Author: Author Listing Page

Artist's rendition of ancient buildings made of mudbricks with explosion in sky

A giant space rock demolished an ancient Middle Eastern city and everyone in it

September 21, 2021, Christopher Moore

About 3,600 years ago, a giant space rock exploded in a massive fireball in the atmosphere above an ancient Middle Eastern city. The explosion destroyed the city, killing its 8,000 inhabitants and setting off a massive shockwave that ripped through the city and surrounding areas. University of South Carolina archaeologist Christopher Moore and his colleagues explain for The Conversation how they know how this actually happened near the Dead Sea in Jordan thousands of years ago.