»In which we remember Lot's wife

As Lot the righteous evacuates his family from the burning Sodom and Gomorrah (cities which have given their names to the webservers that run this site, in fact), his wife turns to a pillar of salt when she looks back.
What happened to her? As inexplicable as are many passages in the early, murkier pieces of the Bible, what is the literary precedent for being rendered into spice? Orpheus looked back and saw his beloved reclaimed to Hades; other protagonists who failed to adhere to the "Don't look back ...!" advice may suffered similar, more understandable consequences. But a pillar of salt?

... all this from listening to the Gang of Four's superlative "Return The Gift" early this morning. I was so completely wrong about not wanting to see their reunion tour.