Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by earthquake, 1493. Fifteenth century depiction of a biblical event thought to have occurred c1900 BC. Lot's wife is turned to pillar of salt for disobeying God's order not to look back. There is evidence of extensive quake in the Dead Sea area at this date. Legends of fire and brimstone could well have arisen from the escape of petroleum gases. From Liber chronicarum mundi (Nuremberg Chronicle) by Hartmann Schedel. (Nuremberg, 1493). (Photo by Oxford Science Archive/Print Collector/Getty Images)
