How Dead Is It?

The Dead Sea

My friend Helen and I taking a selfie with the the Dead Sea in the background. It was easily 100º that day!

This salt lake, bordered by Jordan to the east, Palestine and Israel to the west, is at Earth's lowest elevation- 1,407 ft below sea level. The extreme salt content  (25-30% salt) makes for a harsh living environment for marine life.

Very strict rules to adhere to if you plan to go into the water.

The salinity makes the water very dense, allowing anyone to easily float. It feels like you have a life vest built into your body. The ground below is not sandy, but rather soft, sticky, and muddy.

You must stay on your back and not splash because you can get the salt water onto your face or eyes.

The water level is losing 3 ft each year, due to water from the Jordan River being diverted and only 3-4 inches of rain per year.

Our tour group relaxing in the Sea

The salt stings like crazy. Matthew shaved in the morning like he usually does and didn't think it would effect him but it did. Emily got water in hers eyes and spent the next 10 minutes flushing them out with fresh water at the showers. They say that you shouldn't spend more than 30 minutes in it. I think many of our group spent maybe 15 minutes max. Also there were pockets of hot water and then cold water throughout.

This was how far I got into the Dead Sea.

  Interesting enough this was a place of refuge for King David back in his time.

A silly shirt I saw at the gift shop.

Next we visited, Qumran, the site of 11 caves that contained over 900 scrolls, called the "Dead Sea Scrolls." The scrolls include some of the oldest copies of the Bible, including a complete Book of Isaiah.

The caves on the mountain

Located within the Israel Museum, this building houses the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Actual manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls

NEXT UP: A Model and Jericho