Dead Sea - Fed by the Jordan River
The Lowest Point on Earth - Part of the Great Rift Valley
A visit to the region offers a myriad of opportunities a: Dead Sea Scrolls tour, Dead Sea salt bath, and a glorious chance to wallow in some warm Dead Sea mud.
The Dead Sea forms part of the Jordanian - Israeli - West Bank border, and is the lowest point on earth (water surface) over 400 metres below sea level; it’s 80 kilometres long and at its maximum width, 18 metres wide and is fed mainly by the Jordan River from the northern end. It has no exit to the sea and is entirely devoid of plant life and living creatures.
There are however, increasing worries about the rapidly dropping level of the sea, caused mainly by large-scale irrigation projects, which have diverted the Jordan River. In order to avoid a continued reduction, talks between interested parties about building a pipeline to draw water from the Gulf of Aqaba have been on-going for some time.
Official sources have said that without intervention the Dead Sea could vanish by 2050.
Today the Dead Sea has become an important centre of medicinal and archaeological tourism in Jordan and Israel. New resorts, hotels and spas have sprung up on both sides and are easy to reach, on the east side from the Jordanian city of Amman and on the west side from the Israeli city of Jerusalem.
As public awareness of the sea continues to grow a number of natural products and historical artefacts have become synonymous with the area:
Dead Sea Salt
Rapid evaporation in the hot desert sun means much higher levels of salinity than the ocean, this creates large deposits of Dead Sea salt which have a range of different uses.
Dead Sea Minerals
There are a number of Dead Sea minerals, which can be used in medicinal compounds, particularly those contained in the thick black mud, which forms at the bottom of the sea. Potassium manganese, sodium and calcium are only a few of the precious minerals found.
Dead Sea Mud
Dead Sea mud is world famous for its healing and restorative properties, applied to the skin it is said to cleanse and reduce the toxins, and it’s often rubbed into the joints in an attempt to reduce inflammation. Consequently it’s a common sight to see people covered from head to toe in thick black and smelly mud.
Dead Sea Scrolls
Although the area is linked with the ancient biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah, it was 1948 when it was launched into public consciousness with the discovery by a Bedouin shepherd in the caves at Qumran of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
If your motivation for visiting the region is: a Dead Sea salt bath, a Dead Sea Scrolls tour or a chance to investigate the myriad of other Dead Sea products, go now for without political change it could be gone forever.
