The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth at 430.5 meters (1412 feet) below sea level. It is a majestic and mysterious looking lake of light turquoise waters with salt crystals jutting out of it, and golden-brown hills surrounding it.

It is located in the Jordan Rift Valley, bordered by Israel to the East and Jordan to the West. Its hyper-salty waters and mineral-rich mud are known for their many health benefits, and many tourists and locals alike visit the hotels and spas on its beaches for mud treatments and salt baths.

The Dead Sea is famously known for being one of thesaltiest bodies of water in the world, and certainly the deepest hyper-saline in the world, at a depth of 304 meters (997 feet). And the reason for this high salinity? The Dead Sea is a terminus for the flow of rain and surface water, which means water flows into it but doesn’t flow out: its water has no escape, but is trapped to evaporate.  Soaring summer temperatures and year-round hot dry climatic conditions make it a perfect place to spend unforgetable holidays yet lead to significant losses of water to evaporation. The water has been losing its H2O content for 65,000 years, with the minerals becoming more and more concentrated and salt prominent among them.

In various languages, the Dead Sea is referred to by different names, all reflective of its characteristics. Let’s take a look at all its different names and understand their origins.

The Dead Sea’s earliest known name is recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures, where it is referred to as “the Salt Sea”, from the Book of Genesis through to The Prophets and later writings. This name was given to due to its unique character: its significantly high salt content, which makes it a source for rock and sea salts.

In the later Roman Era, salt was a highly-valued, strictly controlled commodity, more so than gold or silver. The Roman armies were paid in salt, rather than hard currency, The Latin word for salt – “sal” – forms the basis of the word ‘salary’ from this same meaning. The Romans, beginning with Emperor Trajan, constructed a series of fortresses to dominate every entry and exit ravine for the movement of Dead Sea salt, guaranteeing the payments of tax by the traders. This tax was also paid in salt, rather than coinage.

Earliest translations of the name of the Dead Sea into non-indigenous languages often use its original name of “The Salt Sea”, but already by the Roman Era, visitors to Judea had begun to refer to the sea as the “Dead Sea”, as they were mostly struck with how the waters were devoid of all life-forms, whether plants or living creatures.

The Dead Sea origins in the past clarify the matter even better. In the days when the Jordan River flowed south from the Sea of Galilee with full force in the wet season, one could witness reeds and fish swept down with the river flow into the highly saline water of the Dead Sea. As neither fish nor algae can possibly survive in water which is nearly 10 times saltier than most oceans, it was a death-trap for them.

In the book of Joshua in the Bible, the Dead Sea is mentioned by the name “the Sea of the Plain”: “That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the Sea of the Plain, even the Salt Sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho” (Joshua 3:16).

Other names the Dead Sea has been called by over the years are: the Primordial Sea, the East Sea, the Sea of Lot, the Sea of the Arabah, the Sea of Sodom, the Stinking Sea, the Sea of Asphalt and the Devil’s Sea.

Facts:-

The Dead Sea is not a sea.

The Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea, is actually a salt lake. It has a single source, the Jordan River, and is not connected to the ocean. Its landlocked nature causes the water to evaporate and leave behind massive amounts of salt, making it so dense that people can float on top of it.

The Dead Sea isn't the saltiest lake on Earth.

Mistakenly touted as the saltiest body of water in the world, the Dead Sea ranks among a handful of hypersaline lakes that have over 30 percent salinity. The lake that ranks number one on that list is Don Juan Pond in Antarctica, at more than 40 percent salinity. The Dead Sea, on the other hand, has just over 34 percent salinity, according to the latest measurements.

The shore of the Dead Sea is the Earth's lowest point on dry land.

The shores that surround the Dead Sea are about 1,400 feet below sea level, making this the lowest point on Earth that people can travel to and still be in the open air. Beneath its surface, the lake itself dips down over 1,000 feet, making it the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.

The Dead Sea is a center for healing.

Many claim that this lake is a haven for healing, and its mud is used in a bounty of beauty products. While some claims still require scientific backing, it's easy to see why a visit here might be rejuvenating: with a higher atmospheric pressure, low allergen count, and slightly higher oxygen content than at sea level, the Dead Sea is literally a breath of fresh air — not to mention the mineral content of its waters. Who wouldn't feel better after a day of complete relaxation and soaking up the sunshine?

The Dead Sea produces more than just salt-covered rocks.

The shores of the Dead Sea are crystallized with salt, but that's not the only thing that comes out of the Dead Sea. Blocks of asphalt (bitumen) have been found floating on the surface of the lake. The asphalt bubbles up from seeps on the bottom of the lake. Ancient Egyptians once used the Dead Sea's bitumen for their mummification processes.

The Dead Sea harbors life.

Microbial life, that is. The salt content of the water is far too high for any plants or animals to survive, but scientists have discovered microbial life at the bottom of its brackish waters. Finding out more about how exactly bacteria and fungi thrive in such an extreme environment has applications around the world, including saline agriculture as desertification becomes more of a concern.

It's always sunny at the Dead Sea.

Okay, maybe not always — but at less than two inches of rain in an entire year, rain clouds are few and far between. In winter, the region's climate hovers around a balmy 70 degrees Fahrenheit. In the summer, it can reach temperatures higher than 100 degrees. Though it is constantly sunny, it's actually one of the safer places to (accidentally, of course) forget to apply sunscreen. UVB rays are weaker in the region, so it takes longer to burn.

from

https://www.deadsea.com and

https://www.fromthegrapevine.com