Monastery of St Lot
The Monastery of St Lot is a Byzantine-period monastic site near the Dead Sea in Jordan, at the entrance to a natural cave, which Catholics believed to have been the one where Lot and his daughters sought shelter after Sodom was destroyed. The monastery, dating to the 5th-7th centuries, is centered around a basilical church and overlooks from a steep slope the southeastern Dead Sea and the modern town of Safi in Jordan.
History and archaeology
Archaeological finds reveal a long-term settlement regime for the cave the sanctuary is built around. The oldest material found inside the cave suggests a sizable Early and Middle Bronze Age presence, followed by Nabataean pottery, which is indicative of a settlement there during the first centuries BCE and CE.However, the bulk of the findings are associated with the church and monastery and date to the early Byzantine period. Two inscriptions on the church's mosaic floor bear dates from the 7th century: construction in April 606, and a renovation in Xanthikos 691. Habitation only ceased after the Early Abbasid period, which is interpreted to show that both Christians and Muslims still venerated St Lot at the site throughout this time.
The monastery had a large basilical church 18 x 17 meters long, a reservoir, a hostel complex, and access to a wide range of foods including fruits, meats, and fish from the Red Sea.