# Mount Sodom

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{{Short description|Hill in Israel}}
[[File:MountSodom061607.jpg|thumb|The "Lot's Wife" pillar on Mount Sodom, Israel, made of [halite](/source/halite)]]
thumb|Salt cave in Mount Sodom
[[File:Mount Sodom Halite Layers 071213.jpg|thumb|Bedded [halite](/source/halite) at Mount Sodom]]
'''Mount Sodom''' ({{langx|he|הר סדום}}, ''Har Sedom'') is a hill along the southwestern part of the [Dead Sea](/source/Dead_Sea) in [Israel](/source/Israel); it is part of the [Judaean Desert](/source/Judaean_Desert) Nature Reserve.<ref name="Proceedings">{{cite book |last1=Mattes |first1=Johannes |last2=Christian |first2=Erhard |last3=Plan |first3=Lukas |title=Proceedings of the 12th EuroSpeleo Forum: Ebensee, Austria, August 23rd-26th, 2018 : Connecting Science |date=2018 |publisher=Speleological Society of Ebensee |isbn=978-3-903093-30-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zCKQDwAAQBAJ&q=Mount+Sodom+nature+reserve&pg=PA119 |access-date=6 May 2020 |language=en}}</ref> It takes its name from the biblical city of [Sodom](/source/Sodom_and_Gomorrah), whose destruction is the subject of a narrative in the Bible.

==History==
Mount Sodom began its rise hundreds of thousands of years ago and continues to grow taller at a rate of {{convert|3.5|mm|in}} a year.<ref>{{cite book|last=Hareuveni|first=Imanuel|script-title=he:קום התהלך בארץ: מדריך שמורות טבע בישראל|year=1985|publisher=[Israel Ministry of Defense](/source/Israel_Ministry_of_Defense)|location=[Israel](/source/Israel)|isbn=965-05-0193-2|pages=406, 409|edition=2nd|language=he|trans-title=Nature Reserves in Israel|quote=בחלקהּ הדר' של הבקעה מתרומם הר סדום (פסגתו 240 מ' מעל פני ים המלח. ארכו כ-11 ק"מ ורוחבו כ-2 ק"מ), לו נוף מיוחד של עמקי אורך ורכסי אורך, שכיוונם הכללי צפ'-דר' והבנוי, בעיקרו, סלעי מלח." "ראשית התרוממות ההר החלה לפני כמה מאות אלפי שנים. ב-20 אלף השנים האחרונות התרומם ההר בקצב של 3.5 מ"מ בשנה, והתרוממות זו נמשכת גם כיום.}}</ref>

Movements of the [Great Rift Valley](/source/Great_Rift_Valley) system, along with the pressure generated by the slow accumulation of earth and rock, pressed down on the layers of salt, creating Mount Sodom. It is about 80% salt, {{convert|220|m|ft}} high, capped by a layer of [limestone](/source/limestone), [clay](/source/clay) and [conglomerate](/source/conglomerate_(geology)) that was dragged along as it was squeezed up from the valley floor.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1991/12/18/punished-for-looking-back-lots-wife-may-fall-forward/ |title=Punished for looking back, Lot's wife may fall forward |first=Robert |last=Ruby |work=[The Baltimore Sun](/source/The_Baltimore_Sun) |date=18 December 1991 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103347/http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1991-12-18/news/1991352008_1_lot-wife-pillar-sodom |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

It is approximately {{convert|8|km|mi|0}} long, {{convert|5|km|mi|0}} wide, and {{convert|742|ft|m|order=flip}} above the [Dead Sea](/source/Dead_Sea) water level, yet {{convert|557|ft|m|order=flip}} below world mean [sea level](/source/sea_level). Because of weathering, some portions have separated. One of these pillars is known as "[Lot's wife](/source/Lot's_wife)",<ref>{{cite book |last=Lefond |first=Stanley J. |year=2012 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5KQACAAAQBAJ&pg=PA337 |title=Handbook of World Salt Resources |publisher=Springer |page=337|isbn=978-1-4684-0703-7 }}</ref> in reference to the Biblical account of the destruction of [Sodom and Gomorrah](/source/Sodom_and_Gomorrah).

==See also==
* [Judean Desert](/source/Judean_Desert)
* [Nature reserves of Israel](/source/Nature_reserves_of_Israel)
* [Tourism in Israel](/source/Tourism_in_Israel)

==References==
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{{coord|31|4|19|N|35|23|49|E|type:landmark|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodom}}
Category:Hebrew Bible mountains
Category:Hills of Israel
Category:Dead Sea
Category:Sodom and Gomorrah
Category:Judaean Desert

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mount Sodom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sodom) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sodom?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.