Dead SeaKONSTANTIN M. KLEIN
The Dead Sea is a salt lake in the Jordan Rift
valley. It has a salinity of more than 33 percent,
which prevents animals living in it, hence
its modern Hebrew and Arabic names (Hebr.
Yam ha-Melah: , “Sea of Salt,” and Arab. Bah:ral-Mayyit, “Dead Sea”). In addition to these
names, the Hebrew Bible refers to it as
“The Eastern Sea” (Yam ha-Mizrah: ı), and in
Arabic, especially in premodern times, it is
called “The Sea of Lot” (Bah:r Lut), alluding tothe devastation of its five preeminent cities,
Sodom, Gomorra, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar
(see Gen 19:24–5; Deut 29:23). To the Greeks,
the lake was known as Limen asphaltitis,
“The Asphaltite Sea,” named after its most
important resource, bitumen.
GEOGRAPHY
TheDead Sea is situatedmore than 420mbelow
sea level, and its shores form the lowest area on
dry land worldwide; the lake itself is ca. 380 m
deep and about eight times more salty than the
Mediterranean. The water of the Dead Sea dif-
fers significantly from that of the oceans. It
contains high amounts of magnesium chloride,
calcium chloride, and sodium chloride, though
the exact composition varies throughout the
year. The lake is 65 km long and 17 km wide.
Its main tributary is the JORDAN RIVER, while
additional sources of water derive from winter
rains flowing through dry riverbeds from the
nearby Judaean Hills. Due to its salinity, nei-
ther fish nor plants can live in the Dead Sea,
as was observed by several ancient authors
(cf. Arist. Mete. 2.359a; Jos. BJ 4.8.4). Be that
as it may, in ancient times the area where the
Jordan River leads into the lake was densely
cultivated with palms and fig trees. The Dead
Sea provided the inhabitants of the cities and
villages around it with several natural products,
from potash for fertilizing the fields to bitumen
for various forms of usage, among them as
burning material for the incense in the temple
in Jerusalem (see TEMPLE, JEWISH, IN JERUSALEM) or
as balm for mummification (see MUMMIES
AND MUMMIFICATION). At irregular intervals, the
Figure 1 North shore of the Dead Sea in 1858. © The Francis Frith Collection/Scala, Florence.
The Encyclopedia of Ancient History, First Edition. Edited by Roger S. Bagnall, Kai Brodersen, Craige B. Champion, Andrew Erskine,
and Sabine R. Huebner, print pages 1936–1937.
© 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Published 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
DOI: 10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah11065
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sea discharges chunks of asphalt (bitumen),
which were collected by boat or on the shore
(cf. Diod. Sic. 19.98.2–99.3; Strabo 16.42–3).
HISTORY
Human settlements around the Dead Sea date
back to earliest times. In the narratives of the
Hebrew Bible, the caves of En Gedi are men-
tioned as the hiding place of KingDavid. Several
biblical prophets predict that the lake will once
again become normal and thus supportive to
marine life (cf. Ezek 47:8–9; Zech 14:8). During
the Second Temple Period several Jewish groups
settled in the area, among them the ESSENES of
QUMRAN, while the NABATAEANS engaged in the
bitumen trade to Egypt (cf. Diod. Sic. 2.48.6–8;
19.99.3). Several palaces were built on the
lake’s western shore by HEROD THE GREAT.
One of them, Masada, was used by Jewish
Zealots (seeMASADA;ZEALOTS (JEWISH)) as a strong-
hold against the Roman army in the JewishWar.
The remote hills around the Dead Sea offered
ideal conditions for Late Antique desert asceti-
cism and were soon to be populated by monks
and hermits. Famous monasteries, such as the
Great Lavra of Sabas, date back to these times.
SEE ALSO: Dead Sea Scrolls; Sabas, Great Lavra of.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Enzel, Y., Agnon, A., and Stein, M., eds. (2006)
New frontiers in Dead Sea paleoenvironmental
research. Boulder, CO.
Hammond, P. (1959) “The Nabataean bitumen
industry at the Dead Sea.” The Biblical
Archaeologist 22: 40–8.
Niemi, T., Ben-Abraham, Z., and Gat, J., eds. (1997)
The Dead Sea: the lake and its setting. New York.
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