He could not understand how
the blessed waters of the Jordan could be allowed to mingle with
the accursed waters of the Dead Sea. In spite, then, of the eye of
sense, he beheld the water with the eye of faith, and calmly
announced that the Jordan water passes through the sea, but that
the two masses of water are not mingled. As to the salt statue of
Lot's wife, he declares it to be still existing; and, copying a
table of indulgences granted by the Church to pious pilgrims, he
puts down the visit to the salt statue as giving an indulgence of
seven years.
Toward the end of the century we have another traveller yet more
influential: Bernard of Breydenbach, Dean of Mainz. His book of
travels was published in 1486, at the famous press of Schoeffer,
and in various translations it was spread through Europe,
exercising an influence wide and deep. His first important notice
of the Dead Sea is as follows: "In this, Tirus the serpent is
found, and from him the Tiriac medicine is made. He is blind, and
so full of venom that there is no remedy for his bite except
cutting off the bitten part.
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