From: Subject: THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH Date: Sun, 4 May 2008 18:16:18 +0300 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="windows-1255" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://localhost:8780/pubs/journals/kronos/vol0604/040sodom.htm X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.3198 THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH

THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH

IMMANUEL VELIKOVSKY

Editor's Note: This article is only part of a much larger = work by=20 Velikovsky titled Jupiter of the Thunderbolt. Its conception = goes=20 back to the 1940's when much of the material was first written. The = present=20 article has benefited from the editorial assistance of Jan Sammer who, = unless=20 otherwise indicated, added the bracketed referential material and = fine-tuned=20 the text. -- LMG

THE AGE OF THE DEAD SEA

"With the end of the Tertiary period, in an event of extreme violence = . . .=20 the entire Syrian land, from its south end to its north end, was torn = apart and=20 the ground in between sank into the depths." So wrote Professor M. = Blanckenhorn,=20 the explorer of the region of the Dead Sea.(1) In his later work he = advanced the=20 age of the rift to the pluvial, or the beginning of the first glacial = age. The=20 origin of the Dead Sea occurred "in a great mountain movement, with = collapse and=20 dislocation, that took place at the beginning of the pluvial, in the = first=20 glacial period.... In these titanic events conditions were created for = the=20 existence of an inner sea."(2)

A period of dryness followed the first glacial, or pluvial period. In = a new=20 pluvial period, the second glacial epoch, the lake reached its greatest=20 dimensions: the Dead Sea spread to the northern shore of the present Sea = of=20 Galilee, engulfing it together with the Jordan Valley between. At the = time, as=20 fossil snails show, the water was not yet saline.

[*!* Image]

The rift in which the Lake of Galilee, the Jordan and the Dead Sea = lie is the=20 deepest depression on land. The surface of the Dead Sea is close to 390 = meters=20 below the level of the Mediterranean, and its deepest bottom is some 335 = meters=20 lower. The shore falls steeply from the Judean mountains on the west; on = the=20 eastern side of the rift rise the Moabite mountains. The walls of the = chasm show=20 sharp broken strata that remained horizontal, which proves that the = breaking=20 down was instantaneous.(3) The force which caused this slide movement = must have=20 been stupendous. The ground of the rift around the Dead Sea is covered = with=20 coagulated lava masses, taking the form of an immense herd of giant = elephants=20 with rough skin. These lava eruptions from fissures are ascribed to the = second=20 interglacial period.(4) To the south of the Dead Sea towers a big cliff = of salt=20 called Jebel Usdum (Mount of Sodom). "It is absolutely impossible that = salt=20 sediment of a sea should precipitate in such a form."(5) "Only the = rupture of=20 the ground could create this site, singular in the entire world."(6)

Thermal springs bring salt to the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan = carries them=20 to the Dead Sea, which has no outlet. From the surface of the Dead Sea, = in the=20 deep hot rift, the water evaporates, leaving the salts behind. By = calculating=20 the amount of salts in the sea and the amount that reaches it annually = by way of=20 the Jordan and other streams, as well as from thermal springs on its = shores, the=20 approximate age of the Dead Sea can be determined. Such an attempt was = partially=20 made. The magnesium salts in the Jordan served as a basis for the = calculation.=20 It was reckoned that the present annual rate of influx of magnesium in = the water=20 of the-Jordan alone, when related to the concentration of magnesium in = the Dead=20 Sea, should give a figure of approximately 50,000 years as the age of = the=20 sea.(7) The author of this estimate admitted that even this figure is = probably=20 too high; the salinity of the Jordan must have decreased with time, for = the=20 thermal sources carry more salt when they are young and their = temperature is=20 high.

In the above calculation, it was estimated that the Jordan carries = six=20 million tons of water daily to the Dead Sea and that it deposits 181 = million=20 pounds of magnesium annually. However, on an average day more than = double that=20 amount evaporates from the Dead Sea,(8) and as its surface does not = fall, other=20 sources must be making up the difference.

The rivers Zerka (Callirhoe) and Arnon, which flow into the sea from = the=20 east, carry salt solutions from many springs. The shores of the Dead Sea = abound=20 in highly concentrated thermal springs which contain rich amounts of = magnesium.=20 These sources flow directly into the sea, bringing a richer influx of = magnesium=20 than the Jordan.(9) In addition there are, on the shores of the Dead = Sea,=20 abundant vestiges of thermal springs with rich sediments of salts that = are=20 inactive at present.(10) It is highly probable, too, that there are = submarine=20 sources in the Dead Sea which may provide magnesium, but they are=20 indeterminable.(11)

When these factors are taken into consideration the age of the Dead = Sea,=20 computed on the basis of its magnesium content, must be drastically = reduced.

A computation that takes, as its basis, the amount of sodium in the = Jordan=20 points to a recent date for the origin of the Dead Sea. The proportion = of sodium=20 to magnesium in the water of the Jordan is about 4:1; in the Dead Sea it = is=20 1:2.(12) If the Jordan were the only source of the sodium for the Dead = Sea the=20 age of the Dead Sea would be only about 6,000 years. But the thermal = sources on=20 the western, eastern, and southern shores contain sodium too; so may the = submarine sources, which cannot be evaluated. It is likely, therefore, = that the=20 sea has existed for only about four thousand years. When again the fact = is taken=20 into account that the thermal sources are usually more concentrated when = they=20 first break out and when they are of a higher temperature, it may well = be asked=20 why the age of this sea should not be reduced still more. It is probable = that=20 deeper levels of water have a greater salt concentration.(13)

Fifty thousand years as the age of the Dead Sea was an unexpectedly = low=20 estimate: the rift in which the Dead Sea is situated is considered to be = the=20 result of a catastrophe at the beginning of the first glacial = period.(14) Now a=20 simple reckoning shows that the saline sea with the Jordan has not = existed=20 longer than five thousand years.

_________________________
1. M.=20 Blanckenhorn, "Entstehung und Geschichte des Todten Meeres," = Zeitschrift des=20 Deutschen Palästina-Vereins, 19 (1896), p. 16.
2. Idem,=20 Naturwissenschaftliche Studien am Tod ten Meer und im tal = (Berlin,=20 1912);[Cf. R. Freund, et al., "The Shear along the Dead Sea = Rift,"=20 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A, = Vol. 267=20 (1970), pp. 107-130.]
3. Blanckenhorn, "Entstehung und Geschichte des = Todten=20 Meeres," p. 26.
4. Ibid., pp. 41-42.
5. Ibid., = p.=20 34.
6. Ibid., p. 35.
7. W. Irwin, "The Salts of the Dead = Sea and=20 River Jordan," Geographical Journal 61 (London, 1923), p. = 434.
8.=20 Ibid., pp. 435-436; [Cf. J. Neumann, "Tentative Energy and = Water=20 Balances for the Dead Sea," Bulletin of the Research Council of = Israel,=20 G, Vol. VII, nos. 2-3 (1958); Cf. also H. Haude, "Über Klimatische = und=20 menschliche Einwirkungen auf den Wasseraushalt des Toten Meeres in = seiner=20 Vergangenheit," Zeitschrift des Deutschen = Palästina-Vereins, 88 (1972),=20 pp. 105-139.]
9. Blanckenhorn, "Entstehung und Geschichte des Todten = Meeres," p. 29; Cf. L. Lartet, L'exploration géologique de la = Mer Morte=20 (1874), p. 297.
10. R. Sachsse, "Beiträge zur chemischen = Kenntniss der=20 Mineralien, Gesteine und Gewässer Palästinas," Zeitschrift = des Deutschen=20 Palästina-Vereins, 20 (1897), pp. 25 ff., esp. p. 33; Cf. H. = St. J. B.=20 Philby, "The Dead Sea to 'Aqaba", the Geographical Journal, = LXVI=20 (1925).
11. Irwin, "The Salts of the Dead Sea," op. cit., p. = 438.
12. Ibid., p. 434. [Cf. H. Boyko, Salinity and = Aridity=20 (The Hague, 1966), p. 15.]
13. The figures for magnesium according to = Terreil, quoted by Irwin (p. 431), are: At the surface of the sea, at = the north=20 shore, magnesium constitutes 13.20 percent of solid salt; 120 meters = below the=20 surface, five miles east of Kasel Fesaka, magnesium amounts to 16.80 = percent of=20 the solid residue; and 300 meters deep at the same point, 15.99 percent. = [From=20 the account of Tacitus (Histories V.6) it would appear that the = Dead=20 Sea was already saturated with salts nineteen centuries ago.]
14.=20 Blanckenhorn, Naturwissenschaftliche Studien am Todten Meer, p. = 115.

THE JORDAN REVERSES ITS DIRECTION

The story of the violent changes that occurred in the Jordan Valley = -- the=20 memory of which is connected with the time of the patriarchs and the = destruction=20 of Sodom and Gomorrah -- does not mention that the Valley of Siddim, = where the=20 cities were located, became an inner sea. Sulphur and brimstone fell = from=20 heaven, one of the best cultivated areas was overturned, and fire from = beneath=20 and fire from above accomplished the desolation -- all this is = described; but=20 not at the appearance of a sea. However, when the Israelites under Moses = and=20 Joshua reached the area in their flight from Egypt, they found a sea = there.(1)=20 Thus, it seems to have appeared after a catastrophe later than the one = that=20 destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.

But if there were no Dead Sea much before the time of the Exodus = whither did=20 the Jordan flow, assuming it was already in existence? The Jordan might = not have=20 been in existence at all, or it could have flowed into the open sea, the = Mediterranean.

Legendary reminiscences from the patriarchal age indicate that the = Jordan=20 existed before the Dead Sea came into being.(2) It appears that the = coming out=20 of Paddan-aram to Canaan required the passage of the river. Today the = way from=20 Palestine to the north does not require the crossing of water. The = barrier=20 between the Dead Sea and the Aqaba Gulf is 500 meters high. The = watershed=20 between the Jordan River and the Kishon River which flows into the=20 Mediterranean, at Mount Gilboa, is 500 meters above the ocean level.

The topographical shape of the region of the Beth Shan Valley, = stretching=20 from the Jordan towards the Esdraelon Valley, makes the flow of the = Jordan into=20 the Mediterranean a far more acceptable conjecture than a presumed flow = of the=20 Jordan over the slopes of the mountain of Hor into the Red Sea. But if = the=20 Jordan had to flow through the Esdraelon Valley into the Mediterranean, = it had=20 to flow in a direction opposite to the one in which it flows today.

Does there exist any reminiscence about the Jordan changing the = direction of=20 its flow?

It is not the story in the book of Joshua about the Jordan halting = its flow=20 -- there it is told that the water was stopped at Adama, north of = Jericho.(3)=20 This indicates that the flow of the Jordan was already from north to = south, as=20 today. The existence of the Dead Sea is also mentioned at the time the=20 Israelites approached Canaan, but it is described as recent: it is = called "the=20 sea of the plain".(4)

The blocking of the Jordan River by falling slices of the banks = happened a=20 number of times.(5) The stoppage referred to in the book of Joshua is = described=20 as a temporary blocking of the Jordan River in a time of frequent = earthquakes,=20 and not as a reversal of the flow.

But there are, in Scripture, references to the reversal of the flow = of the=20 Jordan:

When Israel went out of Egypt. . .
The sea saw and fled: Jordan = was=20 driven back.
The mountains skipped like rams, the little hills like = lambs
What ailed thee, o thou sea, that thou fleddest?
thou = Jordan that=20 thou was driven back?

Tremble, thou earth, at the presence of the Lord . . .
Which = turned the=20 rock into a standing water,
the flint into a fountain of=20 waters.(6)

Here the reversal of the flow of the Jordan is associated in time not = only=20 with the Exodus and the catastrophe at the Sea of Passage, but also with = the=20 appearance of a new inner sea ("standing water").

A river that changed the direction of its flow must have been = regarded as a=20 very recent phenomenon.

An inscription of Thutmose I reads: "Frontier northern, as far as = that=20 inverted water which goeth down in going up."(7) In order to explain = this=20 passage it was supposed that the Egyptians could not imagine that a = river flows=20 otherwise than from south to north, as does the Nile, and they wondered = at a=20 river flowing in another direction. The Euphrates flows from the = north-west to=20 the south-east; the Orontes north to south for part of its course, = afterwards=20 turning west and emptying into the Mediterranean. The explanation is = obviously=20 inadequate. There are many rivers in the world and they flow in all = directions.=20 The river that reversed its direction is the Jordan.

Prior to the Exodus, the Jordan Valley was on a higher level than the = Mediterranean Sea. With the rupture of the tectonic structure along the = river=20 and the dropping of the Dead Sea chasm, many brooks in southern = Palestine which=20 had been flowing to the south must have changed their direction and = started to=20 flow towards Palestine, emptying into the southern shore of the Dead = Sea. This=20 occurrence served as a symbolic picture for the dispersed Children of = Israel,=20 who also will return to their homeland: "Turn again our captivity as the = streams=20 in the south."(8)

The plain of Siddim became a sea. When Israel "wandered into the = wilderness=20 in a solitary way [the Lord turned] rivers into wilderness, and the = watersprings=20 into dry ground; and fruitful land into barrenness; [but elsewhere he = turned]=20 the wilderness into standing water, and dry ground into=20 watersprings".(9)

_________________________
1. Joshua 3:16; = Numbers 34:12;=20 Deuteronomy 3:17.
2. Genesis 13:10, 11; Cf. Genesis 14:3.
3. = Joshua=20 3:16.
4. Joshua 12:3.
5. J. Garstang, The Foundations of Bible = History=20 (1931), p. 137; Cf. Worlds in Collision, section = "Jericho", and my=20 "Jericho" in KRONOS II:4 (Summer-1977), pp. 64-69.
6. Psalm = 114.
7.=20 Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, Vol. III, par. 73.
8. = Psalm=20 126:4.
9. Psalm 107:4, 33-35.

THE OVERTHROW OF THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN

The site of the Dead Sea was a plain in the days of the patriarch = Abraham.=20 The Book of Genesis tells of Lot's arrival in the region, how he "lifted = up his=20 eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well-watered = everywhere .=20 . . even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt".(1) Tacitus = wrote=20 that the plain was "fruitful and supported great and populous = cities".(2)

The catastrophe which destroyed these cities is recounted in the = nineteenth=20 chapter of the Book of Genesis:

The sun was risen upon the earth when . . . the Lord rained upon = Sodom and=20 upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; And he = overthrew=20 those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the = cities, and=20 that which grew upon the ground....

And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood = before=20 the Lord; And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the = land of=20 the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as = the smoke=20 of a furnace.(3)

The description of this upheaval has always aroused wonder: "There is = clearly=20 something unnatural or extraordinary that is recorded," one commentator=20 wrote.(4)

Classical historians, speaking of the event, told of "fire from the = sky".=20 Tacitus narrated that the catastrophe of Sodom and Gomorrah was caused = by a=20 thunderbolt -- the plain was "consumed by lightning" -- and he added:=20 "Personally I am quite prepared to grant that once famous cities may = have been=20 burnt up by fire from heaven."(5) Also Josephus asserted that the cities = had=20 been "consumed by thunderbolts".(6) Philo wrote that "lightnings poured = out of=20 heaven,"(7) destroying the cities.

The destruction of the cities of the plain and the overturning of the = valley=20 was, in my understanding, an event caused by an interplanetary = discharge; and=20 Jupiter was the planetary body involved.*

* [Cf. the remarks by James E. Strickling in SIS Workshop, = Vol 2,=20 No. 4 (April 1980), pp. 3-5 as well as those by B. O'Gheoghan in = SIS=20 Workshop, Vol 3, No. 1 (July 1980), pp. 29-30. See also D. B. = Vitaliano,=20 Legends of the Earth (Bloomington, 1973), pp. 88-91. --=20 LMG]

_________________________
1. Genesis=20 13:10.
2. Histories V. 7. [According to Strabo = (Geography=20 XVI.2.44) there were "thirteen inhabited cities in that region of which = Sodom=20 was the metropolis". The Biblical account mentions five.]
3. Genesis = 19:=20 23-25, 27-28.
4. J. Penrose Harland, "Sodom and Gomorrah," The = Biblical=20 Archaeologist Reader (New York, 1961), p. 61
5. = Histories V. 7,=20 transl. by K. Wellesley (London, 1964).
6. The Jewish War = IV.=20 480.
7. Moses II. 53ff.

ZEDEK

The time of the patriarch Abraham witnessed unusual behavior by the = planet=20 Jupiter. The fact that Jupiter exhibited certain activity exactly in the = time of=20 Abraham must not appear a coincidence: it was in times of great global=20 catastrophes, when the world was threatened with destruction, that = religious=20 reformers gained prominence and contemporaries looked to a divine man = for=20 guidance. Thus the time of the great catastrophes of the Exodus saw = Moses=20 leading the Israelites from Egypt, to revelations and a covenant with = God. And=20 the time of the great upheavals of the eighth and seventh century before = this=20 era heard the voice of Isaiah. In later centuries, religious reformers = found an=20 especially large and responsive following when they announced the = approach of=20 the end of the world, or the beginning of the Kingdom of God on Earth. = Numerous=20 instances may be quoted, but the best known became the foundation of the = religion of a large part of the Old and New World.

Zedek was the name of Jupiter, and we read that in the days of = Abraham the=20 planet underwent some visible changes.

[Rabbinical sources relate that when Abraham was on an expedition = against=20 Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and his allied kings -- who had captured and = despoiled Sodom, and taken Abraham's nephew Lot into captivity -- the = star Zedek=20 illuminated the night, thereby ensuring the expedition's success.(1) --=20 JNS]

The Book of Genesis informs us that "the king of Sodom went out to = meet him=20 [Abraham] after his return from the victory over Chedorlaomer and the = kings that=20 were with him. . . And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread = and wine;=20 and he was priest of the most high".(2) Abraham ceded to him = [Melchizedek] the=20 spoils of the war he had obtained in Syria from Chedorlaomer.

Ancient Salem was a holy place, and Palestine was a holy land from = grey=20 antiquity. Thus, in the documents of the Old Kingdom in Egypt, Palestine = is=20 named God's Land (Toneter), or Divine (Holy) Land.(3) Abraham, = as I=20 intend to show, must have lived at the end of the Old Kingdom in Egypt; = and=20 documents from that time already refer to Palestine as God's Land. But = in early=20 times, it was an astral god.*

* [Actually, only in very late times did the concept of an abstract = god as=20 opposed to an astral one begin to take root. -- LMG] =

The meaning of the name Melchizedek is "Zedek is [My] King". Zedek, = as=20 stated, is the name of the planet Jupiter, remaining so in the astronomy = of the=20 Jews in later ages. In the Talmud, Zedek refers to Jupiter.(4) Zedek = also has=20 the meaning of "righteousness" or "justice". It is beyond the scope of = this work=20 to find which of the meanings -- the name of a planet or a word in = common usage=20 -- preceded and which followed. It is conceivable that this planet was=20 worshipped in that remote time and that, in the days of the patriarch = Abraham,=20 the cult of Jupiter was prominent in Salem of the high priest = Melchizedek.=20 Melchizedek, "priest of the most high", was, it follows, a worshipper of = Jupiter.*

* [Cf. "Jerusalem -- City of Venus", KRONOS III:3 (Spring 1978), = pp. 66-67=20 -- LMG]

Melchizedek, the priest-king of ancient Salem, plays an important = part in=20 Christian catechism.(5)

_________________________
1. [Rabbi = Berkjah,=20 quoted in Bereshit Rabba XLIII.3, translated by A. Ravenna = (Turin,=20 1978), p. 328. -- JNS]
2. Genesis 14: 17-18. [Salem is = considered to=20 be the site of the later Jerusalem. Before Joshua's conquest of = Jerusalem, the=20 king of that city bore the name Adonizedek (Joshua 10:1, 3), an = indication of=20 continuing Jupiter worship among the Jebusites. -- JNS]
3. = In=20 Ages in Chaos, Vol. I, I have brought extensive material for = the=20 identification of the Divine Land with Palestine.
4. [Cf. W. M. = Feldman,=20 Rabbinical Mathematics and Astronomy (New York, 1931) --=20 JNS]
5. Cf. The Epistle to the Hebrews 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1ff. = [Cf.=20 also F. Horton, The Melchzedek Tradition (Cambridge university = Press,=20 1976) -- JNS]

THE CHANGE IN JUPITER'S APPARENT MOTION

In the Tractate Shabbat of the Babylonian Talmud it is said that in = order to=20 teach Abraham the futility and meaninglessness of astrology, the Lord = let the=20 planet Zedek, or Jupiter, change its rising point from west to east:

" 'Go forth (i.e., cease) thy planet-(gazing), for Israel is free = from=20 planetary influence. What is thy calculation? Because Zedek = (Jupiter)=20 stands in the West? I will turn it back and place it in the East.' And = thus it=20 is written, Who hath raised up Zedek from the East? He hath = summoned it=20 for his sake (sc. for the sake of Abraham)."(1)

This statement of the rabbis contains some contradictory ideas. = Nevertheless,=20 it may preserve certain elements of ancient lore.

The Babylonians described Marduk, or Jupiter, as having an eastward = motion,=20 different from the other planets: "The earliest system from Babylon has, = however, East and West reversed, and assigns to its chief god Marduk, as = god of=20 the planet Jupiter, a definite easterly motion; to Mercury, on the other = hand, a=20 westerly one."(2)

"The Ra-mythology [of Egypt] is that which describes [Ra's] course = from West=20 to East."(3) Ra, rising in the west, was called "Harakhte, only god, = king of the=20 gods; he riseth in the west".(4) However, some hymns were addressed to = "Ra when=20 he riseth in the Eastern part of heaven".(5)

Egyptian lore also knew of a "Horus of the West" and a "Horus of the=20 East".(6) Horus was the planet Jupiter.

The expression found in Latin literature, Jupiter Dianus,(7) or two = faced,=20 could be interpreted as denoting two motions of Jupiter, an eastward and = a=20 westward. This conforms with the same expression applied to the Sun = where, as I=20 endeavored to show, it denotes easterly and westerly movements of the=20 luminary.(8)

The celestial mechanics of the implied reversal of Jupiter's apparent = motion=20 remains unsolved. Jupiter apparently changed the place of its rising = point=20 without a similar and simultaneous change by the Sun and all the planets = and=20 stars. It might seem that in order for Jupiter alone to be subject to = change a=20 reversal of orbital motion is required, an unlikely proposition from the = point=20 of view of celestial mechanics.

Earlier we asked in relation to Saturn's great prominence, was not = the Earth=20 at some early period a satellite of that planet?; and we may ask again, = with the=20 ascendance of Jupiter, was it (the Earth) not in the domain of this = successor to=20 the celestial throne?

If there is truth in the surmise, and it is nothing more than a = surmise, that=20 the Earth was once a satellite of a giant planet, the latter must have = revolved=20 closer to the Sun in order that the Earth should receive heat from it -- = the=20 giant planets presently radiate little heat and if the Age of Kronos was = a=20 Golden Age, then it is also proper to assume that the conditions on the=20 satellite Earth were not unfavorable for life.(9) The geological record=20 documents extreme climates for the past of the Earth -- times when = corals grew=20 in the Arctic, and times when the Earth, partly even on the equator, was = fettered by ice. Such climates require definitely abnormal conditions = that could=20 be created only by varying positions of our planet as an astronomical = body.(10)=20 Therefore, surmises as made in this section are not in conflict with = geological=20 and paleoclimatological records; yet it is not what could have taken = place, but=20 what did take place -- or the historical record -- that is the proper = goal for=20 inquest. In the absence of direct indications we may only deal with the = problem=20 of the Earth as a satellite of a giant planet as with a hypothetical=20 construction, requiring further elucidation. Theoretically, if the Earth = were=20 revolving around Jupiter, a reversal of its north and south geographical = poles=20 would cause Jupiter to appear to change the point of its=20 rising.(11)

_________________________
1. Shabbat 156b (I. Epstein = ed.,=20 [London, 1935]). Cf. Isaiah 41:2. "Zedek also has the meaning of = "righteousness"=20 or justice and therefore the sentence is often rendered incorrectly as: = "Who=20 raised up the righteous (man) from the east. Cf. Hommel, JSOR=20 (1927).
2. H. Winckler, Die Babylonische Geisteskultur = (Leipzig,=20 1919), second ed., p. 72.
3. L. Frobenius, Das Zeitalter des=20 Sonnengottes (Berlin, 1904), p. 170.
4. Breasted, Ancient = Records of=20 Egypt III. 18. Cf. F. Meyer, Zeitschrift für Aegyptische = Sprache=20 (1877), pp. 148 ff. [See also Worlds in Collision, pp. 107-108. = --=20 LMG]
5. E.g., E. A. W. Budge ed., The Egyptian Book of = the=20 Dead (London, 1899), Chapter xv (Papyrus Ani), p. 246.
6. S. = Mercer,=20 Horus, Royal God of Egypt (Grafton, Mass. 1942),pp. 48, = 117.
7.=20 Frazer, Ovid's Fasti (Loeb Classical Library, 1931), note to p. = 388.
8. [Cf. the ancient view, referred to by Macrobius = (Saturnalia=20 VIII) that the two faces of Janus symbolize the god's power over the two = gates=20 of the sky ("et ideo geminum, quasi utriusque januae coelestis = potentem"). --=20 JNS; See Worlds in Collision, loc. cit. The complexity = of the=20 problem is further enlarged by the fact that Cardona has convincingly = argued for=20 the identification of Ra with Saturn in earlier times (see "Let = There=20 be Light", KRONOS III:3, pp. 44 ff.; "Saturn As King", KRONOS IV:3, pp. = 91-93;=20 so too, R. Ashton in "The Age of Purple Darkness", unpublished). -- = LMG]
9.=20 [The range of thermal inputs for a habitable Earth, such that the = biosphere=20 neither bakes nor freezes, places severe constraints on the Earth's = distance=20 from the Sun. This, in the absence of any elucidation of the means by = which a=20 Jovian giant might have provided insolation to a satellite Earth during = a=20 "Golden Age". -- CLE]
10. [This, of course, does not take = into=20 account plate tectonics which would explain the present anomalous = conditions in=20 terms of those land masses having been situated differently in the = remote past.=20 In the "Author's Note" to the Pocket Book edition of Earth in = Upheaval=20 (1977), Velikovsky expressed an openness to the idea of continents = drifting=20 while remaining "unswayed either by the enthusiasts or by their = opponents"=20 concerning the present plate tectonic model (cf. R. W. Wescott, KRONOS = V:4, p.=20 85). -- CLE]
11. [Cf. P. Warlow, J. Phys. A., 11:10 = (Oct.=20 1978), pp. 2107-2130; precis of the relevant phenomenon (inversion of = Earth=20 without inverting spin axis) in KRONOS V:4 (July 1980), p. 68. Warlow's=20 analysis, which only considers a gravitational inversion of the Earth as = a=20 whole, has been shown to understate the required torque by at least a = factor of=20 200 [see V. J. Slabinski, J. Phys. A. 14:9 (Sept. 1981)]. The = required=20 torque would be substantially reduced if the crust, as a spherical = shell, were=20 able to slip over the mantle. This would be facilitated if a) the shear = zone=20 (say the asthenosphere) were thixotropic, i.e., its viscosity -- and = hence=20 friction -- decreased with increasing shear and b) the equatorial bulge = were=20 accommodated in the shear zone. Rigorous quantitative modelling of = geographical=20 inversions is a largely undeveloped area which has yet to include=20 electromagnetic effects. Velikovsky's statement above and the preceding = comments=20 only apply if the apparent motion of other celestial bodies = also=20 changed. -- CLE]

THE TRANSMUTATION OF OXYGEN INTO SULPHUR

It has been observed since ancient times that lightning is attended = by an=20 odor of sulphur. In the twelfth book of the Odyssey, Homer = says:

"Zeus thundered and hurled his bolt upon the ship, and she quivered = from stem=20 to stern, smitten by the bolt of Zeus, and was filled with sulphurous=20 smoke."(1)

Again, in the Iliad: "When beneath the blast of father Zeus = an oak=20 falleth uprooted, and a dread reek of brimstone ariseth therefrom -- = then verily=20 courage no longer possesseth him that looketh thereon..."(2)

And: "[Zeus] thundered horribly and let loose the shimmering = lightning and=20 dashed it to the ground in front of the horses of Diomedes, and a = ghastly blaze=20 of flaming sulphur shot up, and the horses, terrified, both cringed away = against=20 the chariot."(3)

The same observation is put into a scientific prose by Pliny: = "Lightning and=20 thunder are attended with a strong smell of sulphur, and the light = produced by=20 them is of a sulphurous complexion."(4) The second part of Pliny's = sentence is=20 also correct: pioneer work on electrical discharges in modern times was = produced=20 using globes of sulphur in rotation. Sulphur is one of the best = insulators and=20 static electricity, when accumulated on it, discharges in electrical = sparks=20 towards objects brought close to it.

Electrical discharges produced without the help of sulphur are also=20 accompanied by the smell of it. This odor was referred to by Benjamin = Franklin=20 who, comparing lightning and electricity, wrote to the Royal Society in = London=20 that both phenomena are attended by a sulphurous smell. This he = mentioned among=20 twelve other properties which suggested that lightning is an electrical=20 discharge. No importance was attributed by him or by anyone else since = to this=20 sulphurous smell. The smell of ozone is different from the smell of = vaporized=20 sulphur or sulphurous compounds(5) and the supposition that the ancients = were=20 unable to distinguish between the two disregards the fact that besides = the smell=20 of ozone a sulphurous smell follows an electric discharge.(6)

This suggests to me that sulphur is actually produced from the air by = the=20 passage of an electrical discharge. The quantity of sulphur must be = detectable=20 in a careful laboratory experiment.

Quite possibly the detection of sulphur produced by a strong = electrical=20 discharge, by a means other than smell, has already been fulfilled. A = very=20 strong discharge of electricity passing through the air formed solid=20 sulphur.

The bolt of electricity that fell upon the plain of the Pentapolis = was of a=20 magnitude sufficient to cause a transmutation of elements on a great = scale.

It rained "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven". The = overturned=20 plain became full of sulphurous deposits -- "the whole land thereof is=20 brimstone, and salt [probably potash], and burning" (7) -- and when = later in=20 another great upheaval the plain became covered by the Dead Sea, = sulphurous=20 springs continued to flow into the valley of the Jordan and into the = Dead Sea=20 from submerged strata and from the springs on the shores.

At the end of the eighth century and at the beginning of the seventh = century=20 before the present era, when every fifteen years Mars was approaching=20 dangerously close to the Earth, Isaiah prophesied "the day of the Lord's = vengeance," in which day "the streams [of Idumea] shall be turned into = pitch,=20 and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become = burning=20 pitch".(8)

A curse upon man and his land was that "brimstone shall be scattered = upon his=20 habitation".(9) "Upon the wicked he shall rain pitch, fire and = brimstone, and a=20 horrible tempest."(10)

This eschatological vision was alive with Ezekiel in the days of the=20 Babylonian Exile. He spoke about "an overflowing rain, and great = hailstones=20 [meteorites], fire, and brimstone".(11)

These stories of sulphur raining from the sky and the fearful = expectations=20 built upon them could be taken as fictions of an imaginative mind were = not the=20 smell of sulphur an indication of its presence in the air following the = passage=20 of a discharge, and were not also the presence of sulphur deposits = around the=20 Dead Sea, thrust in deep below the ocean level, a substantiation of the = story of=20 the cataclysm.

Is the atomic source of sulphur generated by a discharge in oxygen, = or does=20 the nitrogen of the air participate also in the building of sulphur?

It seems more probable that two atoms of oxygen are smashed into one = atom of=20 sulphur. If the atomic weight of sulphur obtained by electrical = discharge will=20 be found to be over 32 (for that of sulphur is 32.06) it might be due to = the=20 presence of some atoms of oxygen of the atomic weight 17. This heavy = oxygen is=20 the product of a nitrogen atom transmuted by the bombardment of alpha=20 particles.(12) We must reckon with the possibility that a proton from = broken=20 atoms of oxygen or ozone or nitrogen enters the new combination, or that = electrons which cause the perturbation are able by themselves to change = the=20 atomic weight of the elements.

In the late 1940's I asked Dr. A. V. Grosse whether it would be = possible to=20 create, by a strong discharge, an atom of sulphur from two atoms of = oxygen. His=20 answer was that, as soon as there would be developed cyclotrons capable = of=20 releasing two billion electron volts of energy, sulphur could be made = from=20 oxygen.

_________________________
1. The Odyssey, = XII.
2. The=20 Iliad, XIV.
3. Ibid., VIII. 133-136, tr. by R. Lattimore = (Chicago,=20 1951).
4. Natural History 35.50, tr. by Bostock and Riley. = 51
5.=20 [Elemental sulphur is odorless.]
6. W. J. Humphreys, Ways of the=20 Weather (London, 1942), p. 243.
7. Deuteronomy 29:23.
8. = Isaiah=20 34:9.
9. Job 18:15.
10. Psalm 11:6.
11. Ezekiel 38:22.
12.=20 Rutherford: N¹⁴ + He⁴ =3D O¹⁷ +=20 proton¹

* * * * *

EDITORIAL POSTSCRIPT: It often seems that Velikovsky's = intuition is=20 far more penetrating than decades of pragmatic research by other = workers. At the=20 time of his outline of "Sodom and Gomorrah" during the 1940s much was = known=20 about radionuclides and their preparation, but far more was unknown. = Thus,=20 Velikovsky's conjecture that two nuclei of oxygen can be fused into one = atom of=20 sulfur by an interplanetary thunderbolt does indeed appear to be quite = an=20 intellectual leap. However, it is such insights that could well afford = some clue=20 to the structure of an enormous interplanetary electrical discharge, as = well as=20 a characterization of nuclear events which might be engendered by this=20 phenomenon.

Early experiments with man-made lightning have turned the Van de = Graaff=20 megavolt generator into an accelerator by directing the electrical = discharge=20 through an air-evacuated tube. The accelerated ions were smashed into = target=20 atoms, and physicists would then have sorted through the debris to = observe what=20 havoc had been wrought. More recently such primitive brute-force = approaches have=20 been replaced by more sophisticated sledge hammers, as with the = heavy-ion=20 accelerators at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and elsewhere. = Notwithstanding, to=20 put nuclear history into perspective, the early experimenters had taken = this=20 Schliemann-like approach primarily to gain knowledge and experience in a = burgeoning new field of physics where almost everything was unknown. = Today,=20 attempts at fusion by heavy-ion or colliding-beam accelerators have = yielded but=20 a handful of desired products with heavier nuclei.

Although the power available today for experiments of this kind are = measured=20 in tens to hundreds of megawatts, future performance in the bevawatt = region=20 (billons of watts) is foreseen. While this would approach the power of = some=20 large terrestrial lightning bolts, it is still orders of magnitude less = than=20 what might be expected with even a small interplanetary discharge. In = such a=20 discharge, there is little doubt that considerable nuclear fusion would = also=20 take place. Nevertheless, ordinary thunderstorms which exhibit numerous=20 lightning strokes are not known to create radioactive hotspots, = principally=20 because the traverse through the atmosphere slows the bolt sufficiently = so that=20 the most noticeable effects are ionization and chemical recombination of = atmospheric gases. Such ions which are generated cannot be accelerated = through=20 the air-mass with sufficient velocity to effect nuclear transformations = and=20 create radioisotopes.

With respect to terrestrial lightning, Pliny observed in the first = century=20 A.D.: "Lightning and thunder are attended with a strong smell of sulfur, = and the=20 light produced by them is of a sulfurous complexion." This statement in = his=20 Natural History, which was noted by Velikovsky, is = extraordinary and=20 reraises the question whether or not evolutionary processes have been=20 subliminally at work to where contemporary mankind can discriminate = subtleties=20 of color and odor beyond the capacities of Pliny and his own = contemporaries. It=20 is well-known that a form of lead-poisoning was endemic in Roman = society, due to=20 the use of lead pipes and vessels, and which contributed to a loss of = the sense=20 of taste, exemplifled by the excessive use of salt as a seasoning in = culinary=20 recipes. It might be conjectured that additional effects would limit the = sensory=20 discrimination of odors and colors as well.

A lightning stroke through the atmosphere ionizes the air-path, and = the=20 recombination of nitrogen and oxygen into nitrogen oxides would give = rise to an=20 acrid odor which a contemporary nose would not associate with that of = sulfur. A=20 chemically educated olfactory sense can readily discern differences = between=20 odoriferous gaseous compounds of nitrogen and sulphur.

The discharge of lightning through the atmosphere can appear to have = a blue=20 or purplish color, especially if the main stroke has been occluded by = clouds.=20 This main stroke may momentarily exceed 30,000C, with a primary = excitation of=20 the hydrogen atoms derived from water vapor and emitting in the red part = of the=20 spectrum, although the brilliance precludes any detection by the eye as = anything=20 other than white, or a bluish-white. The blue or purple color viewed by = an=20 observer when the main discharge is obscured by clouds is due to the = principal=20 excitation of the four wavelengths of nitrogen, which are emitted in the = blue=20 portion of the spectrum. A similar blue color is evident when sulfur is = quietly=20 burning in air, which makes Pliny's qualitative observation = understandable.

On the other hand, Benjamin Franklin corroborated Pliny's commentary = from his=20 own observations. Franklin began his investigations in electricity in = 1746,=20 probably initiated by the invention earlier that same year of the Leyden = jar, a=20 device which could store an electrostatic charge. By late 1749 his = experiments=20 led him to correspond his findings to the Royal Society, delineating the = twelve=20 properties of the "electrical fluid" he had studied: The twelfth = property was a=20 "sulphureous smell". (Franklin was convinced that electricity and = lightning were=20 one and the same but had to wait until the summer of 1752 when he flew = the=20 famous kite experiment to prove his theory.)

However, unless an electrical or lightning discharge strikes a target = containing a trace amount of vaporizable sulfur compounds, no real = sulfurous=20 odor will be detected other than ozone or nitrogen oxides. This, in a = minor way,=20 makes Velikovsky's failure to amend his speculative notes appear to be = too great=20 an ellipsis for the argumentative leap to the fusion of oxygen into = sulfur by an=20 interplanetary bolt. However, in no way does this detract from his major = thesis=20 that such a Jovian thunderbolt on the plain of the five cities could = create "a=20 transmutation of elements on a great scale".

Moreover, lightning discharges are a common occurrence during = volcanic=20 eruptions, and such displays undoubtedly happened on a grand scale when = the Dead=20 Sea area opened up to expose the underlying magma. The Great Rift Valley = extends=20 from central Africa through the Sinai to its northern reaches at the = Dead Sea,=20 and the near passage of the Earth to Jupiter could well have opened this = tectonic chasm and afforded an ideally unique electrical path for an=20 electrostatic discharge from the Jovian planet. Gases in motion, with or = without=20 particulate matter, and especially when superheated, can accumulate an=20 electrostatic charge. Such an atmospheric phenomenon here on Earth pales = in=20 comparison to the known events which occur in the turbulent atmosphere = of=20 Jupiter, as detected by the Voyager spacecraft, and also shown in the = even more=20 violent turbulence of the planet Saturn. And, it is on these = gas giants=20 that one might anticipate the transmutation of elements in their upper=20 atmospheres.

Pliny's mind may well have boggled to learn of our present plans to = orbit a=20 Galileo spacecraft about the Jovian planet, in as much as our = own=20 imaginings may be overwhelmed by the thought of Earth's close proximity = to=20 Jupiter within historical times. And yet, given an ionizable, conductive = path=20 between the two planets, the discharge of an electrostatic plasmoid from = Jupiter=20 would have created an interplanetary vortex that could have carried = considerable=20 atmospheric debris to our own Earth, thereby giving the impression of a = rain of=20 fire and brimstone from heaven.

Both Jupiter and Saturn are not known to have appreciable sulfur = compounds in=20 their atmospheres, except as hydrosulfides and other polymeric forms.=20 Nevertheless, in terms of mere size differences, what would be = considered=20 miniscule in the atmosphere of Jupiter would be an inundation in the = atmosphere=20 of Earth if even a minute quantity of these constituents crossed the=20 interplanetary void to our world. Of these substances which comprise the = atmosphere of Jupiter there are considerable quantities of highly = inflammable=20 hydrogen, far lesser quantities of inflammable organics as methane=20 (CH₄) and acetylene (C₂H₂), along with=20 flammable inorganics as hydrogen cyanide (HCN), cyanogen=20 (C₂N₂), ammonia (NH₃), hydrogen sulfide = (H₂S), phosphine (PH₃), and silane = (SiH₄).

That such materials can be carried from one world to another or = exposed and=20 generated in situ is exemplified by the highly active sulfurous = volcanism observed on lo, the nearest Galilean satellite to Jupiter. Io = has been=20 considered to be inductively heated by its oblique passage in and out of = the=20 powerful magnetic field of Jupiter, due to its close proximity to the = massive=20 giant. If the Earth itself was once such a satellite, we could expect = equally=20 dramatic events; and if such a condition prevailed within historic = memory, the=20 Earth would still be seeking a more stable equilibrium from this chaotic = condition. We do not yet know if intrasystem electrical discharges are = exchanged=20 between Io and Jupiter, but from all indications these events might be = thought=20 possible if not probable.

Regarding the high-energy transmutation by fusion of oxygen into = sulfur, or=20 other light elements such as carbon and nitrogen into heavier products, = the=20 problems can be complex because of varying distributions of stable = elements and=20 radionuclides as well as peculiar isotopic distributions. Nevertheless, = it might=20 be imagined that such elements as silicon, aluminum, chlorine, and = phosphorus=20 could also be formed by interplanetary discharges.

However, we should not be misled into thinking that all the silicon,=20 phosphorus, and sulfur that exists on the globe was so formed. Much, if = not=20 most, of our elemental distribution is a residuum of a primordial Earth; = and=20 what we have superficially excavated, mined, and quarried is really a = mineral=20 version of the Rosetta Stone waiting to be deciphered.

Frederic B. Jueneman

SELECTED REFERENCES

C. Michael Lederer, Jack M. Hollander, Isadore Perlman, Table of=20 Isotopes (6th ed., N.Y., 1967).

R. L. Newburn, Jr. and S. Gulkis, "A Survey of the Outer Planets = Jupiter=20 Saturn, Uranus Neptune, Pluto, and their Satellites," Space Science=20 Reviews 3 (Reidel: Dordrecht, Holland, 1973), pp. 179-271.

John M. Stillman, The Story of Early Chemistry (N.Y., = 1924).

Martin A. Uman, Understanding Lightning (Bek Technical Pub.: = Carnegie, Pa., 1971).

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