Biblical Geography
Showing all 15 results
-
A Late Nineteenth-Century Missionary-Scholar’s Position on the Location of Sodom and Gomorrah: Excerpts from The Land and the Book
$2.50A Late Nineteenth-Century Missionary-Scholar’s Position on the Location of Sodom and Gomorrah: Excerpts from The Land and the Book
by William M. Thomson
Many biblical scholars who frequented the Dead Sea region during the 19th century favored a location for Sodom and Gomorrah northeast of the Dead Sea. They did so on the basis of clear statements in Genesis 13:1-12 as to their location on the Kikkar of the Jordan. Once they had visited the entire region, it became obvious to geographical thinkers like W.M. Thomson that the Cities of the Plain belonged to the Jordan Valley proper, not the southern end of the Dead Sea.
$2.50 -
A Response to Bryant G. Wood’s Critique of Collins’ Northern Sodom Theory
$2.50A Response to Bryant G. Wood’s Critique of Collins’ Northern Sodom Theory
by Steven Collins PhD
My “northern Sodom” theory has been batted about the scholarly community since I first began to publish on the subject in 2002. In the fall of that year, I presented a paper to the Near East Archaeological Society wherein I provided a detailed refutation of the traditional “southern Sodom” hypothesis held by several scholars, including B. G. Wood. Since that time, I have continued to challenge southern Sodom advocates regarding the many serious “cracks” in the southern theory, encouraging them to come up with a substantive refutation of my theory, if they could muster one. Up to the present time no one has attempted a detailed critique of my northern theory in print, until now. In my opinion, the fatal weaknesses inherent in Wood’s criticisms of my position reveal the untenable nature of the southern Sodom hypothesis.
$2.50 -
Canon Tristam Fires a Lethal Shot at the Southwern Sodom Theory
$2.50 -
Forty Salient Points on The Geography of the Cities of the Kikkar
$2.50 -
If You Thought You Knew the Location of Sodom and Gomorrah…Think Again
$2.50If You Thought You Knew the Location of Sodom and Gomorrah…Think Again
by Steven Collins PhD
What we now know about the archaeology of the eastern Kikkar, particularly from excavations at Tall Nimrin and Tall el-Hammam, is well enough to put an end both to the Albrightian legend of the southern Dead Sea location, and the Finkelsteinian legend about aetiological legends.
$2.50 -
Locating Tall el-Hammam on the Madaba Map
$2.50Locating Tall el-Hammam on the Madaba Map
by David E. Graves and Scott Stripling
The Madaba Mosaic Map indicates a prominent but unnamed site near the upper-left edge, just above the Jordan River. Various attempts have been made to identify it with Tall Iktanu, Tall Kefrein, Tall Nimrin, Tall Rama, and Khirbet Sweimeh. This article demonstrates that the better candidate for this site is Tall el-Hammam which boasts superior size, perfect location, abundant water, and Early Roman/Byzantine remains.
$2.50 -
Reassessing the Term hakikkar in Nehemiah as Bearing on the Location of the Cities of the Plain
$2.50Reassessing the Term hakikkar in Nehemiah as Bearing on the Location of the Cities of the Plain
by Steven Collins PhD
In this paper I demonstrate that in no instance in the OT does kikkar refer to a geographical-topographical feature other than the southern Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea, and areas contiguous with it.
$2.50 -
Rethinking the Location of Zoar
$2.50Rethinking the Location of Zoar
by Steven Collins PhD
Zoar is typically located near the southern tip of the Dead Sea. However, a careful analysis of key biblical passages signals that it must be outside the territories of Moab and Edom, which makes the southern Dead Sea location questionable. Zoar is designated as the southern boundary of the Reuben tribal allotment, and, therefore, should be placed somewhere near the Arnon Gorge, north of the Moabite Kingdom boundary.
$2.50 -
Tall el-Hammam is Not Sodom
$2.50 -
Tall el-Hammam Is Sodom: Billington’s Heshbon Identification Suffers from Numerous Fatal Flaws
$2.50Tall el-Hammam Is Sodom: Billington’s Heshbon Identification Suffers from Numerous Fatal Flaws
by Steven Collins PhD
In this article, S. Collins responds to an article by C.E. Billington published in the Spring 2012 issue of Artifax magazine titled “Tall el-Hammam is Not Sodom.” Billington rejects Collins’ identification of Tall el-Hammam as Sodom because the date of its destruction is too late (between 1750 and 1650 BCE) to conform to Billington’s early placement of Abr(ah)am, ca. 2166-1991 BCE. He also attempts to support a more southern location for Sodom via textual geography. Finally, Billington suggests that Tall el- Hammam is perhaps a ‘western’ Heshbon. Collins refutes these ideas as categorically untenable.
$2.50 -
Tall el-Hammam Is Still Sodom: Critical Data-Sets Cast Serious Doubt on E.H. Merrill’s Chronological Analysis
$2.50Tall el-Hammam Is Still Sodom: Critical Data-Sets Cast Serious Doubt on E.H. Merrill’s Chronological Analysis
by Steven Collins PhD
In this article, S. Collins responds to an article by E.H. Merrill published in the Autumn 2012 issue of Artifax magazine titled Texts, Talls, and Old Testament Chronology: Tall el-Hammam as a Case Study.” Merrill rejects Collins identification of Tall el-Hammam as Sodom because the date of its destruction is too late (between 1750 and 1650 BCE) to conform to Merrill s early placement of Abr(ah)am, ca. 2166- 1991 BCE. While Merrill takes a literal, base-10, arithmetic approach to the patriarchal numbers in Gene- sis, Collins suggests that every available line of evidence from ANE archaeology, history, culture, litera- ture, climatology, and socio-economics demonstrates that the patriarchs fit best in the period following 1800 BCE, which also conforms to the terminal MB2 destruction of Hammam/Sodom.
$2.50 -
The Demographics of Ancient Israel
$2.50The Demographics of Ancient Israel
by David M. Fouts
It is the purpose of this paper to examine the archaeological data that contribute to the understanding of population demographics for ancient Israel from the earliest periods until the first century A.D. It will be demonstrated herein that, given the data that we now possess, at no time in the ancient history of the land of Palestine would there have been more than 1,000,000 inhabitants.
$2.50 -
The Geography of Sodom and Zoar
$2.50 -
The Geography of the Cities of the Plain
$2.50The Geography of the Cities of the Plain
by Steven Collins PhD
Tradition seems to provide the only support for a southern Dead Sea location for the Genesis Cities of the Plain. The biblical text clearly supports their location north of the Dead Sea, on the east side of the Jordan River, in a circular, alluvial area known in the Old Testament, particularly in Genesis, as the Kikkar. This paper provides a detailed textual analysis of this geography.
$2.50 -
Which Site is Sodom? A Comparison of Bab edh-Dhra and Tall el-Hammam
$2.50Which Site is Sodom? A Comparison of Bab edh-Dhra and Tall el-Hammam
by Steven Collins PhD
In this article, S. Collins responds to an article by C.E. Billington published in the Spring 2012 issue ofArtifax magazine titled “Tall el-Hammam is Not Sodom.” Billington rejects Collins’ identification of Tall el-Hammam as Sodom because the date of its destruction is too late (between 1750 and 1650 BCE) to conform to Billington’s early placement of Abr(ah)am, ca. 2166-1991 BCE. He also attempts to support a more southern location for Sodom via textual geography. Finally, Billington suggests that Tall el- Hammam is perhaps a ‘western’ Heshbon. Collins refutes these ideas as categorically untenable.
$2.50