| Traveling from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea,
one descends precipitously from 2600 feet above sea level to 1300 feet
below sea level, the lowest place on earth, in only 25 miles. The
terrain is rugged, arid, and dotted with Bedouin camps like the ones shown
belowl. |
 |
Jericho lies just to the north and east of
the Dead Sea as one travels from Jerusalem. One of the oldest cities
in the world, Jericho thrived because of the rich soil in this part of the
Great Rift Valley. The upper left picture shows the area around
Jericho looking back toward the Judean hills.
The age of the city is illustrated by the ancient tower
(left) and city wall (upper right), which date to c. 7000 BCE.
|
 |
The Dead Sea is the lower end of a water
system that begins at Mt. Hermon to the north, includes the Sea of
Galilee, and ends with the Jordan River flowing into the Dead Sea.
Because there is no outlet to this body of water, the minerals collect
killing wildlife and producing a water that is heavy with mineral
content. One can swim in the sea, and it is easier to float than to
sink. Care must be taken not to get water into one's eyes because it
will burn. Now minerals are extracted and exported for a variety of
purposes, and cosmetics with ingredients from the area are popular. |
 |
 |
| One of the most important archaeological
discoveries of the 20th century in Palestine was that of the Dead Sea
Scrolls and the ruins of the Qumran community that produced them.
The two pictures above show some of the more than 30 caves in the area
that were used to store the ancient scrolls. Some part of nearly all
of the books in the Hebrew Bible except Esther and numerous other
documents from the community were found here in the middle part of the
last century. The ruins in the pictures below reveal a community
that had withdrawn from participation in the religious life of Jerusalem,
which members believed was controlled by a "wicked priest," and
sought to live in purity as the true Jewish community. The site is
along the northwestern part of the Dead Sea. |
picture by Brian Cowan |
 |
Farther to the south lie the Negev and
Sinai deserts. This is the "wilderness" of the Old
Testament.
|
|
