PLEASE NOTE:
*
Date sent: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 18:37:10 -0400 (EDT)
From: Benny J Peiser <B.J.PEISER@livjm.ac.uk>
Subject: BIBLICAL THEORY ON SHAKY GROUND
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.ac.uk
Priority: NORMAL
BIBLICAL THEORY IS ON SHAKY GROUND
Two weeks ago, the INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY linked the destruction
of Soddom and Gomorrah (in addition to other Early Bronze Age
sites) to a cometary impact event rather than divine
punishment. Now, Armageddon, another Biblical site with even
bigger connotations and religious symbolism for believers and
apocalyptics alike, has come under scientific scrutiny. At the
London conference on "Volcanoes, Earthquakes and
Archaeology",
which ended this afternoon, Prof Amos Nur (Stanford University)
presented new research findings which suggest that repeated
natural catastrophes brought down the ancient site of Megiddo
(Israel) and many other Bronze Age sites in the Near and Middle
East.
Members interested in Prof Nur's research will have the
opportunity to hear a comprehensive paper on "The Collapse
of
Ancient Societies by Great Earthquakes" at the 2nd SIS
Cambridge Conference in July. Amos Nur will present evidence
for widespread seismic catastrophes at the end of the Near and
Middle Eastern Late Bronze Age civilisations.
Benny J Peiser
------------------------------------------------------
from: THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, 29 April 1997
BIBLICAL THEORY IS ON SHAKY GROUND
By Aisling Irwin, Science Correspondent
Armageddon, where historic battles were fought and where the
Bible predicts that good and evil will hold their final
struggle, was much less of a human battleground than
archaeologists have thought, it was claimed yesterday.
Archaeologists who have interpreted layers of ruins at the site
have thought they were the consequences of numerous battles -
but they may have unearthed the remnants of repeated
earthquakes instead, a conference was told yesterday.
The Book of Revelations depicts Armageddon as the scene of the
conflict between good and evil. It is probably set at
Harmagedon, or the "hill of Megiddo", which lies in
Israel in
the plain of Esdraelon. According to the Old Testament, it was
the site which Joshua captured, Solomon fortified and where
Josiah died. German and American archaeologists have spent the
last century uncovering layers of different buildings which
they have attributed to numerous other battles.
But Dr Amos Nur, geologist at Stanford University in the United
States, has just completed a seismic study of the area. Using a
technique which records tiny, unnoticeable earthquakes in the
area he was able to estimate the frequency of much larger
earthquakes.
He says that the site was particularly vulnerable to
earthquakes would (sic) have been prey to "swarming",
in which
boundaries between two plates of the earth's crust can rupture
in a series of large earthquakes that occur over 50 to 100
years followed by hundreds or even thousands of years of
inactivity.
Armageddon lies on a fault, which caused its strategic
importance as a route from Assyria to Egypt and which would
have predisposed it to the earthquakes.
Dr Nur was addressing the conference ["Volcanoes,
Earthquakes,
and Archaeology"], held at the Geological Society of London,
which discussed the idea that many ancient civilisations were
toppled more by natural disasters than by war.
Dr Nur said: "Earthquakes have probably been responsible for
some of the great and enigmatic catastrophes in ancient times.
We can now define the boundaries of plates, which allows us to
locate earthquakes precisely."
*
Date sent: Tue, 29 Apr 1997 17:48:48 -0400 (EDT)
From: Benny J Peiser <B.J.PEISER@livjm.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Halt Friend, or PHO?
To: cambridge-conference@livjm.ac.uk
Priority: NORMAL
HALT! FRIEND OR PHO?
From: Prof Paolo Farinella (University of Pisa):
Concerning the recent note by Duncan Steel on the different
categories of NEOS and the ways to assess their potential
hazard to Earth, a useful discussion of the MOID (minimum orbit
intersection distance) parameter and its limitations is given
in the recent paper by Carusi & Dotto (Icarus 124, 392-398,
1996).
=======================================================================
Paolo Farinella Tel. +39-50-599554
Dipartimento di Matematica Fax +39-50-599524
Via Buonarroti 2 e-mail paolof@dm.unipi.it
I-56127 Pisa, Italy WWW: http://adams.dm.unipi.it/~paolof
=======================================================================