Discovering the City of Sodom

May 1, 2013

Collins (archeology, Trinity Southwest Univ.; The Search for Sodom and Gomorrah) and Scott (The Mormon Mirage) relate Collins's search for the fabled wicked cities of the Bible. Despite the prevailing view among scholars that Sodom and Gomorrah were mythical, Collins maintains that the cities actually existed and reports on his search for them, eventually settling on a location, Tell el-Hammam, north of the Dead Sea in present-day Jordan. Although finely argued, Collins's work originates from an unapologetically religious point of view, and his assumption of the historicity of certain biblical tales, for instance the Exodus, will prove controversial to many scholars and skeptics. The authors include "backstory" segments between chapters, interspersing archaeological detail with memoir. Backstory chapters provide flavor and will help make the book accessible to a wider audience. VERDICT Although it provides the reader with insight into the practice and theory of archaeology in general and biblical archaeology in particular, Collins's work will be contested in the academy. Recommended for general readers, particularly those with an interest in archaeology or biblical studies.--Matt Rice, Philadelphia

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