Dead Sea Salts

Figure 2. Estimated and measured fluctuation of water levels in the Dead Sea from the 110 BC to the millennium 2000 showing a decreasing water level in the sea. From Jewish Virtual Library, Water in Israel: Overview of Middle East Water Resources. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Apart from the aforementioned physical attributes of the Dead Sea, the sea bears remarkable religious traditions among Christians although there is no direct Biblical connectedness to later day Christian pilgrimage to the Sea. Many contemporary Christian pilgrims may be motivated to make visitations to connect with ancient events and experience a nostalgia of the past by joining in the ancient footsteps of Biblical Lot whose wife turned into a pillar of salt for going against the command of God when the spirit of God led them away from the destruction in Sodom and Gomorrah, a city in the vicinity of the Dead Sea. The Sea’s inlet, River Jordan was the place of baptism of Christ and this event adds to the holiness with which Christians pilgrims regard the Dead Sea (Momentum Travel Services DBA Holy Land Voyager).

Furthermore, Jordan and Israel have established mineral mining industries toward the southern basin of the sea for economic benefits and contributions to the two countries’ national economic growths. On the other hand, some medical insurers in certain European countries have begun offering subsidized rates of medical insurance to persons seeking Dead Sea climatotherapy because of its comparatively cheaper costs in getting treatments as compared to pharmacotherapy for certain conditions. For instance, Germany and Norway have health insurance companies that are now offering subsided medical insurance cover for climatotherapy (Moses et al., 483). It can also not be gainsaid that the Dead Sea has contributed to high influx of foreign tourists and/or pilgrims into Israel, some of whom are primarily interested in visiting the Dead Sea. This influx of foreign tourist contributes to the country’s foreign income earnings for national development.

Due to the high rate of drying up of the Dead Sea in the recent times due to ecological damages by human activities, the Israeli and Jordanian governments have initiated an ambitious project dubbed, ‘Peace Conduit’ to convey seawater of the Red Sea into the Dead Sea. Other than the conservation initiative of the ecology around the Dead Sea, communities around the sea feel threatened by future prospects of the water mass disappearing altogether. As a matter of fact, the Dead Sea is symbolic of its rich history and environmental importance to the communities that live around it (Gavrieli and Bein 112). Despite the changing hydrological patterns that are affecting the water volume in the Dead Sea; it remains one of the most salty water mass in the world. The Sea has very high levels of cations of “magnesium, sodium, calcium, and anions such as phosphorus, bromide and chloride” which contributes to its density of 1.237kg/L (Moses et al., 483). It is also important to note that the present water imbalance in the Dead Sea as a consequence of human activities and increasing rates of evaporation has contributed to increasing level of salinity in the sea unlike in the past.

Figure 1. Reduction in the surface area of the Dead Sea corresponding with its changes in level below the mean sea level. From Jewish Virtual Library, Water in Israel: Overview of Middle East Water Resources. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.

Dead Sea has two basins, the northern and southern basin. The northern and southern basins are divided its Lisan Peninsula. According to Wisniak (80), the southern basin is shallow with an average depth that barely exceeds 10 meters and it covers an estimated area of about 244km2. The northern basin covers area of about 757km2 and its deepest points are about 401 meters. Wisniak further pointed out that the increased use of Jordan waters and industrial mineral production around the ecosystem of the Sea has posed threats to its existence, a situation which almost led to total disappearance of the southern portion of the Sea. While in the past industrial developments within the sea’s ecosystem were minimal, the present times has seen proliferation of mineral based industries exploiting the rich mineral deposits in the Dead Sea. Countries like Jordan and Israel have been increasingly intercepting waters from the Jordan River for agricultural purposes. Furthermore, Israeli and Jordanian industries mining minerals in the southern basin of the Dead Sea have established extensive artificial evaporation surfaces which have contributed to heightened rate of drying up of the southern parts of the sea (Gavrieli and Bein109).

Healing Powers of

The Dead Sea

The sea lies in an ecosystem that has increasingly become disturbed in the recent times. Its ecosystem is bordered by Israel as well as the West Bank on the west while Jordan borders it to the east. The major water inlet into the sea is the Jordan River alongside smaller inlets that rise from the east. It does not have any single outlet, but loses its waters through evaporation which occurs at a high rate given the fact that area is a desert zone (Bashitialshaaer, Persson, and Larson). In the past, the Dead Sea had almost sufficient levels of water inflow from Jordan River and some of its tributaries, but the situation has greatly changed within the last 50 years. Anthropogenic interventions have been one of the primary causes of the reducing water levels in the sea alongside the high rates of evaporation. In the last decade to 2003, the sea’s water level was dropping at an estimated rate of 1.0m/yr. It led to a drop of water level by almost 20 meters at the beginning of the 20th century. In 2006, the water level dropped to about 419 meters below mean sea level (Gavrieli and Bein 109). In the 1960s, water level the Dead Sea was at -397 meters (Hecht 171).

The Dead Sea: Past & Present

The Dead Sea, unlike other hyper saline waters across the globe is one of the most popular hyper saline waters bodies that has attracted and continues to attract scientific and religious interests across the globe. This follows significant findings of brine in the sea and the Dead Sea Bible Scrolls. The Greeks referred to the sea as Lacus Asphaltitis probably because of occasional asphalt which threw out of the sea bed following occasional earthquakes. Some of the unique and distinctive features of the Dead Sea include its occupancy of the lowest point below mean sea level, about 412m and an area coverage of about 970km2 in addition to its estimated volume of 135km3 (Wisniak, 79-80). This paper examines some of the wonders that have been associated with the Dead Sea over the years.

There are religious, traditional, and now, scientific opinions and beliefs that the Dead Sea can bring about ‘miraculous’ healing to different conditions including a wide range of skin diseases. However, one needs to separate Christian and/or traditional healing practices around the sea in the Middle East from scientific reasoning on the healing effects of the sea from religious and/or traditional beliefs on the healing powers of the sea.

Research on climatotherapy supports the hypothesis that Dead Sea can improve and/or heal human body of varied conditions. However, there is no research that carries empirical evidence of the efficacy of the healing processing in the sea. This does not mean that Christian medical practitioners cannot use the Sea as an alternative healing treatment. For instance, persons suffering from extreme cases of psoriasis always get admitted into hospitals for pharmacotherapy.

However, Moses et al. (484) pointed out that both severe and mild psoriasis patients always draw great benefits from climatotherapy of the Dead Sea. As a consequence, quite a number of Scandinavian countries, Germany, and even Israel have established medical insurance schemes that can support psoriasis patient’s pilgrimage to the Dead Sea for climatotherapy intervention on their conditions. This evidence of the perceived and/or real healing benefits of Dead Sea climatotherapy should be one of the decision-making paradigms that should inform Christian medical practitioner’s choice when they prescribe climatotherapy..

Figure 3. Part of the digital collection of the Bible Scrolls that were discovered at Qumran near the Dead Sea. From Digital Dead Sea Scrolls. The Great Isaiah Scroll. Imj.org, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

Dead Sea Bible Scrolls

However, modern medical science has supported the hypothesis that unique locality of the Dead Sea and presence of high concentrations of salts in the Sea could offer a wide range of therapeutic effects on body of a human being. In the contemporary society, many pilgrims to the Sea could be seeking after its unique climatotherapy effects (Moses et al., 483).cultivating in people, a belief that there was some healing magic in the Sea and its environs.

Climatotherapy is a therapy technique that is based on exposure to natural elements of nature/climate to savor their therapeutic effects into the body. Some of the conditions that could be alleviated through controlled exposure to the unique environment of the Dead Sea include psoriatic, arthritis, eczema, lichen planus among other ailments (Moses et al., 484). Scientific researches into climatology was almost nonexistent thousands of years back, but still, communities that lived around the Sea might have benefitted from its unique therapeutic elements hence cultivating in people, a belief that there was some healing magic in the Sea and its environs.

Ubiquitous belief among Christians that there is a miraculous healing power in the Dead Sea can be inferred from the Christians’ pilgrimage statistics to Israel. In 2013, Israel received 3.54 million visitors with Christians accounting for 53% of them. About 40% of the total number of Christians visiting Israel in 2013 defined their visitation as a pilgrimage. In the same year, the Dead Sea was one of the most visited sites in Israel by Christian pilgrims at an estimated rate of 85% (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs). It is poignant to mention the fact the Bible does not have any account of actual healing scenario in the Sea.

Science on the other hand is pegged on rigorously tested theories to find evidence for the existence of a phenomenon. For example, when a Christian plunges into the waters of the Dead Sea, there is a likelihood of expectations of miraculous healing. However, contemporary pilgrims to the Dead Sea might do so based on persuasions from medical evidence of the unique healing or therapeutic elements of the Dead Sea based on its unique physical attributes. Therefore, the Dead Sea could be considered a place of real healing powers based on traditional healing practices of the Middle East and/or scientific evidences.

When it comes to Christian medical practitioners recommending patient’s visitations to the Dead Sea, there are there are vintage points to consider. First, a Christian medical practitioner is a scientist and a believer or atheist. Belief in Christianity is limited to having faith in the existence of a Supreme Being, God.

There are religious, traditional, and now, scientific opinions and beliefs that the Dead Sea can bring about ‘miraculous’ healing to different conditions including a wide range of skin diseases. However, one needs to separate Christian and/or traditional healing practices around the sea in the Middle East from scientific reasoning on the healing effects of the sea from religious and/or traditional beliefs on the healing powers of the sea.

The Dead Sea & French Sulphur Pools

:similarities & differences

Sulphur pools are a kind of hot springs that can be used as natural spas. In France, such type of spas can be found in towns like Amelie-les-Bains. The water from the pools is rich in minerals just like water in the Dead Sea. Additionally, there are several health conditions like arthritis and multiple sclerosis that people believe could be alleviated by bathing in the sulphur pools (Flower).

Conclusion

On the other hand, dissolved minerals salts in the sulphur pool waters tend to make sulphur pool waters salty, but not as salty as the Dead Sea. Furthermore, sulphur pool waters emanated from underground water aquifers, while the Red Sea has a major inlet from River Jordan and perhaps, the little rainfall that the region receives. The other difference is that many people who visit the sulphur pools in France are from within the county, while the Dead Sea attracts visitors from across the globe. In addition, water in hot pools is heated underground from heat within the earth’s mantle, a stark difference with the Dead Sea where there is no underground heating of the sea water.

Wonders of the Dead Sea are manifold. The Sea is the only one of its kind in the world for not being able to sustain life of larger animals, but it is a religious symbol of miraculous healing. Being the largest water mass that Jordan River drains into, that Sea symbolically inspires religiosity and feelings of mysticism among Christians since Jesus Christ was baptized in the river. On the hand, from the medieval times, Middle Easterners have taken refuge in its climatotherapy elements including its wide range of dissolved salt content, richly oxygenated air, and reduced sun say effects. Many Christians have made pilgrimage to the sea to savor in its rich and miraculous healing power as well as reconnect with paths of people like the Biblical Lot and King David who happen to have been connected to the sea in different ways.

On the other hand, the sea lies in the vicinity of Qumran and other caves from where the Bible scrolls were discovered to authenticate early histories of Christ and the development of monotheistic religion of Christianity. The sea bear some similarities and differences with natural hot spas like the French sulphur ponds despite the fact that human activities within its environs are beginning to threaten its ecology and hydrological cycle.

Works Cited

Bashitialshaaer, Raed A.I., Kenneth M. Persson, and Magnus Larson. Mixing Time for the Dead Sea Based on Water and Salt Mass Balances. N.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Flower, Kathy. French Embrace Spa Water Cures. Bbc.co.uk. BBC, 16 Apr. 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

Gavrieli, Ittai, and Amos Bein. “Formulating a Regional Policy for the Future of the Dead Sea-The ‘Peace Conduit’ Alternative.” Gsi.gov.il, n.d. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Hecht, Gertman, A. “The Dead Dea hydrography from 1992 to 2000.” Journal of Marine Systems 35 (2002): 169-81. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Christian Tourism to Israel in 2013. Mfa.gov.il. State of Israel, 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

Momentum Travel Services DBA Holy Land Voyager. The Dead Sea. Tourstotheholyland.com, 2015. Web. 15 Mar. 2015.

Moses, Shimon W, Michael David, Ehud Goldhammer, Asher Tal, and Shaul Sukenik. “The Dead Sea, A Unique Natural Health Resort.” IMAJ 8(2006): 483-88. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.

Leon Levy Digital Library. Dead Sea Scrolls. Deadseascrolls.org. Israel Antiquities Authority, 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2015.

Wisniak, Jaime. “The Dead Sea-A Live Pool of Chemicals.” Indian Journal of Chemical Technology 9 (2002): 79-87. Web. 11 Mar. 2015.