On a recent trip to Israel I had an opportunity to visit the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea. This provided me with the possibility of carrying out a long held desire to swim in that body of water. From my early years I had read about its high salinity and that it was impossible to sink in it. I was amused by photographs of people effortlessly floating, while reading books or newspapers

So, there I was at the oasis and spa of En Gedi(EG) dressed in swimming trunks and on the shore of the Dead Sea. It was now or never. All around, I heard laughter and conversations in a dozen different languages as my fellow tourists took to the water. Some of them were plastered in black mud. The high mineral content of this shore mud is supposed to be beneficial for various skin problems. I think some of the mud people believed that they would be transformed, becoming more beautiful or handsome or younger when rinsed off. Who knows? It was worth a try anyhow.

As for me, I just wanted to know if those pictures of floating people I had seen were true. I waded out to waist depth and lowered myself. Sure enough, I was sitting up and floating. My wife took my picture as I happily realized a longtime ambition. Just like the people in the water around me, my overwhelming reaction was one of surprise and delight. It wasn’t anything like swimming in the ocean. For one thing, we had to be careful not to get any water in our eyes or they would really sting. Even getting the salty water on skin that had been shaved a few hours earlier produced a stinging sensation.

The high salinity of the Dead Sea creates the extreme buoyancy. It is, in fact, about 5 to 6 times saltier than the average of the oceans. A salt content of about 25 percent by weight makes this water deadly for fish or plants. Fish, swimming in the fresh waters of the Jordan River, die if they are swept into the Dead Sea. The Jordan is the main source of fresh water, but not the only source. Run- off from the highlands on both sides of the rift valley during the rainy season ends up in this lake. It is called a sea, but it isn’t connected in any way with the oceans of the world. This is a lake, actually about 1300 feet below sea level; it is the lowest place on the surface of the earth.

The climate is hot and dry and the rate of evaporation is very great, more or less balancing the inflow of water from all sources. The average temperature during August is 93 degrees F, and a maximum of 124 degrees F has been recorded. The rainfall around the Dead Sea is between 2 and 3 inches a year. Without knowing any of these statistics, it is perfectly clear to any observer that this is a howling desert wilderness.

Nothing but very sparse scrub can survive, nor can people live in this area without an outside source of fresh water. Miraculously, rain that has fallen far(Jerusalem- JM,for example) from this area, seeps underground and comes out in a few places as springs near the Dead Sea. Readers of the Bible will recognize the names of two such oases, Jericho (JO)a few miles north of the Dead Sea, and En Gedi(EG) on its shore. The Book of Joshua describes the crossing of the Jordan River from the east and the attack on Jericho by the Israelites. En Gedi is mentioned in 1 Samuel as the place where the young David hid from King Saul who wanted to kill him. The first chapter of the Song of Solomon speaks of the vineyards of En Gedi, which was a fertile oasis in those times.

No one knows exactly where, but the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are thought to have been located at the southern end of the Dead Sea. Chapters 18 and 19 of the Book of Genesis tell the story of Abraham who negotiated with God to save the “cities of the plain”, and of Lot and his family who were allowed to escape with their lives. They were told not to look back at the destruction, but Lot’s wife did and was turned into a pillar of salt. Near the present day settlement of Sedom there is a tall salt pillar which local legend identifies as Mrs. Lot.

Israel is a small country lacking abundant raw materials for industry. The one exception, though, is the Dead Sea with its seemingly never-ending supplies of a variety of salts. he Dead Sea Works at the southern end uses the abundant solar energy to concentrate its salts in miles of evaporating pans. The resulting soup of chemical salts is then processed to produce potash and bromine, among other products.
There are other places of interest to be seen in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. On the western shore is the famous fortress of Masada(MA), which fell to the Romans in 73 A.D. The Romans were also responsible for the destruction of Qumran located about 13 miles north of En Gedi. This was the monastery of the Essenes, a Jewish sect of about the time of Christ. During those disturbed times they hid copies of their sacred texts in nearby caves. In 1947 these writings were discovered and are now known to the world as the Dead Sea Scrolls. They are on exhibit at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

IF YOU GO
Like other Mediterranean countries, Israel has cool moist winters and hot dry summers. December, January and February are usually the wettest months, but rains can come any time between October and April. You can safely leave your umbrella home between May and September.
You may arrange complete tours with your U.S. travel agent. If you feel a bit more adventurous, you can arrange tours anywhere within Israel on your own. We had very good luck with the Egged Tlalim Tour Company. They go everywhere on modern air-conditioned busses with multilingual guides. We found their charges to be reasonable and we paid for our trips in dollars. We were exempted from the Value Added Tax when we presented our passports. Egged Tlalim has offices everywhere and the desk at your hotel will contact them for you. They are on the Internet at: www.eggedtlalim.co.il.

ILLUSTRATIONS
1. Effortless floating in the extremely buoyant waters of the Dead Sea. (Photo by Rosalie Baker)
2. Satellite view of the Dead Sea from 570 miles in space. To the east is the Kingdom of Jordan and to the west are Israel and the West Bank. The northern and southern(partial view)basins are 50 miles long and the northern basin averages 10 miles wide. The places identified are: JM- Jerusalem, JO- Jericho, EG- En Gedi, and MA- Masada. (Image by Landsat 3)