Editing Dead Sea (section)

==Human history==
===Biblical period===
[[File:MountSodom061607.jpg|thumb|[[Mount Sodom]], Israel, showing the so-called "[[Lot's Wife]]" pillar (made of [[halite]] like the rest of the mountain)]]
Dwelling in caves near the Dead Sea is recorded in the [[Hebrew Bible]] as having taken place before the [[Israelites]] came to [[Canaan]], and extensively at the time of King [[David]].

Just northwest of the Dead Sea is [[Jericho]]. Somewhere, perhaps on the southeastern shore, would be the cities mentioned in the [[Book of Genesis]] which were said to have been destroyed in the time of [[Abraham]]: [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] (Genesis 18) and the three other "Cities of the Plain", [[Admah]], [[Zeboim (Hebrew Bible)|Zeboim]] and [[Zoara|Zoar]] (Deuteronomy 29:23). Zoar escaped destruction when Abraham's nephew [[Lot (Bible)|Lot]] escaped to Zoar from Sodom (Genesis 19:21–22). Before the destruction, the Dead Sea was a valley full of natural [[tar pit]]s, which was called the '''vale of Siddim'''.{{fact|date=January 2025}} King David was said to have hidden from [[Saul]] at Ein Gedi nearby.

In Ezekiel 47:8–9 there is a specific prophecy that the sea will "be healed and made fresh", becoming a normal lake capable of supporting [[marine biology|marine life]]. A similar prophecy is stated in Zechariah 14:8, which says that "living waters will go out from [[Jerusalem]], half of them to the eastern sea [likely the Dead Sea] and half to the western sea [the [[Mediterranean]]]."

===Greek and Roman period===
Greek and Jewish writers report that the [[Nabateans]] had [[monopolistic]] control over the Dead Sea.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hammond |first=Philip C. |date=1959 |title=The Nabataean Bitumen Industry at the Dead Sea |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3209307 |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=40–48 |doi=10.2307/3209307 |jstor=3209307 |s2cid=133997328 }}</ref>

Archaeological evidence shows multiple anchorages existing on both sides of the sea, including in [[Ein Gedi]], [[Khirbet Mazin]] (where the ruins of a [[Hasmonean]]-era dry dock are located), [[Numeira]] and near [[Masada]].<ref name="anchorages">{{cite journal |last1=  Hadas|first1= Gideon|date= April 2011|title= Dead Sea Anchorages|journal= Revue Biblique |volume= 118 |issue= 2|pages= 161–179|jstor= 44092052}}</ref><ref>[https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/special-find-sailing-dead-sea Sailing the Dead Sea] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190106104318/https://www.imj.org.il/en/exhibitions/special-find-sailing-dead-sea |date=2019-01-06 }}, [[Israel Museum]]</ref>

King [[Herod the Great]] built or rebuilt several fortresses and palaces on the western bank of the Dead Sea. The most famous was [[Masada]], where in 70 CE a small group of Jewish [[zealots]] fled after the fall of the destruction of the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|Second Temple]]. The zealots survived until 73 CE, when a siege by the [[Roman legion|X Legion]] ended in the deaths by suicide of its 960 inhabitants. Another historically important fortress was [[Machaerus]] (מכוור), on the eastern bank, where, according to Josephus, [[John the Baptist]] was imprisoned by [[Herod Antipas]] and died.<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'' [http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=J.+AJ+18.119 18.119]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=BabbaQ |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref>

{{rquote|right|Again if, as is fabled, there is a lake in [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]], such that if you bind a man or beast and throw it in it floats and does not sink, this would bear out what we have said. They say that this lake is so bitter and salty that no fish live in it and that if you soak clothes in it and shake them it cleans them. — [[Aristotle]], ''[[Meteorology (Aristotle)|Meteorology]]''}}

Also in Roman times, some [[Essenes]] settled on the Dead Sea's western shore; [[Pliny the Elder]] identifies their location with the words, "on the west side of the Dead Sea, away from the coast ... [above] the town of Engeda" (''Natural History'', Bk 5.73); and it is therefore a hugely popular but contested hypothesis today, that same Essenes are identical with the settlers at [[Qumran]] and that "the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]]" discovered during the 20th century in the nearby caves had been their own library.

[[File:Madaba BW 9 THERMA KALLIROIS highlighted.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|A cargo boat on the Dead Sea as seen on the [[Madaba Map]], from the 6th century AD]] [[Josephus]] identified the Dead Sea in geographic proximity to the ancient Biblical city of [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]]. However, he referred to the lake by its Greek name, Asphaltites.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm|author=Josephus|title=Antiquities of the Jews|volume=1|chapter=9|title-link=Antiquities of the Jews|access-date=2012-02-18|archive-date=2020-11-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111185534/https://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Various sects of Jews settled in caves overlooking the Dead Sea. The best known of these are the [[Essenes]] of [[Qumran]], who left an extensive library known as the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].<ref>Found today in the [[Shrine of the Book]] at the Israel Museum of Jerusalem</ref> The town of [[Ein Gedi]], mentioned many times in the [[Mishna]], produced [[persimmon]] for the temple's fragrance and for export, using a secret recipe. "Sodomite salt" was an essential mineral for the temple's holy incense, but was said to be dangerous for home use and could cause blindness.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pardes.org.il/online_learning/weekly-talmud/2009-02-12.php |title=World of Our Sages: Salty Hands |first1=Levi |last1=Cooper |date=February 12, 2009  |website=Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815040437/http://www.pardes.org.il/online_learning/weekly-talmud/2009-02-12.php |archive-date=2009-08-15 }}</ref> The Roman camps surrounding [[Masada]] were built by Jewish slaves receiving water from the towns around the lake. These towns had drinking water from the [[Ein Feshcha]] springs and other sweetwater springs in the vicinity.<ref>A synagogue mosaic floor (circa 100 BCE) at Ein Gedi repeats the Mishna, portraying a curse on whoever reveals the town's secret persimmon recipe. Papyrus parchments found in caves near the Dead Sea document the vast amount of cultivated land in the area, especially persimmon trees, but also olive and date trees</ref>

===Byzantine period===
The sixth-century mosaic known as the [[Madaba Map]] indicates that trade across the Dead Sea was very prevalent during the Byzantine period.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Arielli |first=Nir |title=The Dead Sea: A 10,000 Year History |publisher=Yale University Press |year=2025}}</ref>

Connected with the Judean wilderness to its northwest and west, the Dead Sea was a place of escape and refuge. The remoteness of the region attracted [[Greek Orthodox]] [[monk]]s since the [[Byzantine]] era. Their [[monasteries]], such as [[Saint George]] in Wadi Kelt and [[Mar Saba]] in the [[Judaean Desert]], are places of [[pilgrimage]].{{Cn|date=January 2025}}
===Medieval period===

From the seventh century onwards, the Dead Sea area entered a period of decline and its population decreased. The cultivation of sugarcane near the northern and southern shores of the lake began to develop during the Crusader period and reached its peak under the Mamluks.<ref name=":0" />

===Modern times===
[[File:IRBY(1823) p507 SKETCH OF THE BACKWATER AT THE SOUTH END OF THE DEAD SEA.jpg|thumbnail|The southern basin of the Dead Sea as of 1817–18, with the Lisan Peninsula and its ford (now named Lynch Strait). North is to the right.]]
In the 19th century the River Jordan and the Dead Sea were explored by boat primarily by [[Christopher Costigan]] in 1835, Thomas Howard Molyneux in 1847, [[William Francis Lynch]] in 1848, and [[John MacGregor (sportsman)|John MacGregor]] in 1869.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deadseaguide.com/dead_sea_history|title=History of the Dead Sea – Discover the Dead Sea with Us!|date=1 July 2016|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-date=22 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151122195402/http://www.deadseaguide.com/dead_sea_history|url-status=live}}</ref> The full text of W. F. Lynch's 1849 book ''[[s:Narrative Of The United States Expedition To The River Jordan And The Dead Sea|Narrative of the United States' Expedition to the River Jordan and the Dead Sea]]'' is available online. [[Charles Leonard Irby]] and [[James Mangles (Royal Navy officer)|James Mangles]] travelled along the shores of the Dead Sea already in 1817–18, but didn't navigate on its waters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/the-unfortunate-costigan-first-surveyor-of-the-dead-sea/|title='The unfortunate Costigan', first surveyor of the Dead Sea|date=25 February 2013|access-date=22 November 2015|archive-date=25 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225020326/http://www.historyireland.com/18th-19th-century-history/the-unfortunate-costigan-first-surveyor-of-the-dead-sea/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[File:World's lowest point (1971).jpg|thumb|World's lowest (dry) point, [[Jordan]], 1971]]

Explorers and scientists arrived in the area to analyze the minerals and research the unique climate.

After the find of the "[[Moabite Stone]]" in 1868 on the plateau east of the Dead Sea, [[Moses Wilhelm Shapira]] and his partner Salim al-Khouri forged and sold a whole range of presumed "Moabite" antiquities, and in 1883 Shapira presented what is now known as the "Shapira Strips", a supposedly ancient scroll written on leather strips which he claimed had been found near the Dead Sea. The strips were declared to be forgeries and Shapira took his own life in disgrace.

The [[1922 census of Palestine]] lists 100 people (68 Muslims and 32 Christians) with "Dead Sea & Jordan" as their main locality.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/PalestineCensus1922 |title=Palestine Census ( 1922)}}</ref> The [[1931 census of Palestine|1931 census]] shows a sharp increase with 535 people (264 Muslims, 230 Jews, 21 Christians, 17 [[Druze]], and three with no religion) listing "Dead Sea" as their main village/town.<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/palestine-census-1931 |title=Palestine Census 1931}}</ref> The 1938 nor [[Village Statistics, 1945|1945 village statistics]] does not give a number for the general Dead Sea area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Village statistics, February 1938. |url=https://rosetta.nli.org.il/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE13978876 |access-date=2023-08-19 |website=rosetta.nli.org.il |archive-date=2023-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819190145/https://rosetta.nli.org.il/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE13978876 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Village statistics, April, 1945 {{!}} Palestine (1917–1948). Department of Statistics {{!}}  The National Library of Israel |url=https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL_ALEPH990022497560205171/NLI |access-date=2023-08-19 |website=www.nli.org.il |language=en |archive-date=2023-08-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230819190141/https://www.nli.org.il/en/books/NNL_ALEPH990022497560205171/NLI |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, hundreds of Jewish religious documents dated between 150 BCE and 70 CE were found in caves near the ancient settlement of [[Qumran]], about {{convert|1|mi|km|spell=in|abbr=off}} inland from the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea (presently in the West Bank). They became known and famous as the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].

The world's lowest roads, [[Highway 90 (Israel–Palestine)|Highway 90]], run along the Israeli and West Bank shores of the Dead Sea, along with Highway 65 on the [[Jordan]]ian side, at {{convert|393|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below sea level.