Mud Bath in the Dead Sea

February 13, 2010

Mud Bath in the Dead Sea

On Saturday my friends and I went to the Jericho and the Dead Sea

This is the [assumed] mountain where Jesus was tempted by satan

The ruins of old Jericho

Jericho is a city located near the Jordan River in the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories and has a population of over 20,000 Palestinians. Situated well below sea level on an east-west route 10 miles north of the Dead Sea, Jericho is the lowest permanently inhabited site on earth. It is also believed to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities of the world.

Joshua 6:26, “At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the Lord is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: ‘At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set its gates.’”

So the story goes: The citizens of Jericho have tried multiple times throughout history to rebuild the wall but the firstborn always died.

2 Kings 2:19-22, "The men of the city said to Elisha, 'Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.' 'Bring me a new bowl,' he said. 'and put salt in it.' So they brought it to him. Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, 'This is what the Lord says: 'I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.' ' And the water has remained wholesome to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken."

The spring which keeps the land productive

The Dead Sea, also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake in Jordan to the east and Israel to the west.

Its surface and shores are 1,385 ft. below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is 1,240 ft. deep, the deepest hyper saline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. It is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean. This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name.

The Dead Sea is 42 miles long and 11 miles wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River.