriptions better than southern Dead Sea candidates like Bab edh- Dhra.

A 2021 paper in Scientific Reports (by a team including some affiliated with the excavations and the Comet Research Group) claimed a cosmic airburst, similar to but larger than the 1908 Tunguska event, destroyed the city.

Evidence cited included a thick ash/charcoal destruction layer, melted pottery and mudbrick (indicating extreme temperatures, briefly approaching or exceeding ~1,500- 2,000+°C in places), shocked quartz, metallic spherules, diamond- like carbon, high salt concentrations (which may have sterilized the soil for centuries), and directional blast effects. This was proposed as a possible natural explanation that could underlie the biblical “fire and brimstone from heaven” account, with the oral tradition later written into Genesis.

The UnXplained clip presents this theory: the site’s age and location, the sudden destruction matching the biblical description, and the meteor/airburst hypothesis as a scientific parallel to divine wrath.

The airburst claim and Sodom identification are highly controversial and not accepted by mainstream archaeology:

The 2021 Scientific Reports paper faced significant criticism for methodological issues, data interpretation, and overreach. It received an editor’s note of concern and was formally retracted in April 2025 due to errors in methodology, analysis, and interpretation.

Many archaeologists reject equating Tall el- Hammam with Sodom, viewing the biblical narrative as a later literary or legendary tradition rather than a precise historical record of a specific Bronze Age site. Alternative explanations for destruction layers (warfare, earthquake, ordinary fire, etc.) exist, and dating or continuity issues have been raised relative to traditional biblical chronologies.

Other proposed Sodom candidates (e.g., southern sites) have their own dating mismatches with typical biblical timelines.

The segment highlights an intriguing hypothesis connecting archaeology, a possible cosmic event, and the biblical story.

While Tall el- Hammam was a major settlement that experienced catastrophic destruction in the Middle Bronze Age, the specific airburst interpretation and direct identification with Sodom remain disputed and lack broad scholarly consensus. The biblical account itself is primarily a theological narrative about judgment, hospitality, and morality rather than a scientific report.

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Tall el-Hammam (also spelled Tell el-Hammam or Tall al-Ḥammām) is a large archaeological mound (tell) in the southern Jordan Valley, Jordan, roughly 12–14 km northeast of the Dead Sea in the Middle Ghor (the plain known biblically as the kikkar or “disk” of the Jordan). Coordinates are approximately 31°50′N 35°40′E. The site covers about 36 hectares, with a high upper mound (acropolis) rising ~30 m above the plain and a broad lower town.

Early visitors and surveyors (Claude Conder in the 19th century, Père Mallon in 1932, Nelson Glueck in 1941) noted the site’s size, Iron Age remains, and nearby Roman/Byzantine baths (the name means “Hill of the Hot Baths”). Limited work occurred in the 1970s–1990s (including Kay Prag).

Systematic, large- scale excavations began in 2005– 2006 under the Tall el- Hammam Excavation Project (TeHEP), directed by Steven Collins of Trinity Southwest University (with assistants including Gary Byers and Carroll Kobs). Seasons continued annually for many years (at least through the late 2010s/early 2020s), involving students, volunteers, and collaboration with Jordan’s Department of Antiquities. Reports cover more than 15 seasons, with detailed publications on ceramics, architecture, and stratigraphy.

The site shows long, substantial occupation with architectural remains:

• Chalcolithic (ca. 4600–3600 BCE): Early settlement.
• Early Bronze Age (ca. 3600–2500 BCE): Fortified urban center with extensive walls; seismic damage and rebuilding noted.
• Intermediate Bronze Age (ca. 2500–1950 BCE): Continued occupation and prosperity in the Jordan Valley while much of the southern Levant saw decline.
• Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1950–1550 BCE, especially MB II): Peak period. The city reached its maximum size and power, with complex multi- phase fortifications (outer/lower ramparts and walls, inner/upper systems), a monumental gateway, a large palace complex (multi-story, with thick walls), administrative buildings, and evidence of a city-state dominating the eastern kikkar. Estimates suggest a significant population (excavators have proposed tens of thousands regionally when including satellites). A major destruction layer ends the main urban phase around the mid-17th century BCE.
• Late Bronze Age: Near- total occupational gap after the MB destruction (with only a modest, short-lived LB II “customs house”/administrative structure on the upper tall in the 14th century BCE).
• Iron Age (especially Iron II, from ca. 10th century BCE onward): Reoccupation as a fortified town/agricultural storage and distribution center (many stone-lined silos). Multiple phases, including a fiery end to one phase in the 9th century BCE.
• Later periods: Limited Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic activity (the site is linked by some to ancient Livias/Julias or related settlements).

The Middle Bronze Age city is the most prominent phase in the literature. Excavations exposed a thick (~1–1.5 m in places) destruction matrix with ash, charcoal, pulverized and in some cases melted mudbrick and pottery, carbonized materials, and disarticulated human remains. Excavators noted directional debris patterns (often described as SW- to- NE).

Key Findings and Features

• Massive fortifications and a palace complex on the upper tall.
• Evidence of earthquakes and rebuilds in earlier periods.
• Extensive necropolis and megalithic field (dolmens, etc.) nearby.
• Iron Age silos and storage facilities indicating agricultural importance.
• Pottery assemblages used for precise phasing; radiocarbon dates support the MB destruction around 1650 BCE (± ~50 years in some analyses).

Biblical identification: Project director Steven Collins and colleagues strongly argue that Tall el- Hammam is the best candidate for biblical Sodom, based on size, location on the eastern kikkar, continuous occupation matching patriarchal-era geography, and the sudden catastrophic end. This view is promoted in books, season reports, and popular media. Mainstream archaeologists and many biblical scholars reject or remain highly skeptical of the identification, viewing Sodom as legendary or etiological rather than a precise historical site that can be confidently matched. Chronological mismatches with traditional biblical timelines are also cited by some critics.

Destruction cause: The excavators and collaborators (including the Comet Research Group) proposed a cosmic airburst (Tunguska-like or larger) around 1650 BCE as the cause of the terminal MB destruction, citing high- temperature melts, shocked quartz, spherules, salt enrichment, and directional effects. A 2021 Scientific Reports paper advanced this claim and noted possible links to the Genesis Sodom tradition. That paper was formally retracted in April 2025 due to methodological, analytical, and interpretive concerns (including issues with mineralogical/geochemical data and Tunguska comparisons). Alternative explanations (warfare, earthquake, ordinary fire, or combinations) remain under discussion; the site clearly suffered a major, sudden catastrophe ending its Bronze Age urban phase, followed by centuries of limited reoccupation.

Tall el-Hammam was one of the largest and longest- occupied sites in the southern Jordan Valley during the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages, serving as a regional center. Its archaeology provides important data on urbanism, fortifications, trade routes, environmental change, and settlement patterns in the Dead Sea region. Work continues to refine the stratigraphy and material culture through published season reports and monographs (e.g., The Tall al-Hammam Excavations, Volume 1).

For primary sources, consult the TeHEP season reports (many available via ResearchGate or project channels), the 2015 ceramics/artifacts volume, and peer-reviewed discussions of the site’s stratigraphy. The Sodom and airburst interpretations remain debated and should be distinguished from the more broadly accepted evidence of a major Bronze Age city with a catastrophic end.

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Tall el- Hammam reached its peak during the Middle Bronze Age (roughly 2000- 1550 BCE, or about 4,000- 3,550 years ago), with its major urban phase and terminal destruction dated around 1650 BCE (± ~50 years).

Paleoclimate reconstructions (primarily from Dead Sea lake levels, pollen records from sites like Ze’elim, Ein Feshkha, the Sea of Galilee, and speleothems) show fluctuating conditions during the Middle Bronze Age:

Middle Bronze I (≈1950–1750 BCE): Predominantly drier conditions. Pollen data indicate reduced Mediterranean woodland and lower humidity after the end of the Intermediate Bronze Age. Dead Sea levels were relatively low.

Middle Bronze II- III (≈1750–1550 BCE): A shift to wetter, more humid conditions. Arboreal (tree) pollen increased, signaling greater moisture availability. The Dead Sea rose significantly, reaching one of its highest Holocene levels, around 370 m below mean sea level (roughly 50–60 m higher than the modern level of ~430 m bmsl). This highstand is documented in shoreline evidence and sediment cores.

Tall el- Hammam’s floruit and catastrophic end fall squarely in this wetter MB II window. Higher regional rainfall and elevated Dead Sea levels would have made the eastern Jordan Valley (kikkar) more fertile and better watered than today, supporting intensive agriculture, a large population, and the city’s status as a major regional center. The shoreline of the Dead Sea would have been several kilometers closer to the site than it is now.

Relevance to the Site

• The wetter climate helps explain why a large fortified city could thrive in what is now a relatively arid zone.
• After the ~1650 BCE destruction, the region experienced a long occupational hiatus (centuries in many nearby settlements). Some researchers (including the retracted 2021 airburst paper) attributed part of this to a sudden influx of salt that sterilized soils. Independent of that contested claim, broader climate records show continued variability, with drier trends becoming more pronounced toward the end of the Late Bronze Age.
• Overall Holocene pattern in the southern Levant: multi- century wet- dry cycles strongly influenced settlement density, urbanism, and agricultural potential.

Tall el- Hammam’s Middle Bronze Age peak coincided with a relatively favorable (wetter) climatic phase that enhanced the productivity of the Jordan Valley plain, while its abrupt end and the subsequent abandonment occurred against a backdrop of ongoing environmental variability.

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A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el- Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea

The paper argued that around ~1650 BCE (Middle Bronze Age), a cosmic airburst, comparable to or larger than the 1908 Tunguska event in Siberia, destroyed the city of Tall el-Hammam (northeast of the Dead Sea in Jordan).

Key evidence cited included:

• A city-wide ~1.5 m thick carbon- and ash- rich destruction layer.
• Melted pottery, mudbricks, and other materials indicating extreme temperatures (claimed >2000 °C in places).
• Shocked quartz, diamond-like carbon, metallic spherules (including platinum, iridium, etc.), and other high-pressure/high-temperature markers.
• Directional blast effects, human skeletal fragmentation, and high salt concentrations that allegedly rendered the surrounding area uninhabitable for centuries.
• Modeling suggesting a bolide airburst a few kilometers southwest of the site.

The authors noted that the event’s details (fire and stones from the sky, total destruction of a city and the plain, lasting desolation) showed similarities to the biblical account of Sodom in Genesis 19, and suggested it could have inspired an oral tradition later recorded in the Bible. They framed the Sodom identification as outside the paper’s primary scope but plausible.

The paper faced significant criticism shortly after publication regarding methodology, mineralogical and geochemical interpretations, data handling, and comparisons to the Tunguska event (including overstated temperatures, wind speeds, and blast effects).

Author corrections were issued in 2022 and 2023.

An editor’s note of concern appeared in 2023 while the journal investigated.

It was formally retracted on 24 April 2025. The retraction notice stated that concerns raised (notably by Jaret & Harris on mineralogic and geochemical data, and by Boslough & Bruno on Tunguska comparisons and physics) meant the claims of an airburst destroying the city “appear to not be sufficiently supported by the data.” The editors no longer had confidence in the conclusions. Some co-authors disagreed with the retraction.

An expanded/ revised version of related work has since appeared in other venues (e.g., Airbursts and Cratering Impacts), but the original high-profile Scientific Reports paper is retracted and should not be treated as reliable peer-reviewed evidence for a cosmic airburst at the site.

This paper was the main scientific source popularized in media coverage (including segments like the one on The UnXplained) linking Tall el-Hammam’s destruction to a possible natural explanation for the Sodom story.

The retraction significantly weakens that specific cosmic- airburst interpretation in the peer- reviewed literature, though debate about the site’s destruction layer and any possible biblical connections continues among interested researchers.

Title: “A Tunguska sized airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam a Middle Bronze Age city in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea”

Published: Nature

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-97778-3.

Authors: Ted E. Bunch, Malcolm A. LeCompte, A. Victor Adedeji, et al. (including Phillip J. Silvia of the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project and members associated with the Comet Research Group).

Abstract

We present evidence that in ~ 1650 BCE (~ 3600 years ago), a cosmic airburst destroyed Tall el-Hammam, a Middle-Bronze-Age city in the southern Jordan Valley northeast of the Dead Sea. The proposed airburst was larger than the 1908 explosion over Tunguska, Russia, where a ~ 50-m-wide bolide detonated with ~ 1000× more energy than the Hiroshima atomic bomb. A city-wide ~ 1.5-m-thick carbon-and-ash-rich destruction layer contains peak concentrations of shocked quartz (~ 5–10 GPa); melted pottery and mudbricks; diamond-like carbon; soot; Fe- and Si-rich spherules; CaCO₃ spherules from melted plaster; and melted platinum, iridium, nickel, gold, silver, zircon, chromite, and quartz. Heating experiments indicate temperatures exceeded 2000 °C. Amid city-side devastation, the airburst demolished 12+ m of the 4-to-5-story palace complex and the massive 4-m-thick mudbrick rampart, while causing extreme disarticulation and skeletal fragmentation in nearby humans. An airburst-related influx of salt (~ 4 wt.%) produced hypersalinity, inhibited agriculture, and caused a ~ 300–600-year-long abandonment of ~ 120 regional settlements within a > 25-km radius. Tall el-Hammam may be the second oldest city/town destroyed by a cosmic airburst/impact, after Abu Hureyra, Syria, and possibly the earliest site with an oral tradition that was written down (Genesis). Tunguska-scale airbursts can devastate entire cities/regions and thus, pose a severe modern-day hazard.