thesis (1970) at the University of Washington, Seattle was on elemental sulfur and its reactions. Also, these balls are light and are easily crushed into powder when pressed. These ‘sulfur balls’ are pale yellow, unlike normal sulfur which is clear yellow. It occurs as small granules as well as large chunks, sometimes round, as large as an egg (often encased). The presence of sulfur in the ash is unmistakable. The other material would be unaffected by the heat. However, calcium carbonate would decompose upon heating to calcium oxide (lime), giving off carbon dioxide. I burned the ash in a Bunsen flame, and nothing much visibly happened. The ash also contained iron compounds (perhaps iron oxide) which gave the solution after treatment with the acid a yellow color (due to ferric chloride). Apparently the destruction either did not decompose the limestone we see in the ash, or if did, the lime (calcium oxide), recombined with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form the carbonate again. These researchers failed to recognize that the majority of the ash is calcium carbonate (limestone) the sulfur in the ash is from the powdered sulfur balls, not from sulfate. Some researchers have thought the ash is mostly calcium sulfate but this is based on elemental analysis of calcium and sulfur. This gives the indication that the ash has carbonate, and since limestone (calcium carbonate) is found as rock in many parts including the Gomorrah area, the ash could be mostly limestone in addition there were some acid insoluble residues which could be silicates. I added dilute hydrochloric acid to the ash, and it foamed immediately, but no specific smell was noticed. There have been reports which say that the ash is mostly calcium sulfate (gypsum) which is chemically inactive. Other items found occasionally were rocks (with some sulfur deposit), pebbles, and charcoal. This revealed that the sample had two major components: (i) -ash (ii) elemental sulfur. You may read more about these ruins in the web sites at the end of this article.īeing a chemist myself, I tested the sample I had brought back to USA in my lab. In my Gomorrah pictures below I have put some photographs I took of the ruins while touring the ruins. We all collected some ash from the mountain slopes which had small sulfur balls in it Ron Wyatt and his team went up to get better samples, and he kindly brought me a bag of ash with large chunks of sulfur. No doubt weathering and wind have changed the appearance over millennia. Yet, this place has little rain (one reason these ashen hills have remained in tact to this day). They also look like ancient mountains that have eroded with stratified layers. The formations have peculiar shapes that seem to reveal structures that had stood there long ago before the destruction that are now covered with ash. The ruins appear like massive ashen hills on both sides of a road that has been cleared. However, this location has enough signs of destruction from an ancient eruption, that even if the exact identification is wrong, we get a general picture of the destruction. So the Gomorrah site I have mentioned is not accepted by all. Some believe it was near the northern end of the Dead Sea. There is doubt among Bible scholars on the exact locations of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Gomorrah site is more accessible, being very close to Masada, see map. Ron had identified these sites near the western bank of the Dead Sea. 19:24)ĭuring our 1998 trip of Israel-Jordan-Sinai, Ron Wyatt, our tour leader, took us to the ruins of Gomorrah destroyed by fire along with Sodom at the time of Abraham and Lot some 4,000 years ago. "Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah – from the LORD out of the heavens…" (Gen.