The Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is one of the most dramatic places on earth -- and the lowest dry spot on earth at 1,312 feet below sea level. Its stunning natural environment is matched by its powerful spiritual symbolism. The Bible variously calls it 'Sea of the Arabah', the 'Salt Sea' and the 'Eastern Sea' (Genesis 14:3; Deuteronomy 3:17; Joshua 3:16; Numbers 34:12; Ezekiel 47:18). Arabs have always known it as Bahr Lut (Lot's Sea).
The name "Dead Sea" for the Hebrew "Yam Hamelach" (Salt Sea) was attributed by Christian Monks, astonished by the apparent absence of any form of life in the seawater. Recent scientific research however, discovered 11 types of bacteria in the water. And in wells sometimes only one meter from the Dead Sea shore, for example in Ein Zuqim (Ein Faskha) in the north Dead Sea area, live unique, indigenous small fish.
The Bible speaks of the wicked city of Sodom as a town where people lived in such prosperity, that even Lot's wife looked back with regret and nostalgia. But human occupation along the Dead Sea coast did not come to an end with the Lord's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18:16-19:29). It was a place for political refuge for more than 2,000 years ago, and refugees included King David, Herod the Great, the Essenes, and the fighters of the Bar Kochba revolt.
Remnants of Jewish communities have been found in Ein Gedi, in Qumran, and on Mount Masada. The latter was possibly only a place of refuge for King Herod the Great, later becoming a fortification in the revolt against the Romans.
The documents that have come to be known as the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered at Qumran in 1946 by a Bedouin boy who went to find a lost goat, but instead found a cave in which clay pots were hidden. In these pots, a treasure of manuscripts was discovered. This led to the discovery of over 700 additional manuscripts in the cliffs and dessert surrounding the Dead Sea.
Learn more about the Dead Sea Scrolls from the Israel Museum
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