I suspect that I need to increase my range of superlatives for Jordan. Glorious, Outstanding, Remarkable, Briliant are all words I use to describe my experiences. Visiting the remarkable Dead Sea is no exception.
The Dead Sea is a unique water mass devoid of all animal and plant life. It is between 6 and 16 kilometer wide and 75 kilometers long. Lying 400 meter below sea level it is officially ‘the lowest point on earth’. Interestingly it is fed by the Jordan River, but has no outlet. The extreme mineral and salt content makes for interesting beneficial health claims as far back as 2000 years with Herod the Great. This extreme concentration of 350 grams of salt per kilogram of water is caused by the rapid rate of water evaporation. For your geography lesson, the Dead Sea is bordered by fertile land in Jordan, the West Bank, and Israel.
I have had an unforgettable Dead Sea floating/swimming experience a couple of times now. With the high water density, it is virtually impossible to sink. Actually swimming is near impossible as you a lifted so high in the water you can’t take a stroke. On one of my visits, a group of German visitors adopted the classic pose of reclining in the water, pretending to read a newspaper.
Only a short drive from Amman the main resort area is located at Sweimeh to the northern end of the Dead Sea. For the budget-conscious traveller there is the Government Rest House at Sweimeh, that provides access to a beach, change rooms and shower facilities, and a restaurant. Accommodation at the Dead Sea is predominantly high end. Most international resorts offer spa and mineral treatments.
Not to be outdone, the Dead Sea was potentially the location for a number of significant biblical events. Known in the Bible as the Valley of Salt in 2 Samuel 7:29 where David “slew 18,000 Edomites”. Also, there is a wide plain where Abraham and Lot divided their herds and people, going their separate ways. While there is no conclusive proof that the cities of Bab al-Dhra’ and Numeira are really the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah. The Bibles’ most dramatic story in Genesis is where God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah because of man’s wickedness. With Lot and his family living in his tent near Sodom, Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of stone when she turned to saw the destruction of the cites.
The famous Dead Sea Scrolls are an extensive library of more than 900 texts providing a glimpse into the religious ideology of the time. There is a fine example in the Jordan Museum in Amman that is worth a visit.
The Dead Sea mud is not your ordinary roadside mud, it’s a dark gray clay that feels silky. A variety of diseases and skin conditions have been treated for centuries with the mud containing more than 35 minerals, found along the shoreline. There is a large beauty industry based on products such as creams, masks, and scrubs utilizing the high salt contents and mineral rich water of the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is shrinking as its water diverted higher in the Jordan Valley. This is just another reason to visit Jordan while this natural wonder still exists. Pack your bags come to join me on another amazing adventure.
