Kennett Schath, a training curriculum specialist for the Kaiserslautern military community youth centers volunteers as a dig supervisor. He is looking for others in the community who would be interested in working on an archaeological dig in Tall El-Hammam, Jordan, where a team is looking to prove the existence of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
Kennett Schath, a training curriculum specialist for the Kaiserslautern military community youth centers volunteers as a dig supervisor. He is looking for others in the community who would be interested in working on an archaeological dig in Tall El-Hammam, Jordan, where a team is looking to prove the existence of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Ben Bloker / S&S)
RAMSTEIN, Germany — In a search for the most deplorable, notorious place in history, a mix of amateur and seasoned archaeologists are digging for evidence of destruction that they say will prove the Bible correct.
The men and women — some of whom pay thousands of dollars for their excavation trip to Jordan — are searching for evidence of Sodom. The Bible in Genesis tells that God rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah, smiting their sinful populace.
By unearthing the destruction of Sodom, the group hopes to give credence to the accuracy of the Bible, said Kennett Schath, an Army retiree who now works on Ramstein Air Base.
“If we can show that truly God did these things, if we can show that destruction layer, then we can show that this is a pretty significant story here and the rest of the Bible should be absolutely correct and accurate,” he said.
To refresh your memory, the ancient city of Sodom and its companion city of Gomorrah have become synonymous with sin, lawlessness and godlessness. Some refer to Las Vegas as a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. Sodom was such a bad place that it gave rise to the word “sodomy.”
Many of those digging are amateur archaeologists and devout Christians who paid their way for the chance to connect with biblical history. That does not mean the dig is being taken lightly.
“We’re doing everything as scientifically as possible so that the geography, the archaeology and the history all match what the biblical accounts are because it would be the only story from Genesis that would be able to be proved,” said Schath, who is pursuing a doctorate in biblical counseling through Trinity Southwest University, based in Albuquerque, N.M., which is sponsoring the dig.
Schath just returned from the dig site in Tall el-Hammam, Jordan, where the site director believes Sodom is buried. For the 2007-2008 dig, Schath is looking for 10 to 15 people from Germany to accompany him in December and into January.
Site director Dr. Steven Collins, dean of the College of Archaeology and Biblical History at Trinity Southwest University, is using biblical works as a foundation in his efforts — a method frowned upon by other archaeologists. In the preface to his book “The Search for Sodom & Gomorrah,” Collins takes on these critics.
“Along with this has come the desire on the part of many scholars to do away with the term ‘biblical archaeology’ altogether, as if to say that the Bible is not a historical document credible enough to guide or control archaeological pursuits,” according to the preface. “To that I say, ‘Hogwash!’”
The dig project just finished the second of its seven planned years, and evidence is building that the group has found the site of Sodom, Schath said.
“We’re at 98 percent right now that what we have is Sodom,” he said. “I know that Dr. Collins, without a doubt, can defend it to anyone in the world.”
