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| The Dead Sea | ||||||||||||||
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| They say people knew of the Dead Sea and it's special qualities back in the 4th century BC. There are also records of men collecting the salt and selling it to the Egyptians for embalming. But for most people the Dead Sea was seen as unhealthy. For that reason many religous people chose to flee here.(King Herod, Jesus, John the Baptist, etc) | ||||||||||||||
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| The Dead Sea is 400 meters below sea level. Israel has the western half and Jordan the eastern half. LIfeguards are on duty to make sure you don't go out too far and go into Jordanian territory. | ||||||||||||||
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| Water arrives from the Jordan river with normal mineral amounts. There is no outlet, however, so the water sits in the middle of the desert in super hot temperatures. The water then evaporates which causes the minerals to rise. For example, salt concentration is about 30%(normal oceans are at 4%). There are various bacteria that survive in the Dead Sea, but no fish! Because of the amount of minerals in the Dead Sea many people believe the mud and water to have a healing quality. People with skin problems fly here from around the world just to have a mud bath. Others who want young looking skin also come and sit in the sunshine while covered in mud. We tried it out....even brought some home for friends!!! |
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