^“6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;” 2 Peter 2:6

Creationists typically point to sites southeast of the Dead Sea (the “southern” view) as strong candidates for the Cities of the Plain (Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar). Key points include:

• Fiery destruction layers and sudden abandonment: At Bab edh-Dhra (proposed as Sodom) and Numeira (proposed as Gomorrah), excavations revealed thick ash layers, burned structures, collapsed walls (some outward), carbonized remains, and evidence of intense fire. The cities were destroyed and largely never reoccupied in a way that matches the biblical permanence of the judgment. Similar patterns appear at nearby sites.
• Geological setting: The area lies along a fault zone with bitumen (asphalt-like) deposits rich in sulfur. Some creationist geologists (e.g., Steve Austin) and earlier researchers have suggested an earthquake could have forced flammable hydrocarbons and sulfur upward, which then ignited and rained down as burning material—producing the “fire and brimstone” effect described in Scripture. Abraham’s view of dense smoke rising “like the smoke of a furnace” (Genesis 19:28) is seen as matching this.
• Sulfur nodules (“brimstone”): High-purity sulfur balls (often 90–98% pure, sometimes encased in a burned matrix) are found in the region. Creationist-leaning researchers and popularizers note that these can still burn intensely and are presented as physical remnants consistent with the biblical description.
• Extra-biblical mentions and overall historical context: References in ancient sources (e.g., Josephus noting residual ashes/fire traces) and possible allusions in texts like the Ebla tablets are sometimes invoked as additional corroboration that the cities were known and destroyed. In The Jewish War (Wars of the Jews), Book 4, Chapter 8, Section 4 (Whiston translation), Josephus (1st century AD) wrote: “The country of Sodom borders upon it [the lake Asphaltitis / Dead Sea]. It was of old a most happy land, both for the fruits it bore and the riches of its cities, although it be now all burnt up. It is related how, for the impiety of its inhabitants, it was burnt by lightning; in consequence of which there are still the remainders of that Divine fire, and the traces [or shadows] of the five cities are still to be seen, as well as the ashes growing in their fruits; which fruits have a color as if they were fit to be eaten, but if you pluck them with your hands, they dissolve into smoke and ashes. And thus what is related of this land of Sodom hath these marks of credibility which our very sight affords us.”
  Strabo, Geography 16.2.44 (late 1st century BC – early 1st century AD)

  “Many other proofs are produced to show that this country is full of fire. Near Moasada are to be seen rugged rocks, bearing the marks of fire; fissures in many places; a soil like ashes; pitch falling in drops from the rocks; rivers boiling up, and emitting a fetid odour to a great distance; dwellings in every direction overthrown; whence we are inclined to believe the common tradition of the natives, that thirteen cities once existed there, the capital of which was Sodom, but that a circuit of about 60 stadia around it escaped uninjured; shocks of earthquakes, however, eruptions of flames and hot springs, containing asphaltus and sulphur, caused the lake to burst its bounds, and the rocks took fire; some of the cities were swallowed up, others were abandoned by such of the inhabitants as were able to make their escape.”
  

  Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica 19.98 (and the nearly identical 2.48.6–8; 1st century BC). Diodorus does not name Sodom, but describes the Asphalt Lake (Dead Sea) and its fiery/subterranean character:

  “After marching for three hundred stades, he [Demetrius] camped near the Asphalt Lake [Dead Sea], the nature of which ought not to be passed over without remark. It lies along the middle of the satrapy of Idumaea, extending in length about five hundred stades and in width about sixty. Its water is very bitter and of exceedingly foul odour, so that it can support neither fish nor any of the other creatures usually found in water. Although great rivers whose waters are of exceptional sweetness flow into it, it prevails over these by reason of its foulness; and from its centre each year it sends forth a mass of solid asphalt… The region round about, by reason of its being exposed to fire and to the evil odours, renders the bodies of the inhabitants susceptible to disease and makes the people very short-lived.”
  

  Tacitus, Histories 5.6–7 (early 2nd century AD)

  “The last [lake, the Dead Sea] is a lake of great size: it is like the sea, but its water has a nauseous taste, and its offensive odour is injurious to those who live near it. Its waters are not moved by the wind, and neither fish nor water-fowl can live there. Its lifeless waves bear up whatever is thrown upon them as on a solid surface… At a certain season of the year the sea throws up bitumen…

  Not far from this lake is a plain which, according to report, was once fertile and the site of great cities, but which was later devastated by lightning; and it is said that traces of this disaster still exist there, and that the very ground looks burnt and has lost its fertility.”
  

ICR explicitly states that archaeological and geological evidence supports the biblical account, identifying Bab edh-Dhra and related sites with the Cities of the Plain and noting crushed/burned remains, fault involvement, and bitumen eruptions.

Sources:

• Institute for Creation Research (ICR): “Have Sodom and Gomorrah Been Discovered?” — https://www.icr.org/article/7312 (or the related content page). Discusses Bab edh-Dhra/Numeira, fiery destruction, fault geology, and Bryant Wood’s work.
• Associates for Biblical Research: Articles such as “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah” — https://biblearchaeology.org/research-articles/the-discovery-of-the-sin-cities-of-sodom-and-gomorrah/ (details on Bab edh-Dhra and Numeira excavations, ash layers, and abandonment).
• Answers in Genesis: While affirming the historicity of the event, AiG is more cautious about specific modern claims. See their critique of the Tall el-Hammam airburst identification (dating conflicts with biblical patriarchal timelines, reoccupation issues, and geographic mismatches with Zoar): “Did a Space Rock Destroy Sodom and Gomorrah?” — https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/did-space-rock-destroy-sodom-gomorrah/ and the related research paper “Biblical Problems Identifying Tall el-Hammam as Sodom” — https://answersingenesis.org/archaeology/biblical-problems-identifying-tall-el-hammam-sodom.
• Creation.com: Articles discussing location (e.g., “Sodom—part 1”) that engage geography and candidate sites from a young-earth perspective — https://creation.com/en/articles/sodom-part-1.

Site identification is not settled even among conservative scholars, but the pattern of sudden, fiery, permanent destruction of cities in the Dead Sea region is widely cited by them as consistent with Genesis 19.

 

The Biblical Account:

Sodom’s Depravity

“19 Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. ² And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”

And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”

³ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ⁵ And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.”

⁶ So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ⁸ See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹ And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—take them out of this place! ¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he^[a] said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lords! ¹⁹ Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”

²¹ And he said to him, “See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.” (Genesis 19:1-29)

During the 1st century, the Jewish historian Josephus recorded the existence of the cities – “Now this country is then so sadly burnt up, that nobody cares to come at it . . . It was of old a most happy land, both for the fruits it bore and the riches of its cities, although it be now all burnt up. It is related how for the impiety of its inhabitants, it was burned by lightning; in consequence of which there are still the remainders of the divine fire; and the traces of the five cities are still to be seen.” (Josephus in his “Wars
Of The Jews”, Book IV, Chapter VIII)

The sins of Sodom and Gomorrah:

^“49 Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fullness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. ⁵⁰ And they were haughty and committed abomination before Me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit.” (Ezekiel 16:49-50)

^“7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” (Jude 7)

A Warning For Today:

“Except the LORD of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah.”(Isa 1:9,10)

“The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.” (Isa 3:9)

“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;” (2 Peter 2:6)

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If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you can receive Him into your heart, and He can deliver you from darkness and sin and have your name written in His Book of Life.

If you are sincere, you can say this simple prayer to the Father (it doesn’t have to be word for word):

“God, I recognize that I have not lived my life for You up until now. I have been living for myself and that is wrong. Please forgive me of all of my sins, just as I forgive others. I need You in my life; I want You in my life. I acknowledge the completed work of Your only begotten Son Jesus Christ in giving His life for me on the cross, I believe in my heart Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead and I long to receive the forgiveness you have made freely available to me through this sacrifice. Come into my life now, Lord. Take up residence in my heart and be my king, my Lord, and my Savior. From this day forward, I will no longer be controlled by sin, or the desire to please myself, but I will follow You all the days of my life. Those days are in Your hands. I ask this in the Lord and GOD Jesus’ precious and holy name. Amen.”