Lot's Wife on Mount Sodom
Beside the Dead Sea stands a mountain made of salt, and a pillar on it that's been called Lot's wife for centuries.
What was reported
In the Book of Genesis, God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with fire, and Lot's family fled. His wife looked back, against the angels' warning, and was turned into a pillar of salt.
Mount Sodom, by the south-western shore of the Dead Sea, is a ridge made almost entirely of rock salt. Among its eroded columns is one that looks like a standing woman in a cloak, known as Lot's Wife, and travellers have pointed out such pillars here since ancient times.
Explanations offered
The mountain is a block of salt pushed up from deep underground, and rain carves it into pillars and caves that shift and collapse over time. Where the cities of the story stood, if they existed, is still debated.
- When
- Told since ancient times
- Where
- Mount Sodom, Southern District, Israel
- Witnesses
- Travellers and pilgrims
- Status
- Explained
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.