The Mysterious Salt Sea

It would be hard to imagine a more forsaken parcel of land than the real estate surrounding the Dead Sea. The earth is literally caked with salt -- a dazzling white glaze that sparkles like diamonds in the intense sunlight. Little grows on its shores and only the simplest organism can live in the brackish water.

Yet, there was a time when the land was not derelict. The same plain, that today hardly supports a blade of grass, once boasted five thriving cities -- Zeboim, Admah, Zoar, Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Dead Sea is like no other place on earth. It is a vast salt lake about fifty miles long and ten miles wide. The salt content of the water is about 33 percent, almost the point where the liquid can no longer suspend minerals.

To jump into the Dead Sea is like leaping onto a concrete pavement. Once in the water, the body bobs around like a cork. You simply can't sink, much less drown. Emerging from your swim, the scorching sun dries your skin almost instantly, leaving a crust of salt that makes you look like a marble statue.

Infrequent storms raises waves on the Dead Sea, just like any other large body of water. But when Dead Sea waves hit boats, it's as if the sides are being struck by heavy hammers. When the storm passes, the waves quickly subside because the water is so heavy.

The spot where the River Jordan empties into the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the face of the earth -- about 1300 feet below sea level. A mile or two south of this point, the seabed plunges to its greatest depth -- about 1200 feet.

Although the Dead Sea is fed by the River Jordan (which deposits six million tons of water into the lake every 24 hours), as well as numerous other small steams and wadis, it has no outlet. So where does the water go?

Science tells us that the broiling sun evaporates water at the rate of 230 million cubic feet a day and keeps the waterline at a constant level. The sea is constantly shrouded in a mist from the evaporating water, but dissolved salt stays put and has accumulated over the centuries.

Fish carried down the Jordan and deposited in the sea die quickly and provide a ready meal for a substantial population of kingfishers, ducks, and gulls, that lurk in the cane breaks along the northern shore. As you travel south, the land becomes more desolate and the amount of salt increases. No fish, no seaweed, no clams -- nothing except the simplest life forms -- can live in the Dead Sea for any length of time. On the extreme south end, the sea turns into a vast salt marsh.

The Dead Sea is roughly divided into two parts. A large, foot-shaped peninsula called el-Lisan protrudes from the southeastern shore. To the north of the peninsula are the deepest parts of the lake -- to the south, the average depth is only 50-60 feet, with some areas not exceeding 11 feet. It is here -- beneath these shallow waters -- that the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah are thought to lie.

Numerous oily patches of asphalt float on the water, while the air is filled with acrid odors of petroleum and sulfur. The whole area is geologically active and the Dead Sea lies directly over a gigantic rift that begins in the north, hundreds of miles beyond the borders of Palestine, and ends beyond the Red Sea in Africa. Recent investigations have discovered ample evidence of subterranean deposits of bitumen, which contains a very high percentage of sulfur -- the brimstone of the Bible.

The mysterious Dead Sea and the area around it holds many secrets, not the least of which is the possible geological and archeological record one of the most famous calamities in history. It is thought by some that the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is nothing more than a folk tale. But accumulated evidence gathered by archeologists, as well as geological studies made in and around the Dead Sea, provide a compelling argument that the holocaust happened EXACTLY as told in the book of Genesis -- fire, brimstone, the whole ball of wax.

The mysterious Salt Sea does not give up it's secrets easily, but science has made some inroads in answering questions about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. And they discover, much to their amazement, that their most plausible and logical conclusions coincide with the Biblical account. Science is therefore forced to look to the Scriptures to confirm recent findings. Scientists are discovering what Christians have known all along -- that, among other things, the Bible is an accurate record of God's hands-on involvement in human history.

Here are a few of science's more recent revelations.

* Recent archeological evidence indicates that the area around the Dead Sea was fertile in the middle Bronze Age -- from about 2000-1500 BC. (Chronologies estimate that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed around
1900 BC.) There was enough fresh water flowing into the Dead Sea to support a booming agricultural community, and the Plain supported five thriving cities.

* There is an ancient cemetery at Bab-edh Dhra on the south end of the Dead Sea, near the spot where ancient Sodom is rumored to be. A recent archeological expedition found that buildings used to bury the dead were burned from fires that started on the roofs! Something very hot had rained down on them from above and had left a layer of debris about three feet thick.

Years before, geologist Frederick Clapp had discovered evidence of subterranean deposits of bitumen -- a flammable petroleum-based substance similar to asphalt -- in the Dead Sea basin. (This was long before the cemetery was unearthed.) Bitumen contains a very high percentage of sulfur -- the brimstone of the Bible. Clapp theorized that these deposits might have been forced out of the ground by high pressure from an earthquake. A spark or fire ignited the goop and it fell back to earth as a fiery mass -- an event that would be in perfect agreement with the Biblical description.

Support for the flaming bitumen theory can also found in the Bible, from the observation of the destruction by Abraham himself. He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. (Genesis 19:28)

The dense smoke would call to mind a petroleum fire and "smoke from a furnace" indicates a forced draft, like subterranean deposits being spewed out of the earth under tremendous pressure.

* The discovery of the burnt buildings at Bab-edh Dhra seemed to support Clapp's theory, especially when a large fault line was ultimately discovered next to the cemetery. What must have been a fertile and well-watered valley 5,000 years ago was radically changed by a seismic event of epic proportions.

Indeed, stories from the distant past indicate that the area around the Dead Sea was seismically active two or three millennia ago. Before the destruction, we have this from the Bible: Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits [that's right, bitumen], and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. (Genesis 14:10).

The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus tells of a "lake of asphalt" in the vicinity. The Greeks tell of poisonous gasses rising from all parts of the Dead Sea. And Arabs contend that, in "olden days," a bird could not fly across the salty water without being asphyxiated. All of these are clearly seismic occurrences.

* So if Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed by fire from the skies, where are the remains?

The ultimate clue may actually lie under the Dead Sea. The peninsula of Al-Lisan extends into the lake from the south eastern shore. To the north, the lake plunges to a maximum depth of 1,300 feet. To the south, the average water depth is only about 20 feet. Why the disparity? Some scientists believe that the earthquake might have caused the Dead Sea to break through its banks on the south end and flood the Plain, thus undulate both Sodom and Gomorrah.

Satellite photographs of the south end of the Dead Sea appear to bear this out. They show several structures under the water. Some may be natural, but one that is so regular in shape that it has to be man-made.

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by God is one of the best-known, and maybe even most contentious, stories in the Bible. Like the story of Noah and his ark, scientific proofs of the event have been painfully slow in coming. But in spite of scientist's best efforts to prove differently, the Scriptural accounts invariably hold true.

Someday the mysterious Salt Sea may yield the definitive answer to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but you can bet if it happens it will be -- like all other Divine truths revealed to man -- in God's own time.

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Ed Price spent 35 years in print and broadcast journalism. He is author of 15 books. After becoming an ordained minister he settled with his wife on a farm in the mountains of Southwest Virginia, to study God's word and to write. Ed and Patty are the parents of three girls, have one grandchild, and cater to the every whim of two spoiled cats.
© 2009 Ed Price - All rights reserved. Visit his website, The Loving Heart.

This column is used with permission.