DEAD SEA, the usual name, dating from the time of Jerome, for a most re markable lake in the S. E. of Palestine, called in the Old Testament The Salt Sea, Sea of the Plain, or East Sea; by Josephus, Lacus Asphaltites; and by the Arabs now, Bahr-Lut, "Sea of Lot." It is 46 miles long, with a breadth of from 5 to 9 miles. Its surface, which is lower than that of any water known, is 1,292 feet below the level of the Mediterra nean. The depth of the greater part, the N. section, is about 1,300 feet. The shape is that of an elongated oval, in terrupted by a promontory which pro jects into it from the S. E. The Dead Sea is fed by the Jordan from the N. and by many other streams, but has no apparent outlet. Along the E. and W. borders of the Dead Sea there are lines of bold, and in some cases perpendicular, cliffs. These cliffs are chiefly composed of limestone, and are destitute of vegeta tion except in the ravines traversed by fresh water streamlets. The N. shores of the lako form an extensive and deso late muddy flat, marked by the blackened trunks of trees, with salt. The S. shore is low, level, and marshy, desolate, and dreary. On this shore is the remarkable ridge of rock-salt, 7 miles long and 300 feet high, called Khashm Usdom (Ridge of Sodom). Lava-beds, pumice-stone, warm springs, sulphur, and volcanic slag prove the presence here of volcanic agen cies at some period. The salinity of the
waters is adverse to life, though some lower organizations are found in them.
The water of the Dead Sea is charac terized by the presence of a large quan tity of magnesian and soda salts. Its specific gravity ranges from 1172 to 1227 (pure water being 1000). The pro portion of saline matter is so great, that while sea-water contains only 3.5 per cent. of salts, the water of the Dead Sea contains upward of 26 per cent. The evaporation is great, as the heat is in tense, and the sea rather contracts than increases. Rain hardly ever falls; the water is nearly as blue and clear as that of the Mediterranean. Owing to the great specific gravity of the water, it is almost impossible for the bather to sink in it, strive as he may. Several of those who have navigated and explored the sea have fallen victims to a fatal fever. For the story of the "Cities of the Plain," see Gen. xix.; but according to Captain Condor, "it is now generally agreed that the Dead Sea and Jordan were formed by a great fault or crack in the earth's surface long before the creation of man.
It is vain, therefore, to suppose that the 'cities of the plain' were beneath the present sea."