The Dead Sea Scrolls
Trip Start
Jul 16, 1975
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5
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Trip End
Jul 15, 1976
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Qumran, West Bank, Palestinian Territory
Thursday, October 16, 1975
For me, one of the more remarkable aspects of this trip has been learning biblical stories on their traditional sites. Why? The archeology and geology I'm seeing support their validity. One of the more interesting stories is here at the Dead Sea.
The traditional sites of Sodom and Gomorrah are just south of the Dead Sea. Both were turned into salt. The Dead Sea is not a typical body of water. A narrow jedi separates the main body at the north from a shallow pool at the south end. One theory, as explained by my tour guide, is that the original sea was the larger, northerly body of water. It later spilled into the ruined cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Is the Dead Sea proof of the ancient doomed cities? No. But the correlation is pretty intriguing. Envisioning the biblical stories here becomes pretty easy. Especially when I'm learning most of them for the first time. Trying to disprove the stories, on the other hand, becomes a little difficult.
Another major source of Israel's GNP is salt. Water from the Dead Sea is pumped into several nearby vats and left to evaporate. One reason is that the crystallized residue is known for its healing properties.
Eric
