The Dead Sea
Dead Sea or the Salt Sea (Hebrew Yam ha-Melah, Gen 14:3; Num 34:12). Other names are the "sea of the plain" (Deut 3:17), the "east sea" (Ezek 47:18) or simply "the sea" (Ezek 47:8). The Arabs called the Dead Sea, Bahr Lut, that is, the Sea of Lot. Other post-biblical names for the Dead Sea include the "Sea of Sodom," the "Sea of Lot," the "Sea of Asphalt" and the "Stinking Sea." In the Crusader period, it was sometimes called the "Devil's Sea."The Dead Sea is 76 km long, 18 km wide and 400 m deep at its deepest point. The surface of the Dead Sea is 417.5 m BELOW sea-level.
During the period of the kings of Israel, the Dead Sea was a natural barrier between Israel and the Ammonites and the Moabites, who lived on the east side of the sea. Some parts of the dead sea were shallow, and the Ammonites and Moabites could cross over to attack Jehoshapat (2 Chron 20:1,2). Today, Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians live within the Dead Sea basin.
Mining of salts at the south-western part of the Dead Sea.
Since ancient days, the Dead Sea has been a place for health baths and resorts. It was a source of products as diverse as balms for Egyptian mummies and potash for fertilizers. Herod the Great had a health resort by the Dead Sea. The mountain fortress of Masada built by Herod the Great offers a breathtaking view of the Dead Sea. Today there are the Ein Gedi and Ein Bokek spas. People with skin ailments have soaked in the Dead Sea. Many who claimed the efficacy of the Dead Sea water for skin ailments included Aristotle, Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and Cleopatra. The Dead Sea is heavily mined as source of minerals and natural elements that promote health, beauty and youthful appearance. Products from the Dead Sea range from bathing salts, creams to shampoo and Dead Sea mud. The Dead Sea Works founded in 1952 employs 1600 people to mine the salts. At the south end, the Dead Sea is shrinking because of excessive minerals extraction.
