World Tourism / The Most Beautiful Seas in the World / The Dead Sea

The legendary Cleopatra appreciated so much the cosmetic properties of mud and the salts of the Dead Sea, that one of her husband, Marc Anthony, won one of the adjacent areas for her. The healing properties of the Dead Sea are still famous in the whole world. People come here from all over the world to cure their ailments. Yes, and just enjoy this unusual place. This is a wonder. The Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth (if you take the land, of course), it is at 412 meters below the sea level. Only a river - the Jordan runs into the Sea. That formed the unique structure of water - in every liter of fluid, 275 grams of various salts are diluted. It is because of them in the Dead Sea no animal or fish can swim, even the micro-organisms prefer to settle only at the mouth of the Jordan.

Geographical position

The Dead Sea is located on the territory of Israel and Jordan. The water area is of 1,050 square kilometers, the length is of 76 km, the maximum width is 17 km and the maximum depth is 356 m. The lake is located in the lowest part of the meridional rift basin Al Gore (Ghor), the bottom of which lies below the sea level to over 200 km. Within the basin, also below the sea level, Lake Tiberias lies, which flows through Jordan and into the Dead Sea to the north. The surface of the Dead Sea is located at around 408 m below the sea level. This is the lowest place on the land. The Dead Sea has no outlet, and all the water coming from the river Jordan is lost through evaporation. The water is transparent, of blue-green color. Its density varies between 1.172 and 1.227 g/cm3. There are two separate basins in the Dead Sea, the northern part is the deepest in the south also, which accounts for approximately 1 / 3 of the depth and does not exceed 10 m. From the west to the east, the Dead Sea is surrounded by mountains, often forming high (up to 750-1200 m), steep coastal cliffs. The largest relative excess of the relief on the south-east is the peak with a height of 1627 m.

Climate

The maximum average temperature in July is of 37,8 ° C in the north and 40 ° C in the south, and the absolute maximum recorded was of 50,6 ° C. The average annual rainfall is of 75-100 mm. The Dead Sea salinity is the second largest in the world after the Van lake in Turkey. Its water is almost lifeless, barren, and the surrounding area too. The high salinity water is due to evaporation and the presence of salt rocks at the bottom of the lake. Dissolved mineral salts are approx. 24% of the volume of water (in comparison, in a normal sea the water content is less than 4%). The chemical composition of salt contains the following elements and compounds: chlorine - 67.66% bromine - 1.98%; sulfate - 0.22% Sodium - 10.2%, potassium - 1.6%, calcium - 1.51 % Mg - 16.8%.

Sea legends

The ancient literature (Josephus and Tacitus) contains information about the navigation on the Dead Sea in ancient times, although it was referred to variously in the Talmud - the sea of Sodom, in the New Testament – the Salt or the East Sea, Josephus called it the Asphalt Lake. Currently in the Arab world this sea is usually referred to as the Bahr Lut, or " The Sea of Lot." There are the biblical stories of Abraham and Lot and the destruction of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. On the western shore of the Dead Sea, En Gedi, David was hiding. The idea that the Dead Sea engulfed the sinful cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, goes back to Josephus. In 1924 a special expedition was equipped to search for these cities. According to its records, the city of Sodom, Gomorrah and Tsoar were on the southeast coasts of the lake.

The Rest at the Dead Sea

The rest at the Dead Sea has magical powers, whose existence was described by Aristotle, Cleopatra and King Herod, so the Dead Sea and the treatment are a great tandem. "It is the bitter and the salty water in which fish do not live and any man or beast cannot sink," - Aristotle wrote three hundred years before Christ. Water and salt from here was taken itself to the Roman nobility. The Judah asphalt ( the sea surface bituminous substances) have been used for industrial and medical purposes. Precious cosmetics, perfumes and medicines are made from the plants of coastal oases, especially balsamic wood. Today, those who come to this wonderful land are doing a first-class therapeutic treatment at the Dead Sea. One of the peculiarities of the Dead Sea are the unusual bio-meteorological conditions. Here, a totally unique sunlight. In the lowest part of the world only a thick layer of air. Together with the natural filter of water, vapor and minerals, rising from the water surface, it reflects the harmful ultraviolet rays ("hard ultraviolet", burning the skin) and transmits a "soft" ultraviolet light, which have healing properties. Plus, the compact ozone layer. Therefore, the Dead Sea is a unique place for sunbathing for medicinal purposes. Even with prolonged exposure to the sun we cannot get burnt. Nonetheless, precaution and tan is gradually taken.

Why vacation at the Dead Sea has such healing powers? The Dead Sea water is difficult to call water! It would be better to say "strong solution of salt", since the concentration of various salts (Mg, Ca, K. ..) in the water, from which the body absorbed the necessary chemical elements, up to 42%. To achieve this effect at home, you have to sleep in the bath putting three bags of salt and stir it contrive to complete dissolution. Even if it will still form the liquid cannot be compared with the Dead Sea water - just to reproduce its miraculous composition is impossible. About 1 million years ago there were very salty sea Lashon. It left behind a thick bed of salt thickness up to 2 km which lies in the valley, including under the Dead Sea. A lot of minerals in the Dead Sea come from the hot springs that feed it. The water, the salt, the dirt here contain virtually all the main elements of the periodic table. Among them, 21 species of various minerals (including magnesium, calcium, bromide and potassium). Of these, 12 are unique. Their number is 10 times the amount of salts and minerals contained in the Mediterranean Sea, making treatment at the Dead Sea truly unique and especially effective. With such a high concentration of minerals, the body relaxes and smoothes the skin, stimulates the blood circulation and alleviates the metabolic disorders. The buoyancy force in this "salt solution" is so great that there is not even a person readily able to swim. The main element of the thermo sources along the Dead Sea is sulfur. The adoption of the hot sulfur baths strengthens the circulatory system and increases oxygen to the body. The climate in the Dead Sea area is caused by a combination of two air masses.

Relax in the unique waters of the Dead Sea, feeling the weightlessness of your tired body, basking in the warm rays of the Israeli sun. In general, if you've ever dreamed of visiting the Dead Sea, then hurry up, until it lost its unique look, structure and charm.

Others The Most Beautiful Seas in the World .

Maps of The Dead Sea