Places in the Bible Today:

City of Destruction

Data

Translated NamesCity of Destruction, City of the Sun, Heliopolis, The city of destruction
Typesettlement
Geo Data KML (for Google Earth)
GeoJSON (for GIS applications)

3 Possible Identifications

  1. another name for Heliopolis (ancient): 60% confidence

    1. ruins at Ain ShamsAin Shams

  2. Tell el Yahudiye (modern): 15% confidence

    1. artifact from Tell el YahudiyeTell el Yahudiye

  3. not a place (common noun phrase for a destroyed city): less than 10% confidence

Verses (1)

Isa 19:18

Linked Data Identifiers

SourceIdentifier
Logos FactbookCity of the Sun
OpenBible.info (2007)City of Destruction
OpenBible.infoadca4b1 (City of Destruction)
TIPNROn@Gen.41.45

Sources

  1. Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (1992): Sun, City of the (place)
  2. Baker Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2013): City of the Sun
  3. Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000): City of the Sun
  4. Expositor’s Bible Commentary (1984): Isa 19:18
  5. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (2003): City of the Sun
  6. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1979): City of the Sun
  7. IVP Old Testament Bible Background Commentary (2000): Isa 19:18
  8. Lexham Bible Dictionary (2016): City of the Sun
  9. New Interpreter’s Bible Dictionary (2009): Heliopolis
  10. New Unger’s Bible Dictionary (1988)
  11. Tyndale Bible Dictionary (2001): City of the Sun
  12. Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia (1975)
  13. Zondervan Atlas of the Bible (2010)
  14. Zondervan Encyclopedia of the Bible (2010): Sun, City of the

Confidence Trends over Time

This chart indicates how confidence in the identifications is changing over time. Each dot (connected by a dotted line) reflects the confidence of an identification over the preceding ten years (e.g., the 2009 dot reflects scholarship from 2000 to 2009), and the corresponding solid line reflects a best-fit line for the identification. Confidences that cluster near or below 0% indicate low confidence. Because of the small dataset, it's best to use this chart for general trends; if one identification is trending much higher than the others (in this case, another name for Heliopolis), then you can probably have higher confidence in the identification. This chart only reflects the sources I consulted (listed above), not an exhaustive review of the literature.

Thumbnail Image Credits

Neithsabes, Jl FilpoC

About

This page attempts to identify all the possible locations where this biblical place could be. The confidence levels add up to less than 100%, indicating that the modern location is uncertain. It's best to think about the confidences in relative rather than absolute terms. Often they reflect different schools of thought, each confident in their identifications.