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Numeira (also an-Numayra) is an
archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
site in
Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
near the southern
Dead Sea The Dead Sea ( he, יַם הַמֶּלַח, ''Yam hamMelaḥ''; ar, اَلْبَحْرُ الْمَيْتُ, ''Āl-Baḥrū l-Maytū''), also known by other names, is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank ...
. The site has substantial
Early Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
remains. The site is 280 m below
sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...
, on the shore of the Dead Sea.
Numeira Numeira (also an-Numayra) is an archaeological site in Jordan near the southern Dead Sea. The site has substantial Early Bronze Age remains. The site is 280 m below sea level, on the shore of the Dead Sea. Numeira is also the name given to th ...
is also the name given to the
river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...
and valley (''
wadi Wadi ( ar, وَادِي, wādī), alternatively ''wād'' ( ar, وَاد), North African Arabic Oued, is the Arabic term traditionally referring to a valley. In some instances, it may refer to a wet (ephemeral) riverbed that contains water onl ...
'') adjacent to the archaeological site. The river is significantly eroding the archaeological site, destroying perhaps as much as ½ the original settlement due to changes in the water course.


Identification

It has been argued that Numeira approximates the alleged
biblical The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
city of Gomorrah, although other
archaeologist Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
s argue that it is in the wrong geographical area, was a
village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
as opposed to a major city, and is not within the designated timeframe. Another possibility is that it could be
Nimrim Nimrim, in Moab, is mentioned twice in scripture in the Tanakh and Bible, in Isaiah 15:6 and in Jeremiah 48:34. Little is known of Nimrim other than it was in Moab. It is mentioned in connection with several cities that were under Moabite cont ...
, the river valley referred to by the prophet Isaiah in 15:5 whose waters become desolate, or dry up.


Archaeology

Numeira was occupied during the EB III, and several indications that it was a colony of
Bab edh-Dhra Bab edh-Dhra (Bâb edh-Dhrâʿ ar, باب الذراع) is the site of an Early Bronze Age city located near the Dead Sea, on the south bank of Wadi Kerak with dates in the EB IB, EB II, EB III and EB IVA. Bab edh-Dhra was discovered in 1924 o ...
including a lack of tombs in the vicinity of Numeira, and ceramic evidence the inhabitants buried their dead outside Bab edh-Dhra, approximately 13 km south of Bab edh-Dhra’. If not a direct colony the pottery remains indicate the two towns certainly traded with each other. Calibrated
radiocarbon date Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was dev ...
s place the settlement in the EB III. Habitation spanning approximately 250 years or 10-12 generations. Numeira was violently destroyed at the end of the EB III, (2300 BC.) never to be re-occupied. This is 200 years earlier than the current assumed date for the destruction of Sodom. Excavations indicate Numeira was a walled settlement, though it may have been twice the size we see today. Though only 30% of the site was excavated ( m2) between 1979 and 1983. The settlement was located on the southern bank of the
Wadi Numeira Wadi Numeira is a Wadi in Jordan that is known for its deep gorge cut through the sandstone. It gives its name to the Bronze Age ruins located at its mouth with the Dead Sea. The Wadi also sometimes nicknamed ''Petra with water''. File:17 Wadi Nume ...
. Phase 1a saw the construction of several banks of lined pits around unused square areas. It is conjectured that this represented storage pits around a family tent. In stage 1b saw the addition of more pits and walls, hearths, and evidence of a more sedentary lifestyle. Phase 2 saw construction of fortification walls and residential and non-residential stone and mudbrick architecture. A non domestic area was located at the western gate. The Phase 2 occupation saw the addition of more walls and storage pits. The final stage of occupation seems to have been a much smaller town which ended when the town was burned. and one of the fortification towers collapsed. An interesting note is that many of the doors in the town at this time appear to have been blocked up.James W. Flanagan, David M. Gunn, Paula McNutt, 'Imagining' Biblical Worlds(A&C Black, 200
p252


See also

*
Bab edh-Dhra Bab edh-Dhra (Bâb edh-Dhrâʿ ar, باب الذراع) is the site of an Early Bronze Age city located near the Dead Sea, on the south bank of Wadi Kerak with dates in the EB IB, EB II, EB III and EB IVA. Bab edh-Dhra was discovered in 1924 o ...
— a candidate site for " Sodom"


References


External Links


Photos of Numeira
at the
American Center of Research The American Center of Research (ACOR) is a private, not-for-profit scholarly and educational organization. Based in Alexandria, Virginia, with a facility in Amman, Jordan, ACOR promotes knowledge of Jordan and the interconnected region, past and ...
{{coord, 31.131588, 35.529399, display=title Bronze Age Asia Bronze Age sites Former populated places in Southwest Asia Archaeological sites in Jordan