The Dead Sea, also known as the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west.
Although its name implies otherwise, the Dead Sea isn’t actually a sea at all. It’s really a lake. In fact, it’s a hypersaline lake, which means it’s a landlocked body of water with a high concentration of sodium chloride and other mineral salts.
Its surface and shores are 429 meters (1,407 ft) below sea level, Earth’s lowest elevation on land.
The Dead Sea is 304 meters (997 feet) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world.
The Dead Sea is 67 kilometers (42 miles) long and 18 kilometers (11 miles) wide at its widest point.
The Dead Sea is believed to be about 3 million years old.
It has 33.7% salinity (for comparison, the ocean has around 3.5%), making it one of the world’s saltiest bodies of water. Although Lake Assal (Djibouti), Garabogazköl and some hypersaline lakes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica (such as Don Juan Pond) have reported higher salinities.
This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which animals cannot flourish, hence its name.
There are, however, several types of bacteria and one type of algae that have adapted to harsh life in the waters of the Dead Sea.
On the shores of the Dead Sea is white, crystals of salt covering everything.
The Dead Sea water has a density of 1.24 kg/liter, which makes swimming similar to floating.
It is estimated that the Dead Sea’s water level has dropped by more than 40 meters (131 feet) since the 1950s.
The climate of the Dead Sea region is sunny, warm and dry all year round.
The Dead Sea is split into two parts: the northern part of the Dead Sea is geared towards tourism and the health benefits available from the rich deposits of salt, while the southern part of the Dead Sea is mostly based around the industrial usage of salts.The huge Dead Sea Works complex is at the southern end.
The Dead Sea area has been attracting health tourists seeking treatments for more than 2,000 years, and is now a center for health research.
The Dead Sea area has become a major center for health research and treatment for several reasons. The mineral content of the water, the very low content of pollens and other allergens in the atmosphere, the reduced ultraviolet component of solar radiation, and the higher atmospheric pressure at this great depth each have specific health effects.
Unlike our table salt, the Dead Sea salt is extremely bitter. This bitter salt helps to treat a variety of skin ailments like psoriasis, cellulite, acne, hives, etc. It also helps to reduce stress, dandruff and muscle achesand pain because of osteoarthritis. It is also used for treating rhinosinusitis.
Today minerals and salts from Dead Sea are extensively used for making herbal sachets and cosmetics.
Dead Sea black mud is worldwide known for improving skin’s natural processes, easing rheumatic pains, relaxing muscles and providing inner calmness.
Despite years of research on the unique minerals in the Dead Sea’s water and mud, scientists still do not have the answer as to why this special Dead Sea mud, from the lowest place on earth, is so beneficial for the skin and body.
An unusual feature of the Dead Sea is its discharge of asphalt. From deep seeps, the Dead Sea constantly spits up small pebbles and blocks of the black substance. Asphalt coated figurines and bitumen coated Neolithic skulls from archaeological sites have been found. Egyptian mummification processes used asphalt imported from the Dead Sea region.
Dead Sea was Cleopatra’s one of the most favorite places. She was so fond of the lake that resorts and cosmetic factories were ordered to be built along the shores of the Dead Sea.
Aristotle wrote about the Dead Sea and pondered its medical potential.
It was one of the world’s first health resorts (for Herod the Great).
The Dead Sea has various Biblical ties.In the Bible, it is a place of refuge for King David.Biblical writings closely tie Jesus Christ and John Baptist to the Dead Sea.It is also being said in Bible that there will be a day when the Dead Sea will spring back to life and marine life form will not only survive but thrive in this sea.
The Dead Sea is located at the deepest point in the Great Rift Valley, which extends from Syria to Mozambique. The Great Rift Valley is the world’s longest geographic phenomenon about 6,400 kilometers (4000 miles), crossing through 20 countries.
The date palm is one of the oldest crops in the Dead Sea region. The region contains around 250 hectares (618 acres) of date palms.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in eleven caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea between the years 1947 and 1956. The area is 21 kilometers (13 miles) east of Jerusalem.The mostly fragmented texts, are numbered according to the cave that they came out of. They have been called the greatest manuscript discovery of modern times.
The world’s lowest road, Highway 90, runs along the Israeli and West Bank shores of the Dead Sea at 393 meters (1,289 feet) below sea level.