Troweling Down

With over a dozen archaeological sites that could be Sodom, what makes Tall-el Hammam stand out? In this first and most popular episode of the Troweling Down Podcast, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers discuss why Sodom is believed to be the location of Sodom.  Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month! Become an Inner Circle Partner Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon...

What led to the extinction of wooly mammoths, and how does the Younger Dryas event fit into this discussion? On this episode of Troweling Down, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers delve into the historical significance of airburst events. Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner : Follow Tall-el Hammam and TSU on Social Media: Facebook ​​ Twitter Instagram

The TeHEP team spent almost eight weeks at the site this year. The team excavated many areas on the Upper Tall, uncovering a huge amount of architecture. In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers discuss new discoveries relating to the fortifications that defended the city of Sodom! Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon Smile TeHEPsmi...

Tall el-Hammam was continuously occupied throughout many Archaeological periods. It achieved its largest size during the time of Abraham. There were large-scale destruction events during many of these time periods. Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers continue discussing some of the new discoveries from the 2023 season at Tall el-Hammam, and especially discuss an earthquake that hit the city during the Inter...

Excavation Season 16 has come to a close. It was the team's longest excavation season. In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers start reviewing some of the amazing new findings from the past eight weeks of digging. Lots and lots of analysis to be done! Support TeHEP by becoming an Inner Circle Partner: https://tallelhammam.com/inner-circle-partners#5af8008e-e6c5-4937-9307-253c30daf073 Suppor...

Dr. Collins and Gary Byers discuss some of the new, early findings from this season at Tall el-Hammam.   Onward and Downward!   Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner :    Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon Smile :  ​​  Follow Tall-el Hammam and TSU on Social Media:    Facebook Twitter Instagram

Tall El-Hammam is back in action after missing two years of digging!  Gary Byers and Carroll Kobs give an overview of some of the Iron Age buildings on the Acropolis.   Support our Dig by becoming an Inner Circle Partner   Support TSU and TeHEP by shopping through Amazon Smile ​​   Follow Tall-el Hammam and TSU on Social Media:    Facebook ​​  Twitter   Inst...

No, it isn't a line from a movie, but a quote that might have been said by one of the men from the armies of Sodom and Gomorrah.   The King James Bible translation of Genesis 14:10 is, "And the vale of Siddim was full of slime pits, and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there;".  Other translations use "asphalt" or "tar pits" for the translation of the Hebrew word חֵמָר...

Ancient number systems and ancient concepts of time are a challenge to accurately place some of the events in the Old Testament.  Our modern concept of recording dates is very accurate, but ancient people were not nearly as concerned as we are.  Honorific ages were used in telling the stories and exploits of important individuals, and number systems were not always base ten. Dr. Collins...

Dating the time of Abraham has become a controversial issue among Bible believers. The stories in the Bible happened, but dating, when they happened, has been based on a modern interpretation of the ancient peoples' ways of using numbers and speaking about time. Dating the destruction of Sodom is important because it pins Abraham to a specific point in time, from which a lot of events in the Bible...

In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers talk about the people of Sodom... and their bones.  The "Necro-scape" at Tall el-Hammam is very large.  There were many towns and villages that surrounded Sodom.  Life was hard, so death was very much part of everyday life.    When we find the physical remains of people, determining how they died can help us understand the hi...

Pottery sherds are the original 3D puzzles!  When pottery vessels get smashed, sometimes enough pieces can be found that can be put together to give a good idea of what the whole vessel looked like.  In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers show some examples restored at the Archaeological Research Center of the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project.   Subscribe now for new episodes o...

Ramparts aren't only from The Star-Spangled Banner. They are an important part of ancient fortifications, as well as modern ones. Gateways, too. Genesis 19:1 says that Lot was "sitting in the gateway" of Sodom. In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers talk about the fortifications of Sodom. Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month!   Become a dig volunteer for Seaso...

Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers discuss some of their favorite dishes!  Not food, but what it is cooked in -- Casseroles!  In particular, they discuss one dubbed "The Flying Casserole".   This one has a very interesting story that reinforces the destruction theory of Tall el-Hammam. Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month! Become a dig volunteer for Season 1...

Like 3D puzzles?  How about having to hunt for all of the pieces?   We have a very interesting one to show you.  It's another pottery vessel from the Palace Area.  How it came to be so scattered about and burned is puzzling, but  Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers offer a very compelling theory! Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month!   Become a...

What wonderful stories pottery has to tell!  Not only can pottery give us a date for a civilization, it can also be used to give a better understanding of how a civilization lived.  Most of the time it paints a picture of everyday life, how they cooked their meals, what products they stored,  sometimes even what rituals a civilization performed.   In this episode, Dr. Collins a...

No, it's not an actual pottery style.  In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers show examples of pottery found at Tall el-Hammam that have been encrusted with salt.  The Dead Sea is well known for its salt and mineral content, but how did the salt get all the way up the valley to Tall el-Hammam?  Enjoy the discussion in this episode! Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Fri...

Pottery is the timepiece of a site.  Pottery forms help date when a civilization existed.  In this episode, we look at some of the analyses being performed on the pottery from the "Palace Complex" at Tall el-Hammam.   Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month!   Become a dig volunteer for Season 16: https://tallelhammam.com/be-a-dig-volunteer   Supp...

A continued discussion about a cosmic event that wiped out the cities of the plain in the Middle Bronze Age. The evidence suggests an airburst event occurred. Dr. Byers and Dr. Collins continue to discuss in Part 2, the evidence that 22 researchers & scientists unaffiliated with the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project have provided. Published in Nature Scientific Reports, this paper is making an...

A cosmic event wiped out the cities of the plain in the Middle Bronze Age. The evidence suggests an airburst event occurred. Dr. Byers and Dr. Collins continue to discuss the evidence that 22 researchers & scientists unaffiliated with the Tall el-Hammam Excavation Project have provided. Published in Nature Scientific Reports, this paper is making an impact in the scientific community.   T...

Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers discuss the recently published paper in Nature Scientific Reports , on the airburst that destroyed Tall el-Hammam in the Middle Bronze Age. This paper was the collaboration of 22 researchers in various fields, lead by our own Dr. Phil Silvia. Learn what impact this paper is making!  This paper can be found at:  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-97778-3...

The site of Tall el-Hammam has hundreds of thousands of stones that did not move up the hill by themselves.  Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers discuss what the ancient people built with all of these big rocks.  What a lot of work! Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month! Become a dig volunteer for Season 16: https://tallelhammam.com/be-a-dig-volunteer Support our Dig by...

Some people say, "You can't have it all!"  But we do! The location of Tall el-Hammam put it right along one of the major trade routes in the Holy Land.  Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers finish their discussion on how the location of Tall el-Hammam put it smack dab in the geographic background of many of the events in the Bible. Subscribe now for new episodes on the first Friday of every month!...

Having the right real estate is important for the survival of a civilization. The site of Tall el-Hammam was built upon by various cultures all throughout history.  After the destruction of the Middle Bronze civilization, it was never rebuilt as a major city, but the excavation shows it was occupied again with buildings, even into the time of Jesus.  In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr....

Just as today, ancient people understood the importance of location when deciding where to camp or put a city. The Plain of the Jordan Valley has always been one of the most important crossroads in the entire Holy Land. Everybody from Abraham to Jesus journeyed across the Kikkar (Plain of the Jordan). In this episode, Dr. Collins and Dr. Byers talk about the possibility of Moses and Joshua camping...