Around 10,000 years ago, a massive tsunami struck the eastern Mediterranean coast near what is now Tel Dor, Israel. Research using optically stimulated luminescence dating revealed a distinct layer of sand and shells in sediment cores, indicating a wave exceeding 50 feet in height that penetrated more than two miles inland. The tsunami struck during a critical transition period when human societies across the Middle East were abandoning their nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle and establishing pe