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[PSUBS-MAILIST] RE: Is this on tv tonite
A BIBLE scholar believes that he has found the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah,
the evil cities destroyed by God with fire and brimstone, after leading the
first expedition to explore the bottom of the Dead Sea.
Michael Sanders and an international team of researchers discovered what
appear to be the salt-encrusted remains of ancient settlements on the seabed
after several fraught weeks diving in a mini submarine. Mr Sanders, a Briton
who is now based in the United States, said yesterday that he was "immensely
excited" about the find, and he is already planning a follow-up expedition.
He said: "The evidence cannot be ignored. I predicted there must be
something extraordinary there and, lo and behold, there was. What we found
matches exactly what the remains of an ancient city might look like."
Dr John Whitaker, a geologist from Leicester University and the former
editor of Geology Today, said yesterday that the new development - which
will be unveiled in a television documentary tomorrow - appeared "very
significant". He said: "There is a good chance that these mounds are
covering up brick structures and are one of the lost cities of the plains,
possibly even Sodom or Gomorrah, though I would have to examine the
evidence. These Bible stories were handed down by word of mouth from
generation to generation before they were written down, and there seems to
be a great deal in this one."
God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to punish the sexual immorality of
their inhabitants is one of the most graphic episodes in the Old Testament.
Genesis says that "the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone
and fire out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain,
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground".
Many archaeologists and scholars have concluded that the story was symbolic,
a warning to erring humans of the divine punishment they faced for
wickedness. But there has been speculation for centuries that the cities
existed in the region of the Dead Sea. A growing number of experts,
including Mr Sanders, are now convinced that "the cities of the plain" were
destroyed by an earthquake, which threw up flaming pitch, about 5,000 years
ago.
Since the 1960s, archaeologists have discovered mass graves on a peninsula
jutting into the Dead Sea which contain human bones dating from the Old
Testament period. And sulphur, or brimstone, have been found in nearby
cliffs, adding to the mystery.
More recently, Mr Sanders unearthed a map dating from 1650 which reinforced
to his belief that the sites of the two cities could be under the north
basin, rather than on the southern edge of the Dead Sea. He recruited
Richard Slater, an American geologist and expert in deep sea diving, to take
him to the depths of the Dead Sea in the two-man Delta mini-submarine that
was involved in the discovery of the sunken liner, the Lusitani.
Also part of the expedition, which took place in November, was Zvi
Ben-Avraham, the director of the Dead Sea Research Centre, who has studied
the region for decades. Their explorations in November, which were filmed
for a Channel 4 documentary to be broadcast at 8pm tomorrow night, were
fraught with difficulties. The 10ft submarine, which was flown in from
California, had to be weighted down with lead to counteract the buoyancy of
the salty water. Because of constraints of time and money, only four dives
were undertaken.
To complicate matters further, the Dead Sea is a military zone with the
border between Israel and Jordan running down the middle of it. Attempts by
researchers to explore the most important site nearly sparked an
international incident because it was partly in Jordanian waters, and
military authorities ordered the submarine out.
Mr Sanders is in little doubt that the salt-covered mounds, found over an
area 800 yards square, are man-made structures. He said: "I have spoken to
geologists and nobody has come up with the suggestion that they are natural
phenomena. We don't know what else they could be if they are not ruins. But
we need more conclusive evidence by chipping off the salt. That's why we
need to go back."
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> [mailto:owner-personal_submersibles@psubs.org]On Behalf Of Carsten
> Standfuß
> Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2000 4:16 AM
> To: personal_submersibles@psubs.org
> Subject: [PSUBS-MAILIST] Nautilus competition was Re: A bit of a stretch
>
>
>
>
>
> David Buchner schrieb:
> >
> > This isn't strictly on-topic in a technological sense, but it's
> a topic close to all our hearts, I think. A friend pointed it out
> to me. The website below has picked Jules Verne as its "hero of
> the day." Actually, I suppose by the time most of you read this
> they'll have a new "hero of the day" and you'll have to look it
> up under "Previous Heroes of the Day."
> >
> > Anyway, they make some sorta interesting reflections on Verne's
> place in literature, the place of fantastic technology in the
> thinking of the time, and there's a couple of links to
> Verne-related stuff.
> >
> > But here's the thing: these folks have the amazing NERVE to
> take sides AGAINST Goff's lovely design! Imagine that! I was so
> shocked I just had to tell somebody!
> >
> > >The machines of Jules Verne are grand, beautiful and
> functional. The submarine Nautilus is not the
> > >fish-shaped contraption designed for the Disney film-it is a
> simple streamlined cylinder tapering to >points at bow and stern.
>
>
>
> Hi David, I made some years ago a reconstrution from Jules Vernes
> directly from Jules Vernes
> book description. I did a drawing and remember that the submarine in his
> discription looks like a
> modern Seawolf Attack submarine. I lost the drawing later..
>
> We can start a competition here - every of us - how like - should made
> his own drawing based on his version
> of the book - do not look at the illustrations - they are wrong.. -
>
> Pat ? Would you like to make the judge ?
> You have allready made your drawings - and you have the most expirence
> with the book.
>
> Ray - would you like to display the most best say 3-5 drawings on a
> Jules Verne remember page ?
>
> First layout of competition rules :
>
> 1.) We have to find a date were all drawings should be at Rays server -
> say for example in 7 days. (Sunday 4.of April)
>
> 2.) All kind of drawings, pictures or renderings should be okay - but it
> has to be a man
> on the drawing - so that everybody including non-technicans can see
> the size.
>
> 3.) Format has to be converted to .JPG (I will help to convert .DXF
> .DWG or some other formats)
>
> 4.) First price is ..??
>
> Maybe its fun - Carsten
>
>
>
> >
> > http://www.dailyobjectivist.com/.
> >
> > --
> > David
> > Osage MN USA
> > buchner@wcta.net - http://customer.wcta.net/buchner
>
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