>  The Dead Sea: A Complete Guide   >  Lot’s Wife Pillar

lots-wife-pillarLot’s Wife Pillar is a popular name given to a giant pillar of salt and brown soil, visible from Road 90, south of Masada. By local tradition, this is Lot’s wife who turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying God’s command, as told in Genesis 19:26. Geologist Dr. Amos Frumkin suggests that a collapse of a cave some 4000 years ago from a mass scale earthquake caused the pillar.

In the book of Genesis a pillar of salt is associated with God’s destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Some suggest locating these sites on the opposite side of the Dead Sea, at Bab Edh-Dhra. It is interesting to note that archaeologists date the destruction of Bab Edh-Dhra to the same time as the formation of the pillar, possibly due to the earthquake. It is possible that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot’s wife evolved from a combination of these events.

Reaching Lot’s Wife Pillar

The pillar is located along a cliff on the western side of road 90, about 25 miles south of Masada. A brown colored road sign marks the spot, on the western side of the road. A parking space enables a safe stop and a good spot to take photos of the pillar. The pillar slightly resembles a figure leaning forward and wearing a dress.

A visit to the site can be combined with a day tour of the Dead Sea.

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