Genesis 13 and 14

One theory of where the mythical Sodom and
Gomorrah may have been located. 

Genesis 13

Take into consideration these three verses:

He (Pharoah) treated Abram well, for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys , menservants and maidservants, and camels.  Gen 12:16

Then Pharoah gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. Gen 12:20

Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. Gen 13:2

Abram lies to the Pharoah, and is rewarded with great riches. Why is this not seen in a negative light? He does somewhat redeem himself by allowing Lot first choice of land when they decide to split and go their separate ways. Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled near Sodom. This is the first time we hear about Sodom:

Genesis 13:13, NIV Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord.

Note that it does not say why they were wicked or how they were sinning. I will be coming back to this point in a few chapters. And once again, the land of Canaan is promised to Abram and his descendants.

Apparently, in Christian circles, Abram’s return to where he had first built an alter symbolizes his return to God after his misdeeds in Egypt. God did not speak to Abram while he was in Egypt, only carried out serious plagues on his behalf. It’s an interesting interpretation. Once Lot departed the land of Canaan, God became chit chatty again.

Genesis 14

This chapter starts off with a war between a large number of kings. The cities of the Jordan Plain revolted against the Elamite empire and its Mesopotamian allies.  I had never heard of any of these kings or kingdoms, and immediately went into my inner archaeologist research mode.

Coalition 1

King Amraphel of Shinar – many biblical scholars believe this to be none other than Hammurabi, King of Babylon, who lived from 1792-1750 BCE. Shinar is associated with Babylonia. There is no conclusive evidence in the archaeological or historical record that identifies Amraphel as Hammurabi.

King Arioch of Ellasar – currently, Arioch is held to be the same as Eri-aku, king of Larsa. The only information I could find about Eri-aku was based on biblical archaeology findings, and the information was quite sparse. According to the historical record, Larsa was a real city, and an important one, located in Sumer. King Rim-Sin (not Eri-Aku, unless they are the same person) was a contemporary of Hammurabi, and was defeated by him in 1764 BCE.

King Chedorlaomer of Elam – The name Chedorlaomer (nor any of its derivations) appear in the historical record. Elam was an ancient civilization centered in the southwest of modern day Iran and a small part of southern Iraq; situated to the east of Mesopotamia. The history of Elam is divided into three periods, spanning more than two millennia from 3200 BCE to 539 BCE.

King Tidal of Goiim – Does not appear in the historical record. Apparently, biblical scholars also have no idea who he was.

Coalition 2

King Bera of Sodom – there is no mention of this monarch outside of this one biblical passage, and the city of Sodom has never been found.

King Birsha of Gomorrah – ditto for Gomorrah.

King Shinab of Admah – No one has any idea who or where this is. I’m starting to see a trend here.

King Shemeber of Zeboiim – Not a trace of evidence.

King Zoar of Bela – I think you can guess the answer to this one.

Coalition 2 had been subject to King Chedorlaomer for twelve years, by the thirteenth year they were fed up and rebelled. There may be a tiny morsel of truth to this legend, since Elam is a real kingdom with loads of archaeological and historical evidence to back up its existence.

Now, in the second paragraph, things get a little crazy. Chedorlaomer and his coalition go out and defeat loads of people, but not one of them is part of the original rebellious group. Nor are they all human.

Defeated by Chedorlaomer:

Rephaites – Giants.

Zuzites – a group of people that lived in Ham, possibly giants.

Emites – Giants.

Horites – inhabitants of Mount Seir, a mountain that has not been identified in the archaeological record. Not giants.

On their way home, they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, and the Amorites living in Hazazon Tamar. If you will recall, the Amorites were a child of the cursed Canaan.

After the kings get tired of fighting each other, we find out that Lot was captured in the kerfuffle. He rounds up his servants (slaves?) and attacks King Chedorlaomer, recovering all the lost possessions. The King of Sodom is grateful, offering Abram the recovered goods, but Abram refuses to take even one thread or throng of a sandal.

Randomly, a mystical King Melchizedek appears in the middle of this chapter, to bless Abram. He happens to be a priest of God and King of Salem…a place that will later be called Jerusalem and become home to Israel’s kings. Christians often believe there is a connection between the bread and wine given to Abram by Melchizedek, and the Eucharist in the New Testament.