Places of Section 4

The symbol of this site is a medium-sized town with two red-roofed churches.

Bala (Gen 14:2) 'which is Segor [Zo'ar]', today called Zoara, the only one of the five cities of the land of Sodoma which was saved by Lot's prayers. It is on the shore of the Dead Sea and a garrison of Roman soldiers is posted there, but it is also inhabited by its own citizens, and in its vicinity the balsam and the palm-tree grow, a token of its ancient fertility. No one should be troubled by the fact that the same city is called both Segor and Zoara, for it is the same word, meaning 'small' or 'minor', but Segor is the Hebrew name, and Zoara the Syriac. (Eusebius, Onomasticon 42:1-5; Jerome 43:9-16)

Zogora in the Book of Jeremiah (Jer 48:34), a city of Moab: today it is called Zoara or Segor, one of the five cities of Sodoma. (Eusebius, Onomasticon 94,1-2; Jerome 95:1-2)

Soora (Gen 19:30-38), a city in the vicinity of Sodoma, which is called also Segor and Zoara, of which we spoke above. (Eusebius, Onomasticon 150:19-20; Jerome 151:18-19)