Tunguska-like blast destroyed part of Middle East 3,700 years ago

This could have gone into the fragile earth forum but you have to wonder if this event is the cause of the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom ?

Most if not all have heard of the destruction caused by the 1908 Tunguska event but it would appear that was not the only time such an event has happened.

Full Title is: ‘Cosmic airburst’: Tunguska-like blast destroyed part of Middle East 3,700 years ago

A Tunguska-like ‘cosmic airburst’ may have annihilated an ancient Middle Eastern civilization in a split-second in a terrifying example of the fragility of life on Earth, according to new research.
Analysis of 3,700-year-old archaeological evidence from Jordan’s Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project indicates that a “high-heat” explosive event “devastated approximately 500km2” of land to the north of the Dead Sea, wiping out a thriving civilisation that had existed for millennia almost instantaneously.

www.rt.com...
This event happened roughly 3700 years ago and supposedly wiped out a possible 40 to 65 thousand people.

The explosion was so awe-inspiringly powerful that the Zircon contained within the civilization’s pottery sublimed into a gas thanks to temperatures of up to 7,230 degrees Fahrenheit (4,000 degrees Celsius). For comparison, the temperature at the surface of the Sun is about 10,000 Fahrenheit (5,600 Celsius). The pottery itself was reportedly vitrified (turned to glass).

There is another place in the Egyptian Sahara desert where the sand has been melted into green glass.The force and heat that could have created the glass is around 2000 times the force and heat that the first atomic bomb produced.. Some have speculated another air-burst happen once upon a time long long ago..youtu.be...

Sounds like God is slinging asteroids at decadent areas of the globe. I wonder why he hasn’t taken out DC yet.

a reply to: 727Sky

Thanks for this 727.

The Vedic wars came to mind along with other locations around the world where similar explosions are said to have occurred.

Roughly 4,000 years ago it seems that a lot of destruction occurred.

Perhaps a time when a global(?) war destroyed the ancient "andtideluvian" world.

From a quick search of biblical history, it appears that this event would roughly coincide with Israel's patriarch's migration to Egypt. Namely, the enslavement of Joseph.
source 1
source 2

Assuming there is some truth to the biblical stories, I wonder if this "cosmic airburst" had some impact on the environment and events of that time period, that may have lead to their migration to Egypt.

-dex

a reply to: DexterRiley

And wasn't there a time when fire rained from the skies over Egypt?

a reply to: Whatsthisthen

Yep. That would be the 7th plague.
10 Plagues

It's also interesting to note that the 9th plague was 3 days of darkness. I believe that a low level air blast like the one described in the OP would throw enough dust, smoke, and particulate matter into the atmosphere to block out the sun for at least that long, probably longer.

But, supposedly the Israelite exodus from Egypt happened a couple of hundred years later than the date estimated for the fireball event. However, if we take into consideration both the error factors for biblical history and carbon dating of the fireball event, it's strikes me as possible that there could be some correllation.

-dex

a reply to: 727Sky

I was reding about this in Ancient Origins: ‘Fire and Brimstone’ that Destroyed Biblical Sodom Matches Findings of Cosmic Catastrophe 3,700 Years Ago. They call it The Middle Ghor Event.

It's just a short article but has pictures and a video.

a reply to: DexterRiley

It's also interesting to note that the 9th plague was 3 days of darkness. I believe that a low level air blast like the one described in the OP would throw enough dust, smoke, and particulate matter into the atmosphere to block out the sun for at least that long, probably longer.

It would. I'm not an expert on ancient texts, especially the Bible. But the Vedas feel very much like they should be read literally as a history book. I would extend the same literal historical interpretation to the Old Testament.

. . . . interesting stuff.

But, supposedly the Israelite exodus from Egypt happened a couple of hundred years later than the date estimated for the fireball event. However, if we take into consideration both the error factors for biblical history and carbon dating of the fireball event, it's strikes me as possible that there could be some correllation.

I quite agree.

I find it fascinating that there was perhaps a civilization in ancient times like our global civilization now.

The antediluvian period interests me a great deal. From memory the Biblical account said very little of that time except for having a lot of evil people who were wiped out with few survivors. From the Biblical, Gilgamesh and Vedic texts one might think there was a long period of war or cataclysm that ended the old global civilization.

Interesting pieces of a grand puzzle.

a reply to: toms54

Another one in a different location? Seems these things happened an awful lot in them days.

Quote from Robert Oppenheimer.

* "Well — yes. In modern times, of course." -- Answer to a student at Rochester University who asked whether the bomb exploded at Alamogordo was the first one to be detonated, as quoted in Doomsday, 1999 A.D. (1982) by Charles Berlitz, p. 129

originally posted by: Whatsthisthen
a reply to: DexterRiley

a reply to: toms54

Another one in a different location? Seems these things happened an awful lot in them days.

Quote from Robert Oppenheimer.

* "Well — yes. In modern times, of course." -- Answer to a student at Rochester University who asked whether the bomb exploded at Alamogordo was the first one to be detonated, as quoted in Doomsday, 1999 A.D. (1982) by Charles Berlitz, p. 129

Another article about the same event in a different publication.

I wonder if the blast explosion would create enough of a shockwave to blow artifacts of the civilisation across the continent. Would neighbors suddenly find icons, carvings, pots and pans, swords all raining down on them along with dust and earth?
Could some items even be blown out into space?

originally posted by: stormcell
I wonder if the blast explosion would create enough of a shockwave to blow artifacts of the civilisation across the continent. Would neighbors suddenly find icons, carvings, pots and pans, swords all raining down on them along with dust and earth?
Could some items even be blown out into space?

I got the impression some of that stuff was vaporized to dust. It sounds bigger than Tunguska.

How many of these events have happened over the Earth only to be covered by jungles?

I think this is more evidence Velikovsky was on the right track.

A map showing the approximate area that is being discussed

a Tunguska like, cosmic airburst event that obliterated civilization including the Middle Bronze Age city state anchored by Tall el Hammam in the Middle Ghor (the 25 km diameter circular plain immediately north of the Dead Sea) ca. 1700 B.C.E., or 3700 years before present (3.7kaBP)

Link to an earlier article on the possible site of the city that was destroyed:

popular-archaeology.com...

Its all very interesting. I visited a number of those sites some years ago. The entire area was dotted with ruins and mounds from the tens of thousands of years of human habitations.

The excavation shows that an aerial burst caused by a meteor will decimate a local area and - leave a clear archaeological indication of such a strike.

a reply to: Hanslune

I recall a video about Sodom. The narrator said many of the ruins were peppered with small holes a few inches wide. The picture looked like the buildings were struck by shrapnel. This was before the meteor idea. I was wondering if you noticed that or was it only one small area that she filmed.

originally posted by: toms54
a reply to: Hanslune

I recall a video about Sodom. The narrator said many of the ruins were peppered with small holes a few inches wide. The picture looked like the buildings were struck by shrapnel. This was before the meteor idea. I was wondering if you noticed that or was it only one small area that she filmed.

I don't recall that could you re-link to the video with a time mark? Thanks

a reply to: toms54

Got you.

a reply to: 727Sky

People have been trading the green and different colored glass that the nuke created for centuries. I know conspiracy theorists have been saying it for a while.

If no meteor impact, then it was a nuke. High heat air burst indeed.

originally posted by: Hanslune


A map showing the approximate area that is being discussed

a Tunguska like, cosmic airburst event that obliterated civilization including the Middle Bronze Age city state anchored by Tall el Hammam in the Middle Ghor (the 25 km diameter circular plain immediately north of the Dead Sea) ca. 1700 B.C.E., or 3700 years before present (3.7kaBP)

Link to an earlier article on the possible site of the city that was destroyed:

popular-archaeology.com...

Its all very interesting. I visited a number of those sites some years ago. The entire area was dotted with ruins and mounds from the tens of thousands of years of human habitations.

The excavation shows that an aerial burst caused by a meteor will decimate a local area and - leave a clear archaeological indication of such a strike.

I read about one of sites excavated in this area some 20 years ago.
The evidence they found was at the time was striking.
At first they they thought the town was devastated by an earthquake, but when they started to find the remains of people with severe injuries, it was then thought to be conflict.
The researchers had difficult time reconciling the damage and evidence, buildings litterally torn to the ground and burned at the same time. They couldnt think of any other example of an army so completely destroying a settlement.
Some of the remains showed evidence of extreme violence, lots of broken bones and evidence of burning.

I posted about this particular dig several years ago and the notion was poo poo'd at the time.

The earth was a cosmic punching bag during the early holocene into the iron age.
There were several impacts or airburst events in the bronze age, the mid 23rd cent., the 22nd and now this one.

originally posted by: Hanslune

originally posted by: toms54
a reply to: Hanslune

I recall a video about Sodom. The narrator said many of the ruins were peppered with small holes a few inches wide. The picture looked like the buildings were struck by shrapnel. This was before the meteor idea. I was wondering if you noticed that or was it only one small area that she filmed.

I don't recall that could you re-link to the video with a time mark? Thanks

It doesn't look like I can find it. Thanks anyway. I Googled a lot of images and couldn't find a picture there either.

originally posted by: punkinworks10


I read about one of sites excavated in this area some 20 years ago.
The evidence they found was at the time was striking.
At first they they thought the town was devastated by an earthquake, but when they started to find the remains of people with severe injuries, it was then thought to be conflict.
The researchers had difficult time reconciling the damage and evidence, buildings litterally torn to the ground and burned at the same time. They couldnt think of any other example of an army so completely destroying a settlement.
Some of the remains showed evidence of extreme violence, lots of broken bones and evidence of burning.

I posted about this particular dig several years ago and the notion was poo poo'd at the time.

The earth was a cosmic punching bag during the early holocene into the iron age.
There were several impacts or airburst events in the bronze age, the mid 23rd cent., the 22nd and now this one.

I was in that area in mid 90's on an off, lots of good sites when not hampered by security concerns. It did take them some time to sort it all out. Which is the hallmark of archaeology- slow steady progress. Probably from grad students learning on the job and becoming experts in time.

We should get a steady stream of reports over the next 10-20 years - maybe even some counter-proposals.

The earth has always been a stellar punching bag - we live in a part of the universe were rock-in-the-sky-bullies are common place.