Even the salt pillar at Usdum, as depicted in Lynch's book, aided
to undermine the myth among thinking men; for the background of the
picture showed other pillars of salt in process of formation; and
the ultimate result of all these expeditions was to spread an
atmosphere in which myth and legend became more and more attenuated.
To sum up the main points in this work of the nineteenth century:
Seetzen, Robinson, and others had found that a human being could
traverse the lake without being killed by hellish smoke; that the
waters gave forth no odours; that the fruits of the region were not
created full of cinders to match the desolation of the Dead Sea,
but were growths not uncommon in Asia Minor and elsewhere; in fact,
that all the phenomena were due to natural causes.
Ritter and others had shown that all noted features of the Dead Sea
and the surrounding country were to be found in various other lakes
and regions, to which no supernatural cause was ascribed among
enlightened men. Lynch, Van de Velde, Osborne, and others had
revealed the fact that the "pillar of salt" was frequently formed
anew by the rains; and Lartet and other geologists had given a
final blow to the myths by making it clear from the markings on the
neighbouring rocks that, instead of a sudden upheaval of the sea
above the valley of Siddim, there had been a gradual subsidence for
ages.
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