Sodom and Gomorrah

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, John Martin, 1852. 

Sodom (Hebrew: סְדוֹם, Modern Sədom Tiberian Səḏôm, Greek Σόδομα Sódoma) and Gomorrah (Hebrew: עֲמוֹרָה, Modern ʿAmora Tiberian Ġəmôrāh/ʿĂmôrāh, Greek ΓόμοῤῥαGómorrha) were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources as well as the Quran.

According to the Torah, the kingdoms of Sodom and Gomorrah were allied with the cities of Admah, Zeboim and Bela. These five cities, also known as the "cities of the plain," were situated on the Jordan river plain in the southern region of the land of Canaan. The Jordan river plain (which correlates to the modern day Dead Sea^[1]) has been compared to that of the garden of Eden,^[Gen.13:10] being a land well-watered and green, suitable for grazing livestock. Divine judgment by Yahweh was then passed upon Sodom and Gomorrah along with two other neighboring cities that were completely consumed by fire and brimstone. Neighboring Zoar was the only city to be spared during that day of judgment.^{[Deut.29:23][Gen.10:19]}

In Christian and Islamic traditions, Sodom and Gomorrah have become synonymous with impenitent sin, and their fall with a proverbial manifestation of God's wrath.^{[2][Jude 1:7]} Sodom and Gomorrah have also been used as metaphors for vice and homosexuality viewed as a deviation. The story has therefore given rise to words in several languages, including the English word "sodomy", used in so-called sodomy laws to describe a sexual "crime against nature" consisting of oral or anal sex, either homosexual or heterosexual.^[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodom_and_Gomorrah