Genesis 14:10

Slimepits. This battlefield had apparently been chosen by the five local kings in order that they might profit by their knowledge of the geographical peculiarities of the region. Open asphalt wells are characteristic of Mesopotamia, but are nowhere found in Palestine or trans-Jordan today. In the southern part of the Dead Sea, however, considerable quantities of asphalt still rise to the surface and float on the water, one more proof that the “vale of Siddim” is now covered by the waters of the Dead Sea. The erupting asphalt, already a phenomenon in classical times, as Josephus, Strabo, Diodorus, and Tacitus testify, gave to the Dead Sea the name Lake Asphaltitis.

The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled. Their last attempt to resist the victorious forces of the great powers failed, as had all preceding ones, and the kings “fled, and fell there.” This latter phrase cannot mean that all the kings were killed, because v. 17 shows that at least the king of Sodom survived the battle. It simply designates their utter defeat.