Project Results

The goal of the "Fire-from-the-Sky" research project was to search for additional evidence of a meteoritic airburst over the north end of the Dead Sea ca. 1700 BC which is thought to be the cause of the end of the Middle Bronze Age occupying civilization. The primary method of data collection was a walking survey of the many wadis that traverse the southeastern quadrant of the circular plain immediately north of the Dead Sea. Analysis of the materials collected is required before conclusions regarding the airburst hypothesis can be drawn.

About This Project

This project will test the hypothesis that a cosmic airburst brought a sudden and catastrophic end to the formerly thriving Middle Bronze Age civilization that occupied the region immediately to the north of the Dead Sea. I will be collecting soil samples from the eastern Jordan River Valley which will be analyzed by collaborators back in the USA for meteoritic content and evidence of extreme thermal exposure.

Ask the Scientists

What is the context of this research?

My doctoral dissertation on "The Middle Bronze Age Civilization-Ending Destruction of the Middle Ghor" documented the existence and demise of a formerly thriving civilization occupying the broad alluvial plain at the north end of the Dead Sea. Microscopic analysis of the material evidence (ash & soil samples, vitrified pottery sherds and melt rocks) gathered during my initial research effort suggested that the mechanism of destruction was a cosmic airburst. Chemical analysis of soil samples indicated a simultaneous poisoning of the soil with Dead Sea salts that prevented resettlement of the area for 6-7 centuries. Publication of the preliminary analyses and findings is forthcoming in collaboration with the team of scientists and researchers assisting me back in the United States.

What is the significance of this project?

The existence of a thriving civilization in the broad alluvial plain of the southern Jordan River Valley during the Early and Middle Bronze Ages was previously unrecognized by scholars. That it came to a catastrophic end ca. 1700 BC was also unknown. The next occupying civilization, which most scholars assumed to be the initial occupants, appeared during the Iron Age, ca. 950 BC. My preliminary research suggests both a destruction mechanism (fire from the sky in the form of a cosmic airburst) and a reason for the extended occupational hiatus (poisoning of the soil with Dead Sea salts). This project tests the hypothesis of the destruction mechanism by comparing soil evidence with the analytical results of the Younger Dryas cosmic event (see Additional Information, below, for references).

What are the goals of the project?

This is a 2-phased effort. This project is Phase 1, with the specific goal of collecting soil samples from the southern half of the Transjordan plain and shipping those samples back to collaborating scientists and researchers in the United States. Phase 2 is the analysis of the samples (to be funded separately) and will include, but not be limited to, examination using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), chemical and elemental analysis, and carbon-14 dating. The results of the Phase 2 analysis will either strengthen the hypothesis of a cosmic airburst event ca. 1700 BC or suggest refinement or further avenues of investigation.