The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1914-06-06
THE DEAD SEA
THE TRUTH ABOUT THIS RE-
MARkARLE BODY OF WATER.

Many are the names by which this
mysterious sea is known, many the
wild and extravagant legends, con-
nected with it. In the Talmud it is
spoken of as the Sea of Sodom," in
Josephus as Lake Asphadtites," the
Arabs call it the 'Sea of Lot" and in
Scripture it is called the Sea of the
Plain" and the salt Sea-" Owing to
the deadly character ascribed to it by
innumberable legends it has been
named the Dead Sea-" the appella-
ton by which it is now generally
known. The wild theories that poison
Gus exhalations arise from it's surface,
that baneful effects are suffered by
breathing the atmosphere, that no
bird can fly over it without injury,
that in it's center is an abyss into
which the accumulated waters of the
Jordan disappear, and others equally
extravagant which have been current
from the earliest ages, have all been
proved by scientific investigation and
explanation to be pure myths.
The scientific facts about this re-
markable sea, are, however, wonderful
enough without the aid of superstition.
1t is sheet of water of similar shape
and dimensions to those of the Lake
of Geneva, being about forty-seven
miles in length and nine-and-a-half
miles wide at the widest part. 1t is
bounded on the west and on the east
by precipitous and barren mountains
which, on the west or Jerusalem side,
rise to $500 feet, and on the east or
Moab shore to $500 feet. 1t lies in
this trough-like depression 1900 feet
below the level of the Mediterranean
and 1874 feet below the City of Jeru-
salem. 1t is the most depressed sheet
of water in the world. At the north
east corner, not far from the mouth of
the Jordan, it is thirteen hundred feet
deep; at the southern extremity only
thirteen feet. Into this lake the
waters of the Jordan from the north,
of the Zerka and the Arnon from the
east, of the Karahy from the south,
the Engedi from the west, with few
smaller streams, empty themselves.
From scientific observations it is esti-
mated that during the year a daily
average of six-and- a-half million tons
of water is poured into the lake.
There is no outlet, and the level of
the water is maintained by evaporation
alone. In the early spring it is from
two to three feet deeper than in au-
tumn just before "the rains"
After a scanty seasons rainfall the
rise may be less than foot, says a
writer in the Oriental Travellers Ga
zette. Evaporation is very rapid be-
cause of the intense heat, the dry at
mosphere, and the dry winds which
are constantly blowing down from the
gorges between the mountains. This
evaporation causes a haze or mist to
hang over the lake at all times, SO
that the mountains are rarely seen
with distinctness.
The water is very nauseous owing
to the enormous amount of mineral
salts held in solution. Ocean water
contains per cent salt, the Dead Sea
20 per cent; but it is beautiful blue
color, and so transparent that objects
at the bottom to a depth of 20 feet can
be clearly distinguished. The human
body floats in it without exertion, and
can only be submerged by an effort
The water is sticky to the touch, and
when dried, leaves a coating of salt
and other chemicals on the flesh OF
bathers. Fish placed in it expire al.
most Immediately. The sea is usu.
ally perfectly calm, the water being
so heavy that only a strong wind can
disturb it.
In June of last year, Mr. J. e. Spaf.
ford and other members of the Ameri.
can Colony at Jerusalem, made tour
of the Dead Sea in the motor-boat
that has recently been placed on its
waters. They spent a week in cir
cumnavigating the lake, and some in.
teresting notes on the voyage were
published in a recent number of the
Journal of the Royal Geographical So
ciety. Among the places visited was
Masada, or Sebbah as it is called to.
day, the scene of the most desperate
and terrible tragedies that ever oc
Cured in human history. 1t is an i'm
mense rock thrown out of the noun
tain to which it belongs, inaccessible
except by winding paths which were
chiselled out of the rock and are sc
narrow that men climb only in single
file. On the top of it Jonathan
Maccabeus built fortress, a castle, q
palace, a chapel and other buildings
and surrounded them with high wal
with handsome gateways. Herod the
Great occupied it with his bride, Mari
anne, in the year AZ B. c., and deco
rated the palace in the most luxurious
manner He paved the courtyards
with colored mosaics the designs oil
which can still be traced. He hewed
cisterns out of the rock for a water
supply and caverns for storing up pro
visions. Centuries afterWard stores
which Herod sealed up in these ca
verns were found in good condition.
In 20 A. D., when Jerusalem fell
the garrison fed here and was be
sieged by the Romans, Flavius Silva
one of the generals of Titus, built g
wall of stone level with the edge OF
the rock, upon which he placed bat
tering rams, and after several years
siege succeeded in making a breach il
the walls. Rather than submit to cap
ture the garrison killed each other