ASPHALTITES, LAKE OF, or THE DEAD SEA, is a collection of water of considerable magnitude in Pales tine, which has been celebrated ever since the period at which the books of Moses were written.
This lake went by various appellations of old, such as the Sea of Sodom, the Salt Sea, the Lake of Sirbon. When it received its present name, that by which we know it, is not evident ; the modern Ara dwelling in its vicinity, call it Bahheret Lut, or the SZa of Lot. It is surrounded by high hills on the cast, west, and south, some of them exhibiting frightful precipices, and on the north it is bounded by the plain of Jericho, through which the river Jordan flows into it. The Kedron, Ar non, and Zaret, rush down the hills in torrents, and, along with other streams, discharge themselves into the lake. Its real size, we believe, is not yet ascertained, for we are not aware that any modern traveller has mea sured it : and the measurements of Josephus, who found it 72 miles long and 18 broad, are still referred to. Dio dorus affirms, that it is 62 miles long, and 74- broad ; but the calculation of Pliny is infinitely greater ; for he says, that it is 100 miles long, and 25 wide in the broad est part. Maundrel considers it 72 miles low, and 18 or 21 in breadth. Pococke agrees with Diodorus : and the Abbe Mariti, who seems to have paid much attention to its peculiarities, maintains, that it is 180 miles in cir cuit. We cannot but consider it singular, that the fact should present such discrepancies.
The waters of the Dead Sea are clear and limpid, but uncommonly salt, and even bitter. Their specific gra vity exceeds that of all other water known : no fish can live in them ; and, according to the concurring testimony of travellers, those carried thither by the Jordan in stantly die. It has been said nevertheless, that shells resembling those of oysters are sometimes found on the shore ; an assertion which requires farther corrobora tion. The mud is black, thick, and fetid, and no plant vegetates in the water, which is reputed to have a petri fying quality. Branches of trees accidentally immersed in it are speedily converted to stone, and the curious in Jerusalem then collect them. Neither do plants grow in the immediate vicinity of the lake, where every thing is dull, cheerless, and inanimate ; whence it is supposed to have derived the name of the Dead Sea. But the real cause of the absence of animals and vegetables, Volney affirms, is owing to the saltness and acridity of the water infinitely surpassing what exists in other seas. The earth surrounding it is deeply impregnated with the same saline qualities, too predominant to admit of vegetable life, and even the air is saturated with them. The waters are clear and incorruptible, as if holding salt in solution, nor is the presence of this substance equi vocal, for Dr Pocockc found a thin crust of salt on his face after bathing in the sea, and the stones where it oc casionally overflows, are covered with a similar crust. Galen considered it completely saturated with salt, for it would dissolve no more when thrown into it. There
are mines of fossil salt on the south-west bank, from which specimens have been brought to Europe : some also exist in the declivities of the mountains, and have provided from time immemorial for the consumption of the Arabs and the city of Jerusalem. Great quantities of asphaltum appear floating on the surface of the sea, and is driven by the winds to the east and west bank, where it remains fixed. Ancient authors inform us, that the neighbouring inhabitants were careful to collect it, and went out in boats, or used other expedients for that purpose. On the south-west bank are hot springs, and deep gullies, dangerous to the traveller, were not their position indicated by small pyramidic edifices on the sides. Sulphur is likewise found on the edges of the Dcad Sea, and a kind of stone or coal called mussa by the Arabs, which on attrition exhales an intolerable and burns like bitumen. This stone, which also comes from the neighbouring mountains, is black, and takes a fine polish. Mr Maundrel saw pieces of it two feet square in the convent of St John in the wilderness, and carved in bas relief. It is said to be as brittle as alabas ter, which does not coincide well with the account of the polish of which it is susceptible. The inhabitants of that country employ it in paving mosques, churches, courts, and other places of public resort. In the po lishing, its disagreeable odour is lost. The citizens of Bethlehem consider it as endowed with antiseptic virtues, and bracelets of it are worn by attendants on the sick as an antidote against disease. As the lake is at certain seasons covered with a thick dark mist confined within its own limits, which is dissipated with the rays of the sun, spectators have been induced to allege, that black and suiphureous exhalations are constantly issuing from the water. They have been no less mistaken in supposing, that birds attempting to fly across are struck dead by pestiferous fumes. Late and reputable travellers declare, that numerous swallows skim along the surface, and from thence take up the water necessary to build their nests ; and on this head Heyman and Van Egmont made a decisive experiment. They carried two spar rows to the shore, and having deprived them of some of the wing feathers, after a short flight, both fell into, or rather on the sea. But, so far from expiring there, they got out in safety. An uncommon love of exaggeration is testified in all the older narratives, of the nature and properties of the lake, and among other facts apparently unaccountable, has been ranked that of constantly receiv ing the waters of the Jordan without overflowing its banks, seeing there is no visible outlet. Some have therefore conjectured the possibility of a subterraneous communication with the Mediterranean. Others more ingenious are of opinion, that the daily evaporation is sufficient to carry off all the waters discharged into it, which is a simple solution of the apparent paradox.