Twelve miles from Jerusalem is the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is a salt lke between Israel and Jordan. It is 1378 feet below sea level and its shores are the lowest point on the surface of the Earth on dry land. The Dead Sea is 1083 feet deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world! It is also the world's second saltiest body of water, after Lake Asal in Kjibouti, with 30% salinity! It is almost 9 times saltier than the ocean. It is 42 miles long and 11 miles wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River!
The Dead Sea has attracted visitors for years. Biblically, it was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world's first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products from balms for Egyptian mummification to potash for fertilizers!
Well, I have to tell you that it was HOT at the Dead Sea and I did NOT go in. But Rick did, and yes, he floated!
We did buy some bath salts derived from the Dead Sea and I can hardly wait to use them!
Lori
P.S. Sorry you have not heard from me in a few days. I have been on the road!
