Valley of Siddim

SIDDIM, VALLEY OF (sĭd'ĭm, Heb. ‘ēmeq hasiddîm, the valley of the fields). A place mentioned in Gen.14.3-Gen.14.8 as the battleground where Kedorlaomer and his allies met the kings of Sodom and other nearby cities. In the time of Abraham it must have been a place of great fertility, since it was chosen by Lot because of its productivity (Gen.13.10). From Gen.14.3, Gen.14.10 it seems to have been near to the Dead Sea and full of slime pits. In the past some scholars have placed it at the north end of the Dead Sea. The general view today, however, is that Siddim was located at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Because of the wickedness of the inhabitants of this area, God judged the locality in the days of Abraham. Its cities were completely destroyed and probably much of this territory was inundated by the waters of the Dead Sea.