ZOAR (11/iY, also smallness ;' Z6-ropa ; 277-pip ; Segor), one of the cities of the Pentapolis, and apparently, from the way in which it is men tioned, the most distant from the western highlands of Palestine (Gen. xiii. zo). Its original name was Bela (xiv. 2, 8), and the change is thus explained in the narrative of Lot's escape from Sodom. When urged by the angel to flee to the mountain, he pointed to 13e1a, and said : `This city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one (13)=) : Oh, let me escape thither (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.' The angel consented ; and the inci cent proved a new baptism to the place—' There fore the name of the city was called Zoar,' that is, 'little' (v. 22). This incident further tends to fix its site, at least relatively to Sodom. It must have been nearer than the mountains, and yet outside the boundary of the plain or vale of Siddim, which was destroyed during the conflagration. It would seem from ver. 3o that it lay at the foot of the mountain into which Lot subsequently went up, and where he dwelt. That mountain was most probably the western declivity of Moab, overlook ing the Dead Sea. In Deut. xxxiv. 3 there is another slight indication of the position of Zoar. From the top of Pisgah Moses obtained his view of the Promised Land. The east, the north, and the west he viewed, and lastly the south, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, unto Zoar.' This is not quite definite ; but considering the scope of the passage it may be safely concluded that the whole basin of the Dead Sea is meant, and that Zoar was at its southern end. Isaiah reckons Zoar among the cities of Moab, but does not describe its position. It would seem, however, from the way in which it is mentioned, that it must have been on the utmost border (Is. xv. 5). Jeremiah is the only other sacred writer who mentions it, and his words are less definite than those of Isaiah (Jer.
34).
The site of Zoar must be determined in a great measure by that of Sodom. It has been shown that Sodom lay- in that low valley which now forms the southern section of the Dead Sea [SoDom ; DEAD SEA]; and as Zoar was in Moab, it follows that it must have stood near the base of the moun tain-range at the south-eastern angle of the sea.
The notices of Zoar in later writers sustain this view. Josephus places it in Arabia—that is, east of the Dead Sea (ilea. Yud. iv. 8. 4). Jerome mentions it incidentally in various ways, all of which tend to indicate a site near the Dead Sea in the southern border of Moab ( °mamas/. s.v. Luith,' 'Nemrim," Fenon'). Regarding itself directly he says : Ipsa est qum hodie Syro nomine vocatur Zoora, Hebrxo Segor, utroque parvula . . vectes quoque pro terminis, et robore intellige, ea guod Segor finibus 111oabitorum sita stt, divia'ens ab eis terram 1-'kilistilm' (Comment. in xv. 5). Eusebius also describes the Salt Sea as lying between Jericho and Zoar (Onomast. s. v. Mare Salinarum '). Ptolemy assigns Zoar to Arabia Petrma (Geogr. v. 17). It was still a large town with a Roman garrison in the early centuries of the Christian era ; and it became the seat of a bishop in the province of Palastina Tertia (Reland, Pal. pp. 272, 451, 463). The Crusaders mention the name, and passed through it on an expedition round the south end of the Dead Sea (Gesta Dez; p. 7Sr) ; and the Arab historian Abulfeda says that Zoar, or Zoghar, lay near the Dead Sea and the Ghor (Tab. Syr. ed. Koh. p. 8).
It may be safely concluded from the foregoing data that the ancient city of Zoar lay at or near the south-east shore of the Dead Sea. At the mouth of Wady Kerak, where it opens on the little fertile plain at the neck of the peninsula of Lisan, are some ancient ruins, first described by Irby and Mangles (Tnzvels, p. 448), and afterwards by De Saulcy (yourney, 3o7). There is a streamlet near it called Der'a, or Zer'a, which seems to be a vestige of the ancient name (Irby and Mangles, p. 447). Here we may, with considerable confidence, locate the ancient Zoar.
For the different views held regarding the site of Zoar, the student may consult Robinson, B. R. ii. 517 ; Reland, Pal. p. 1064 ; De SaulcY, Travels, i. 481; Tristram, Land of Israel, 36o; Smith's Diet. of Bib. s.v.—J. L. P.