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WONDERS OF NATURE
The Dead Sea. Nature miracle
At the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, at the bottom of the El Gor depression, there is probably the most famous lake in the world - the Dead Sea. Its name, however, is only half true. The waters of the lake are really dead: there are no fish in them, algae do not grow, even ducks do not swim on them. And no wonder: after all, there are almost ten times more salt in the Dead Sea than in the ocean - up to 340 grams per liter! If a fish from the Jordan River that flows into the lake accidentally swims into this "brine pool", they will die in one minute. But the word "sea" is not very suitable for him: seventy-six kilometers long, seventeen - wide - not too sea dimensions!
The reasons for the high salinity of the Dead Sea are clear: the Jordan and several other small rivers and streams have been carrying water into this drainless lake for centuries, where it partially evaporates, and salts accumulate. As a result, now you can safely lie on the surface of the lake with a book: a thick dense brine will not let you drown. But ordinary swimming in this unique reservoir is impossible: neither dive nor swim, except to sit or stretch out on the water to its full height. But it perfectly treats skin diseases and has many other healing properties. The Dead Sea coast is the lowest place on earth on our planet and lies four hundred meters below sea level. By the way, in past geological epochs, the water level in the lake was much higher, as evidenced by marine deposits found on the slopes of the El Gor basin. But as the climate became hotter, evaporation increased, the water in the Dead Sea became less and less salinity. Salts are added to the lake and hot mineral springs gushing on the southern shore of the Dead Sea. Today, the surface of the super-salty lake does not even look like water. A thick, oily-looking liquid with a metallic sheen and yellowish-white salt flakes in small places, it does not make you want to take a dip even in the midst of the summer heat. However, we already know that this is still impossible, especially since the corrosive properties of the brine are unlikely to add pleasure to the bather. So "bathing" (or rather, lying or sitting) in the Dead Sea is the lot of lovers of exotic photographs, or people who have been prescribed this by a dermatologist. The healing qualities of lake brine have been known for a long time. Even the biblical king Herod the Great was treated with baths from the Dead Sea water. Now, this healing procedure has been put on a grand scale here, and a whole network of hotels on the coast receives those who suffer from all over the world, giving them the opportunity to be treated with brines and mud with all possible comfort. The Jordan River, the one in which John the Baptist baptized Jesus, flows into the Dead Sea from the north, so the water in this part of the lake is fresher - "only" 240 grams of salt per liter. The farther south, the saltier the water, and at the very southern tip, even peculiar "salt pillars" of the most bizarre appearance are formed from the drying supersaturated brine. One of them, reminiscent of a female figure in a cloak, is associated with a biblical legend. It is called "Lot's wife". Everyone probably remembers that, about to punish Sodom and Gomorrah, which were mired in debauchery, God warned the righteous Lot about this, and he left the city with his wife on the eve of its destruction. But the wife of the righteous, violating the prohibition of the Lord, looked back, leaving, at her native walls, for which she was turned into a pillar of salt. Much on the shores of the Dead Sea still reminds of biblical times. These are the ruins of the impregnable fortress of Metzada, built by Herod the Great, towering on a high cliff of the western coast, opposite the El Lisan peninsula, and the sacred Jordan, and the ancient city of Hebron, and the mysterious caves of Qumran, where unique handwritten scrolls of 2000 years ago were recently found, telling about the events connected with the beginning of Christianity. But the main attraction here, of course, is Jerusalem - a city equally revered by adherents of three religions: Christians, Jews and Muslims. Located twenty kilometers from the Dead Sea on the mountains of Judea, it has preserved many memorable places associated with the Old Testament and Gospel times, such as Mount Calvary, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Garden of Gethsemane, as well as monuments revered by Muslims, such as the temple of Kubbat-as-Sahra on Mount Moriah, from where the prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven to Allah. The famous Wailing Wall stands in the center of the city - the only part of the ancient temple that survived after the storming of the city by the troops of the Roman emperor Titus, who brutally suppressed the uprising of the Jews. Now it is a place of worship and sorrow for all the sons and daughters of this ancient people. There are many amazing natural monuments on the coast of the Dead Sea. The shores of this reservoir themselves, completely devoid of vegetation, have an unusual appearance: the mountains of the western shore are yellowish-white, and in the east they are pink. Among the small streams flowing into the lake, one is absolutely amazing: it flows ... hot water! Flowing through a deep canyon in the middle of the Syrian desert, this river forms an almost hundred-meter stepped waterfall closer to the mouth. Oddly enough, the water of the hot river, heated to forty-two degrees, is fresh, and thanks to it, a small but picturesque oasis has appeared in the canyon. The island of life in the desert looks especially impressive because of the contrast of green palms and shrubs and the bare pink rocks of the desert canyon. Another desert, the Negev, adjoins the Dead Sea from the southwest. It is best known for the Timna National Park, where the famous Solomon Pillars are located. In the picturesque gorge, wind and rare rains (they fall in the Negev desert in winter) created a whole group of bizarre and high, up to fifty meters, limestone rocks. Not far from them are ancient mines, in which copper ore was mined under King Solomon. Another "highlight" of the Negev is the oasis of Ein Avdat in the very center of the desert. It is famous for its lakes, caves and canyons, but mainly for its grandiose waterfall, which is formed for a short time only during the flood period. As for the animal and plant world of the deserts surrounding the Dead Sea, it is, as always in such places, not rich. Yes, and wars and migrations of peoples for more than three thousand years have by no means enriched the already meager fauna and flora of the Syrian desert and the Negev. The lions with whom the biblical hero Samson used to fight are long gone, the bears that disturbed the inhabitants of Judea back in the XNUMXth century have disappeared, there are almost no leopards and wild onager donkeys left. True, there are still cheetahs, hyenas and jackals. Often comes across eared desert fennec fox. And graceful gazelles rush across the desert expanses in whole herds. The situation is worse with plants. The forests that once covered the slopes of the mountains facing the Mediterranean Sea were cut down by the Phoenicians. The Jews, Romans, Byzantines, and Turks picked up the baton. Everyone needed wood for buildings and for ships. So the deserts of this area are largely the work of man. True, attempts are now being made to correct the wrong done. In Israel alone, one hundred and fifty million trees have been planted in the last half century. But it will probably be centuries before the former forests can be restored. By the way, the Dead Sea itself is still not a hundred percent lifeless body of water. In its salt water, some types of bacteria manage to survive, thanks to which, by the way, it acquires healing properties. In recent years, scientists have been intensively looking for fish species that could exist in such an unsuitable environment for life. It has already been proven that the small Black Sea red mullet can withstand being in the water of the Dead Sea. Maybe soon the lake, at least in the region of the mouth of the Jordan, will come to life and fishermen will appear on its banks? .. In the meantime, the main wealth of the Dead Sea is its unique water, or rather brine. In addition to its medicinal qualities, it also became the raw material for two large plants that produce potash salt from it - the fertilizer that is most needed here. Another wealth of the lake is asphalt, which has been mined here since ancient times. Even the Phoenicians and Romans pitched their ships to them. And now the Dead Sea is one of the few deposits of natural asphalt in the world, without which not a single highway can do. The coast of the Dead Sea does not shine with beauty. Dry, without the slightest greenery, mountain slopes, dry riverbeds, white stripes of dried salt near the shores of the lake do not cause a desire to admire and, moreover, enjoy such a landscape. And yet, the deepest depression of the Earth with the most salty water, either by the uniqueness of its natural features, or by the healing properties of the waters, or by the great, heroic and tragic history of the places surrounding it, attracts millions of tourists from all over the world. And a trip to the lake with such a gloomy name becomes for many of them the discovery of a new, amazing world, unlike anything seen before, and in its own way interesting and memorable. Author: B.Wagner
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