The Dead Sea is about fifty miles in length and ten miles in
width; it lies in a very deep fissure extending north and south,
and its surface is about thirteen hundred feet below that of the
Mediterranean. It has, therefore, no outlet, and is the receptacle
for the waters of the whole system to which it belongs, including
those collected by the Sea of Galilee and brought down thence by
the river Jordan.
It certainly--or at least the larger part of it--ranks geologically
among the oldest lakes on earth. In a broad sense the region is
volcanic: On its shore are evidences of volcanic action, which must
from the earliest period have aroused wonder and fear, and
stimulated the myth-making tendency to account for them. On the
eastern side are impressive mountain masses which have been thrown
up from old volcanic vents; mineral and hot springs abound, some of
them spreading sulphurous odours; earthquakes have been frequent,
and from time to time these have cast up masses of bitumen;
concretions of sulphur and large formations of salt constantly appear.
Pages:
1091
1092
1093
1094
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
1107
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115