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Numeira (also an-Numayra) is anarchaeological site inJordan near the southernDead Sea.[1] The site has substantialEarly Bronze Age remains.[2]
The site is 280 metres (920 ft) belowsea level, on the shore of the Dead Sea.[3]
Numeira is also the name given to theriver and valley (wadi) adjacent to the archaeological site. The river is significantly eroding the archaeological site, destroying perhaps as much as half the original settlement due to changes in the water course.[4]
It has been argued that Numeira approximates the allegedbiblical city ofGomorrah,[5] although otherarchaeologists argue that it is in the wrong geographical area, was avillage as opposed to a major city, and is not within the designated timeframe.Another possibility is that it could beNimrim, the river valley referred to by the prophet Isaiah in 15:6 whose waters become desolate, or dry up.
Numeira was occupied during theEB III. There are several indications that it was a colony ofBab edh-Dhra including a lack of tombs in the vicinity of Numeira, and ceramic evidence the inhabitants buried their dead outside Bab edh-Dhra.[6] If not a direct colony the pottery remains indicate the two towns certainly traded with each other.[7]
Calibratedradiocarbon dates place the settlement in the EB III. Habitation spanning approximately 250 years or 10-12 generations. Numeira was violently destroyed at the end of the EB III, (2300 BC.) never to be re-occupied.[8][9] This is 200 years earlier than the current assumed date for the destruction ofSodom, however, it is also proposed that the date of destruction of Numeira could be lowered to 2100-2050 BC.[10]
Excavations indicate Numeira was a 0.5-hectare (1.2-acre) walled settlement, though it may have been twice the size we see today.[11] Though only 30% of the site was excavated (c. 1500 m2) between 1979 and 1983.[12] The settlement was located on the southern bank of theWadi Numeira.[13]
Phase 1aPhase 1a saw the construction of several banks of lined pits around unused square areas. It is conjectured that this represented storage pits around a family tent.[14]
Phase 1bIn stage 1b saw the addition of more pits and walls, hearths, and evidence of a more sedentary lifestyle.
Phase 2Phase 2 saw construction of fortification walls and residential and non-residential stone and mudbrick architecture. A non domestic area was located at the western gate.[15] The Phase 2 occupation saw the addition of more walls and storage pits. The final stage of occupation seems to have been a much smaller town which ended when the town was burned.[16] and one of the fortification towers collapsed.[17] An interesting note is that many of the doors in the town at this time appear to have been blocked up.[18]
31°07′54″N35°31′46″E / 31.131588°N 35.529399°E /31.131588; 35.529399