7 THINGS YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT THE DEAD SEA

Winding our way south along Highway 90, I watched steep cliffs of reddish flint rise sharply out of the otherwise stark scenery along Israel’s Judean Desert. 

Jordan's Mt. Sodom on the Dead Sea's eastern shore is essentially a huge accumulation of salt.

The beige limestone bluffs on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea seemed untouched by eons of time;

Many over the centuries have found this inhospitable desert a great place to hide and/or meditate.

flooding from the Mediterranean Sea millions of years ago along this geological fault line that extends all the way to East Africa had left blinding white salt flats where the waters of the Dead Sea had receded.

A bird's eye view reveals a beauty beyond comparison.

The beautiful blue waters seemed a mirage in the haze of such a barren and lifeless desert.      

It was no mirage, although drinking the water in the Dead Sea can cause death.

Only in the Holy Land would the good Lord create a sea below sea level; a sea without fish, without life, a sea with a saline content ten times that of the Mediterranean Sea. Ours is not to question.  I certainly have very few answers.  But I do have some rather interesting facts and more pictures; lots of pictures.    

WHY SO MUCH SALT?

Pillars of salt can be found along the Dead Sea shores, although this monument is not one of them.

I was hoping you’d ask.  Well, okay; I didn’t really hear you ask, but I know you wanted to ask.

After the flooding, shifts along the geological fault line over thousands of years cut off the flow of water from the Mediterranean Sea and added tremendous quantities of sediment to the floor of this now endorheic basin. The heavier sediment pushed the salt deposits in the floor of the lake upwards into the now trapped sea water; thus the high concentration of salt; 31.4%.    

Holy margarita!  That’s a lot of salt.

SO LITTLE LIFE, SO MANY HEALING PROPERTIES

The Dead Sea may be too salty to sustain life, but soaking in the thermo-mineral sulfur springs offers a host of health benefits.   

Soaking, bobbing, swimming, and floating - it was all a new experience that left me tickled.

When’s the last time you saw me this relaxed!?  Perhaps silly is a better word.  Whatever!

Apparently the salt and a host of minerals (21 in all, 12 of which are unique to the Dead Sea) help cure everything from arthritis to eczema, asthma to psoriasis.  Bromide in the salt helped heal and relax my tired and sore muscles after a week of climbing every hill and valley between here and Jerusalem. 

Apparently all the magnesium in the healing waters also improved my circulation, hydrated my skin, increased moisture retention (oh, great, I’m now even more bloated), promoted cellular regeneration, reduced fatigue, eliminated stress, and aided my metabolism.   And there’s more!

Would you believe the sulfate in the water quietly working behind the scenes stimulated my pancreas to generate digestive enzymes that detoxified my body and regulated my use of insulin? I’m a believer!  In fact, I think it’s safe to say, I was a new woman inside and out (I know; looks can be deceiving) despite foregoing the famous Dead Sea mud wraps at the areas spas and resorts. 

The Lot Hotel had lots to offer, as did many other spas and resorts in the area.

Israeli companies generate around $3 billion annually from the sale of Dead Sea minerals (primarily potash and bromine); apparently I’m not the only believer!  Revenue from the hotels along a four mile stretch of the southern shores of the Dead Sea totaled $291 million in 2012.  Certainly adds new meaning to the phrase, “salt of the earth”!

BREATHING IS EASIER ALONG THE DEAD SEA

Just another day in paradise.

Eliminate all pollen and humidity, increase the barometric pressure and, voila! Health benefits you can literally feel with every breath you take.  Each breath of fresh air delivers 8% more oxygen and enough bromide from all the salt to leave you feeling relaxed, not to mention breathing easier.  I guess that’s why I felt 8% younger. 


EVEN SUN EXPOSURE IS HEALTHIER AT THE DEAD SEA

Constant evaporation created a haze atop the Dead Sea for most of the morning.

Wouldn’t you know it! The Dead Sea, sitting in the middle of the harsh Judean Desert, is the only place on earth where harmful ultraviolet rays are filtered through three different atmospheric layers, virtually making a sun burn almost impossible.  How in the world is that possible?

Remember, 1,300 extra feet below sea level essentially means fewer ultraviolet rays reach their destination, my pale and pasty epidermis courtesy of a long and harsh winter.  Add in a second layer, the dense haze from constant evaporation that typically hangs over this land-locked sea to the ozone layer that surrounds the entire earth and the health benefits of this desert oasis just keep coming.

Apparently the good Lord knew exactly what he was doing when he created the Dead Sea.      


THE DEAD SEA IS THE LOWEST PLACE ON THE PLANET

So said the tee shirt I bought for my son, Ryan.

Yep; sandwiched between Israel and Jordan, this salty slice of heaven that undoubtedly feels a wee bit like hell during the height of summer, sits 1,300 feet below sea level.   

This valley is the ancient site of Sodom and Gomorrah and was a place of refuge for King David.  It was the world’s first health resort for Herod the Great.  Bedouin still dot the desert on both sides of the Dead Sea, herding goats and somehow living off the land like their forefathers have done for thousands of years.   

Say hello to Billy.

Thirty-one miles long and nine miles wide at its widest point, the Dead Sea’s main tributary is now the Jordan River although there are also small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea that pump fresh water into the Dead Sea.  There are no outlet streams.

Rainfall in the area averages scarcely two inches a year.


THE DEAD SEA LEFT ME BOBBING WITH BUOYANCY 

Do they still have water ballet when it comes to the Olympics?

Think apples bobbing in a tub of water at a fair and you’ll get an idea my experience while frolicking in the Dead Sea.  Apparently that experience is shared by all who swim in the Dead Sea thanks to the buoyancy provided by the high salt content.

Look, Ma! No hands or toes.

Bobbing was the operative word when not floating; something to do with boobs and booty, the two areas of greatest mass responsible for all that bobbing due to all the buoyancy.

It's virtually impossible to drown in the Dead Sea as long as you keep your head up while bobbing.

Staying upright was obviously more a struggle for me than for Jimmy. He worked at perfecting his dead man’s float.  After all, this was the Dead Sea.

Whatever floats your boat, Jimmy.

Fellow traveler, Liz, stole the show for the best dead man’s float despite being female; probably had something to do with her pristine proportions.  Ah, to be young again!

It's not tough to fall asleep in these waters with 21 minerals working their magic.

Liz has a great smile, too, and a personality that adds sparkle to that smile, which just so happened to float a few boats when it came to entertainment during our group tour.   

Liz is obviously very adept at selfies, too. She's so adorable; undoubtedly because she was adopted!

LET’S NOT FORGET THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS


Between 1946 and 1956, 981 texts were found (the initial discovery was made by Bedouin shepherds) inside eleven caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in and around a settlement called Qumran.   The texts are of great historical, cultural, linguistic and religious significance given they include the earliest known surviving manuscripts of works later included in the Hebrew Bible. 

One of the caves in Qumran that housed the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Written in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Nabataean, carbon dating indicates the manuscripts, from the Essene settlement of Qumran, were written in 33 CE plus or minus 200 years. The biblical manuscripts include fragments from every book of the Old Testament except the Book of Esther (some scholars think the Book of Esther may have been overlooked because as a Jew, Esther’s marriage to a Persian King may have been frowned upon by the inhabitants of Qumran); all but one of the books of the Tanakh of the Hebrew Bible were also part of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

A scroll from and early Qumran community highlighting the religious and social rules of life at the time.

Most of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection is owned by the Government of the state of Israel and housed in the Shrine of the Book on the grounds of the Israel Museum, although this ownership is contested by both Jordan and the Palestinian Authority as per the ongoing land disputes.