SODOMA AND GOMORRA. – Names of the first two cities of the Pentapolis (v.), destroyed by divine justice on account of the inhabitants’ lust and unnatural vices (Gen. 13, 13; 18, 16–19, 29). The Hebrew names of the cities are Sèdhōm (Septuagint Σόθομα) and ʿAmōrāh (Greek Γομώρα).
The catastrophe, already presented by Moses (Deut. 29, 22) as an image of the punishments that will befall the enemies of God, is frequently recalled in the biblical tradition either by the name of S. alone (Ez. 16, 49; Mt. 11, 23–24; Lc. 10, 12) or associated with G. (Am. 4, 11; Is. 1, 9; 13, 19; Ier. 23, 14; 49, 18; 50, 40; Mt. 10, 15; Rom. 9, 26; Iud. 7; II Pt. 2, 6: an example for those who in the future would live as ungodly men*).
The scant topographical indications in the biblical text do not permit us to determine whether S. and G. were situated north or south of the Dead Sea, as the expression “district (kikhār) of the Jordan” would imply (Gen. 13, 12). When Abraham and Lot separated at Bethel (ibid. 13, 13), Lot chose as his dwelling “the district of the Jordan, which was entirely irrigated – before the Lord destroyed S. and G. – like the garden of God, like the land of Egypt” (ibid. 13, 10–14); but from Bethel the southern part of the Dead Sea cannot be seen, and therefore S., Lot’s residence, would seem to have been located in the northern part, an opinion advanced by modern writers. All the other episodes, such as Chodorlahomor’s Siddim (v.), Abraham’s prayer from the heights of Hebron (Gen. 18, 16) that Lot might be spared from the destruction, and the sight of the smoke rising from the city “upon which sulfur and fire rained from heaven” (ibid. 19, 24), fit the southern part better. Tradition has always located S. and G. south of the el-Lisān peninsula in the Dead Sea. This region, more than the northern one, corresponds to the desolate appearance described by the prophets. The name Gebel Usdum, a hill of salt on the right side of the Dead Sea, perpetuates the name of the city of S., while ’Ajn Gamah, 65 km farther south, may recall the site of the city of G. Regarding the contribution to the theory of a southern location made by the discovery of the cemetery and sanctuary of Báb ed Drá’ east of el-Lisān, V. LEONTOPOLI.