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- The lowest point on earth 400 meters (1,320 feet) below sea level.
- An average of 330 full days of sunshine per year.
- The saltiest and most mineral-laden in the world.
- Everybody can float in its waters.
- Famous for its black mineral black mud.
- A "Sea of Peace", joining Israel & Jordan.
King David, King Herod, Jesus, and John the Baptist were closely linked with the Dead Sea and its surroundings. The prophets knew it via the infamous Sodom and Gomorra. During the Egyptian conquest it is said that Queen Cleopatra obtained exclusive rights to build cosmetic and pharmaceutical factories in the area. Later on, the wily Nabateans discovered the value of bitumen extracted from the Dead Sea needed by the Egyptians for embalming their mummies. Aristotle wrote about the remarkable waters. In Roman times the Essenes settled in Qumran on the Dead Sea's northern shore as a place of refuge and on the heights of Masada a small group of rebellious Jewish zealots held out against the might of the Roman Legion. The remoteness of the region attracted Greek OrtHodox monks since the Byzantine era. Their monasteries such as Saint George in Wadi Kelt and Mar Saba in the Judean Desert are places of pilgrimage. Bedouin tribes have continuously lived in the area and more recently explorers and scientists arrived to analyze the minerals and conduct research into the unique climate.
Israel. June 2004