The Asteroid That May Have Destroyed Sodom, and How Josephus Contributed to the Archaeological Investigation

A recent argument that an asteroid or comet caused the destruction of urban centers in the Jordan Valley over 3600 years ago leads to consideration of the proposed cataclysm as the source of the biblical story of the destruction of Sodom. The plausibility of such an identification depends in part on whether the time and place of the biblical story can be reconciled. On this, Josephus provides some critical information. He also wrestles with the plausibility and meaning of the mass destruction for his skeptical non-Jewish readers. And why was this event intertwined with the story of Abraham?