These ideas were not confined to the people at large; we trace
them among scholars.
In 1581, Bunting, a North German professor and theologian,
published his _Itinerary of Holy Scripture_, and in this the Dead
Sea and Lot legends continue to increase. He tells us that the
water of the sea "changes three times every day"; that it "spits
forth fire" that it throws up "on high" great foul masses which
"burn like pitch" and "swim about like huge oxen"; that the statue
of Lot's wife is still there, and that it shines like salt.
In 1590, Christian Adrichom, a Dutch theologian, published his
famous work on sacred geography. He does not insist upon the Dead
Sea legends generally, but declares that the statue of Lot's wife
is still in existence, and on his map he gives a picture of her
standing at Usdum.
Nor was it altogether safe to dissent from such beliefs. Just as,
under the papal sway, men of science were severely punished for
wrong views of the physical geography of the earth in general, so,
when Calvin decided to burn Servetus, he included in his indictment
for heresy a charge that Servetus, in his edition of Ptolemy, had
made unorthodox statements regarding the physical geography of
Palestine.
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