Even if you don’t know how to swim, you will not drown in the Dead Sea. Located in the Middle East between Jordan and Israel, the totally landlocked body of water is indeed deadly to fish, who can’t tolerate its high level of salinity. Fed by the River Jordan, it is six to ten times as salty as the ocean, and the deeper it gets, the saltier it gets. The salt is not ordinary table salt, but instead is a mineral salt in extreme concentrations and only bacteria and algae can survive its white-shored waters.
But what about humans? Can we swim safely in the salty waters? The answer is yes. Our bodies are remarkably adaptable and we suffer no ill effects. Our buoyancy is increased by the high levels of salinity to the extent that we actually bob like a cork in the Dead Sea.
Geography is the reason for the unique factors that created the phenomenon. The Sea is located along the Rift Valley where the surface of the earth is extremely thin and is sinking more every year, as much as an incredible 13 inches annually! Rivers of the area drain into the Sea but none drain out because of its elevation, the lowest on earth, at 1300 feet below sea level. The result is extreme evaporation, aided by the hot and dry climate of the region, which leaves only dissolved minerals. Scientists estimate about seven million tons of water evaporate daily.
Over the ages, other 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." All of these names reflect something of the nature of the Sea.
The Dead Sea area was thrust into the news in the 1940s when a shepherd boy, looking for a lost goat, stumbled into a long-untouched cave in the area and discovered ancient Hebrew scrolls. Soon other caves nearby yielded other treasures, resulting in several scrolls and artefacts as well as an entire habituation site.
The scrolls date back to the second and third century BC. Most of the books of the Bible are included in the collection as well as many that have never been included in the Holy Book. The same hot and dry climate that creates the evaporation of the water on the Dead Sea had perfectly preserved the historic scrolls.
The Dead Sea Works company on the southwest side of the lake employs 1600 people around the clock to harvest the valuable minerals from the water. Potash is the most valuable of those extracted today and is used in the manufacture of fertilizer. The unique concentration of its waters has long been known to have medicinal value and Aristotle, the Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and Cleopatra all sought its healing waters. Modern doctors have been known to prescribe frequent soaking for their patients with skin ailments as well.
The healthy environment also contains a unique solar irradiation, an increased oxygen density, thermo-mineral springs and a special natural mud. The effects of these unique properties are presently being critically evaluated in terms of types of diseases treated, modes of therapy, and mechanism of healing. More information is available at www.deadsea-health.org/ where the Dead Sea Research Centre continues to study the area for its health benefits.
As well, the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute provides important additional resources and scholarly support to Trinity University's Graduate Program in Biblical Studies, located at Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The Institute sponsors regular symposia, in which leading scholars from around the world are invited to give lectures to students and to the public on the latest advances in scroll research. Other colleges and universities around the world, as well as in the Middle East, continue to study the Sea and the area around it as one of the wonders of our time. It’s unlikely the fascination with the Dead Sea will dissipate any time soon!
