Hebrew Explorer logo
Hebrew Explorer
The tool for deep Hebrew research into the biblical Scriptures

Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira

Burned Early Bronze towns southeast of the Dead Sea

Beginnings & the Patriarchs · city / site, destruction layer, ossuary / tomb · Debated · found 1924

Stone and mudbrick ruins on a dry plain near the Dead Sea
Photo: Ana al'ain · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons — Early Bronze Age remains at Bab edh-Dhra, Jordan.

Found 1924 — William F. Albright and Melvin Kyle (survey); excavated by Paul Lapp (1965–67) and Walter Rast and R. Thomas Schaub (1975–81)

Where Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, Ghor es-Safi, Jordan (Jordan)

Dates from c. 3300–2300 BCE · Early Bronze I–III · Cities of the plain (Genesis 14, 19), on an early dating

Now at In situ; finds in the Jordan Archaeological Museum, Amman, and the Karak museum

How Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira was found

Albright's 1924 survey noted the walled site; Lapp dug the vast cemetery, and Rast and Schaub's Expedition to the Dead Sea Plain excavated the town and nearby Numeira, both ending in fire.

What it is

Bab edh-Dhra is a walled Early Bronze town with a cemetery of shaft tombs and charnel houses holding tens of thousands of burials. Numeira, 13 km south, is a smaller town that burned about 2600–2350 BCE. Three more sites (Safi, Feifa, Khanazir) lie along the same plain.

Why it matters for the Bible

Five Early Bronze sites in a row on the southeast Dead Sea plain, two ending in fire, led Rast and Schaub and many biblical scholars to propose these as Sodom, Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain. The fit with Genesis's 'Valley of Siddim' near the salt sea is good, but the destruction dates are several centuries before a conventional date for Avraham, so the link requires either a very early patriarchal date or seeing the story as a memory of an older disaster.

Debated: The sites and their fiery ends are certain; the identification with Sodom and Gomorrah is a widely discussed hypothesis with chronological problems.

The Hebrew word: EH-mek ha-sid-DEEM

עֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים

עֵמֶק הַשִּׂדִּים is pronounced EH-mek ha-sid-DEEM and means Valley of Siddim, 'that is, the Salt Sea' (Strong's H6010 + H7708).

People this discovery connects to

Places

Events

War of the kings in the Valley of Siddim · Destruction of the cities of the plain · Lot flees to Zoar

Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira in Scripture

Genesis 10:19 First mention of Gomorrah in Scripture.

Genesis 14:3 The Valley of Siddim is identified with the Salt Sea, matching the location of these sites.

Genesis 19:22-23 Lot escapes to Zoar, traditionally located at Ghor es-Safi near these towns.

Questions people ask

What is Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira?
Bab edh-Dhra is a walled Early Bronze town with a cemetery of shaft tombs and charnel houses holding tens of thousands of burials. Numeira, 13 km south, is a smaller town that burned about 2600–2350 BCE. Three more sites (Safi, Feifa, Khanazir) lie along the same plain.

When was Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira discovered?
It was found in 1924 by William F. Albright and Melvin Kyle (survey); excavated by Paul Lapp (1965–67) and Walter Rast and R. Thomas Schaub (1975–81), at Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira, Ghor es-Safi, Jordan.

Where is Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira today?
In situ; finds in the Jordan Archaeological Museum, Amman, and the Karak museum.

Which Bible verses does Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira relate to?
Genesis 10:19, Genesis 14:3, Genesis 19:22-23.

Is Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira authentic?
The sites and their fiery ends are certain; the identification with Sodom and Gomorrah is a widely discussed hypothesis with chronological problems.

Related discoveries

Sources

Open Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira in Hebrew Explorer →

Part of Biblical Archaeology — 533 discoveries that run alongside the biblical story · Beginnings & the Patriarchs

Open Hebrew Explorer — 30+ free study tools →