Admah Explained

According to the Bible, Admah (Heb. אַדְמָה) was one of the five cities of the Vale of Siddim.^[1] It was destroyed along with Sodom and Gomorrah.^[2] It is supposed by William F. Albright to be the same as the "Adam" of 3:16 .^[3] The location of Admah is unknown,^[4] although Bryant G. Wood a proponent of the southern theory for the Cities of the Plain identified the site with Numeira,^[5] but later changed it to Khirbat al-Khanazir Jordan,^[6] although it was only a cemetery during the Bronze Age ^[7] and proponents of the northern theory for the Cities of the Plain identify the site with Tel Nimrin, Jordan.^[8]

The town is mentioned figuratively in the Bible, in Deuteronomy^[9] and Book of Hosea.^[10] There has also been some conjecture that Admah is mentioned in the Ebla tablets as the Eblaite word "ad-ma" or "ad-mu-utki" = (Town of) Admah.^{[11] [12]}

See also

• Sodom and Gomorrah - two of the five "cities of the plain"
• Zeboim - one of the five "cities of the plain"
• Zoar, former Bela - one of the five "cities of the plain"

Notes and References

1. Bible: Genesis 14:2
2. Bible: Deuteronomy 29:23
3. Albright, W. F. "The Expedition of Xenia Theological Seminary and the American Schools". BASOR 14 (1924): 1–12
4. Book: Merrill Chapin Tenney. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary. 2011. Zondervan. 978-0-310-22983-4. 25.
5. Bryant G. Wood, “Have Sodom And Gomorrah Been Found?,” Bible and Spade 3, no. 3 (1974): 67
6. Bryant G. Wood, “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah,” Bible and Spade 12, no. 3 (1999): 67–80
7. Meredith S. Chesson and R. Thomas Schaub, “Death and Dying on the Dead Sea Plain: Fifa, Al- Khanazir and Bab Adh-Dhra` Cemeteries,” in Crossing Jordan: North American Contributions to the Archaeology of Jordan, ed. Thomas Evan Levy et al. (London, U.K.: Equinox, 2007), 253
8. https://www.ritmeyer.com/product/image-library/illustrating-the-bible/books-of-moses/admah-tall-nimrin/; Steven Collins, “Sodom and the Cities of the Plain,” in Lexham Bible Dictionary (Logos), ed. John D. Barry (Bellingham, WA: Lexham, 2016), op cit.; David E. Graves, The Location of Sodom: Color Edition. Key Facts for Navigating the Maze of Arguments for the Location of the Cities of the Plain (Toronto: Electronic Christian Media, 2018), 70.
9. Web site: Deuteronomy 29:23 All its soil will be a burning waste of brimstone and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.. biblehub.com. 2018-08-31.
10. Hosea 11:8
11. Giovanni Pettinato, “Gli archivi reali di Tell Mardikh-Ebla: riflessioni e prospettive,” Rivista Biblica Italiana 25, no. 1 (1977): 225–43, Tablet 6522; Alfonso Archi, “The Epigraphic Evidence from Ebla and the Old Testament,” Biblica 60, no. 4 (1979): 556–66; Alfonso Archi, “The Epigraphic Evidence from Ebla: A Summary,” The Biblical Archaeologist 43, no. 4 (1980): 200–203; Alfonso Archi, “Are ‘The Cities of the Plain’ Mentioned in the Ebla Tablets?: Cities Identified by Pettinato Are Nowhere near the Dead Sea,” Biblical Archaeology Review 7, no. 6 (1981): 54–55; Alfonso Archi, “Further Concerning Ebla and the Bible,” The Biblical Archaeologist 44, no. 3 (1981): 145–54; William H. Shea, “Two Palestinian Segments from the Eblaite Geographical Atlas,” in Word of the Lord Shall Go Forth: Essays in Honor of David Noel Freedman in Celebration of His Sixtieth Birthday, ed. Carol L. Meyers and M. O’Connor, American Schools of Oriental Research (Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1983), 589–612.
12. contra. Thomas O'Toole, Ebla Tablets: No Biblical Claims The Washington PostDecember 9, 1979