View source for Dead Sea

{{Short description|Salt lake in the Levant}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Dead Sea
| native_name        = {{native name list 
  | tag1 = ar
  | name1 = البحر الميت
  | tag2 = he
  | name2 = ים המלח
  }}
| image              = Dead Sea beach 00.JPG
| caption            = A view of the sea from the Jordanian shore with the hills of the [[West Bank]] in the background
| image_bathymetry   = 
| caption_bathymetry = 
| coords             = {{Coord|31|30|N|35|30|E|type:waterbody|display=inline}}
| lake_type          = {{ubl|[[Endorheic]]|[[Hypersaline]]}}
| inflow             = [[Jordan River]]
| outflow            = ''None''
| catchment          = {{convert|41650|km2|abbr=on}}
| basin_countries    = [[Jordan]], [[Palestine]] ([[Israeli-occupied West Bank]]), [[Israel]]
| length             = {{convert|50|km|abbr=on}}<ref name="JVL">{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Deadsea.html|title=Virtual Israel Experience: The Dead Sea|encyclopedia=Jewish Virtual Library|access-date=21 January 2013|archive-date=15 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115133409/http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vie/Deadsea.html|url-status=live}}</ref> (northern basin only)
| width              = {{convert|15|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| area               = {{convert|605|km2|abbr=on}} (2016)<ref name="HRTZ">{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/1.746258 |title=The Dead Sea Is Dying Fast: Is It Too Late to Save It, or Was It Always a Lost Cause? |newspaper=Haaretz |date=7 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161222185808/http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/1.746258 |archive-date=22 December 2016 }}</ref>
| depth              = {{convert|188.4|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=ilec/>
| max-depth          = {{convert|298|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (elevation of deepest point, {{cvt|728|m}} BSL [below sea level], minus current surface elevation)
| volume             = {{convert|114|km3|cumi|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=ilec/>
| shore              = {{convert|135|km|abbr=on}}
| elevation          = {{convert|-439.78|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |title=מפלס ים המלח משנת 1976 (Dead Sea Level since 1976) |url=https://data.gov.il/dataset/https-www-data-gov-il-dataset-683/resource/823479b4-4771-43d8-9189-6a2a1dcaaf10 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Government Data (Israel) |language=he}}</ref>
| reference          = <ref name=ilec>[http://www.eingedi.co.il/viewpage.asp?pagesCatID=13214&siteName=eingedi Dead Sea Data Summary 2015] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20150221101030/http://www.eingedi.co.il/viewpage.asp?pagesCatID=13214&siteName=eingedi |date=2015-02-21 }}.''Water Authority of Israel''.<br />{{cite web |title=Red Sea – Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program |date=2013 |url=http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/EXTREDSEADEADSEA/0,,contentMDK:21827416~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:5174617,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915013427/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/EXTREDSEADEADSEA/0,,contentMDK:21827416~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:5174617,00.html |archive-date=2013-09-15 |publisher=The World Bank Group }}</ref><ref name="ISRAMAR">{{cite web|url= http://isramar.ocean.org.il/isramar2009/DeadSea/LongTerm.aspx|title= Long-Term changes in the Dead Sea|publisher= Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research – Israel Marine Data Center (ISRAMAR)|access-date= 2014-05-31|archive-date= 2018-11-06|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181106233009/https://isramar.ocean.org.il/isramar2009/DeadSea/LongTerm.aspx|url-status= live}}</ref>
| location           = [[Western Asia]]
<!--      Map      -->
| pushpin_map        = Israel
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt    = Location of the Dead Sea
| pushpin_map_caption = <!--   Below       -->
| website            = 
}}

The '''Dead Sea''' ({{langx|ar|اَلْبَحْر الْمَيِّت|al-Baḥr al-Mayyit}}; or {{langx|ar|اَلْبَحْر الْمَيْت|al-Baḥr al-Mayt|label=none}}; {{langx|he|יַם הַמֶּלַח|Yam hamMelaḥ}}), also known by [[#Names|other names]], is a landlocked [[salt lake]] bordered by [[Jordan]] to the east, the [[Israeli-occupied West Bank]] to the west and [[Israel]] to the southwest.<ref name="DSC1"/><ref name="DSC2"/> It lies in the [[endorheic basin]] of the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], and its main [[tributary]] is the [[Jordan River]].

As of 2025, the lake's surface is {{convert|439.78|m|ft|0}} below [[sea level]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=מפלס ים המלח משנת 1976 (Dead Sea Level since 1976) |url=https://data.gov.il/dataset/https-www-data-gov-il-dataset-683/resource/823479b4-4771-43d8-9189-6a2a1dcaaf10 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Government Data (Israel) |language=he}}</ref> making its shores the [[Lowest elevations|lowest land-based elevation]] on Earth. It is {{convert|304|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} deep, the deepest [[hypersaline lake]] in the world. With a [[salinity]] of 342 g/kg, or 34.2% (in 2011), it is one of the [[List of bodies of water by salinity|world's saltiest bodies of water]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Dead Sea |editor-last=Goetz | editor-first=P. W. |encyclopedia=The New Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=15th |volume=3 |page=937 |place=Chicago | publisher = Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. | year=1986}}</ref> 9.6 times as [[Seawater#Salinity|salty as the ocean]]—and has a [[density]] of 1.24&nbsp;kg/litre, which makes swimming similar to [[Buoyancy|floating]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Encyclopedia of world geography|year=2005|publisher=Facts on File|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&q=Dead+sea+has+a+density++++swimming&pg=PA237|editor-first=R W |editor-last=McColl|page=237|isbn=978-0-8160-7229-3|access-date=2020-11-10|archive-date=2023-10-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075941/https://books.google.com/books?id=DJgnebGbAB8C&q=Dead+sea+has+a+density++++swimming&pg=PA237#v=snippet&q=Dead%20sea%20has%20a%20density%20%20%20%20swimming&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dspimport.com/about_the_dead_sea.html |title=Dead Sea—Composition of Dead Sea Water |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104055037/http://www.dspimport.com/about_the_dead_sea.html |archive-date=2013-11-04 }}</ref> This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea's main, northern basin is {{convert|50|km|mi|0}} long and {{convert|15|km|mi|0}} wide at its widest point.<ref name="JVL"/>

The Dead Sea has attracted visitors from around the [[Mediterranean basin]] for thousands of years. It was one of the world's first [[health resort]]s, and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from [[Bitumen|asphalt]] for [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[mummification]] to [[potash]] for [[fertiliser]]s. Today, tourists visit the sea on its Israeli, Jordanian and West Bank coastlines.

The Dead Sea is receding at a swift rate; its surface area today is {{convert|605|km2|abbr=on}}, having been {{convert|1050|km2|abbr=on}} in 1930. Multiple canal and pipeline proposals, such as the scrapped [[Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance]] project,<ref name="JT">{{cite web|url=http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/5-alliances-shortlisted-execute-red-dead%E2%80%99s-phase-i|title=5 alliances shortlisted to execute Red-Dead's phase I|access-date=3 December 2016|date=27 November 2016|work=The Jordan Times|archive-date=29 November 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161129214035/http://jordantimes.com/news/local/5-alliances-shortlisted-execute-red-dead%E2%80%99s-phase-i|url-status=live}}</ref> have been made to reduce its recession.

==Names <span class="anchor" id="Etymology"></span><span class="anchor" id="Toponymy"></span><span class="anchor" id="Etymology and toponymy"></span><span class="anchor" id="Name"></span>==
The English name "Dead Sea" is a [[calque]] of the Arabic name, itself a calque of earlier Greek and Latin names,<ref>{{cite web |author-link=Justin (historian) |title=Justin's History of the World 36.3 |url=https://topostext.org/work/226#36.3 |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Topos Text |publisher=[[Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pausanias, Description of Greece 5.7.4-5 |url=https://topostext.org/work/213#5.7.4 |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=ToposText |publisher=[[Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation]] |language=en}}</ref> in reference to the scarcity of aquatic life caused by the lake's extreme salinity.<ref name=NJE>{{cite book |author1=David Bridger |author2=Samuel Wolk |title=The New Jewish Encyclopedia |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hZqpCrG3qw0C&pg=PA109 |access-date=July 25, 2011 |date=September 1976 |publisher=Behrman House, Inc |isbn=978-0-87441-120-1 |page=109 |quote=It was named the "Dead Sea" because of the fact that no living thing can exist there, since the water is extremely salty and bitter. |archive-date=October 30, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075941/https://books.google.com/books?id=hZqpCrG3qw0C&pg=PA109#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>
Historical English names include the '''Salt Sea''',<ref name="natgeo">{{citation |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=fHI9AAAAYAAJ&pg=PA458 458] |last=Morse |first=Jedidiah |title=The American Universal Geography... |volume=2 |edition=7th |location=Boston |publisher=Lincoln & Edmands |date=1819 }}</ref> '''Lake of Sodom'''<ref name="natgeo"/> from the biblical account of its destruction<ref name="sodom"/> and {{nowrap|'''Lake Asphaltites'''}}<ref name="natgeo"/> from Greek and Latin.

The name "Dead Sea" occasionally appears in [[Hebrew literature]] as {{tlit|he|Yām HamMāvet}} ({{lang|he|ים המוות}}), {{gloss|Sea of Death}}.<ref name=NJE/> However, the most common name for the lake in both [[Biblical Hebrew|biblical]]<ref>{{bibleverse|Gen|14|3|KJV}}</ref> and modern Hebrew—and also its oldest known name<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Kreiger |first=Barbara |title=The Dead Sea and the Jordan River |date=2016 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-01936-3 |location=Bloomington Indianapolis |page=6 |quote=Given the long history that has been enacted on its shores by many nations, it is not surprising that the Dead Sea has had various names. Its oldest is Yam Ha-Melah, the Salt Sea, that name first appearing in the Bible in the books of Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, and Joshua, where it usually serves as a geographical landmark. To the Greeks it was Lake Asphaltites because of the lumps of asphalt that were periodically thrown up from its depths, and that name persisted in the texts of medieval writers. Christians of the Middle Ages also knew it as the Devil's Sea, and their Arab contemporaries referred occasionally to the Stinking Lake, presumably because of the smell of sulphur emitted from several places along the shore. But the names that appear most frequently in Arab texts are commemorative of the cataclysm that engulfed Sodom and Gomorrah. They called it simply The Overwhelmed, "from the cities of Lot that were overwhelmed in its depths," or the Sea of Zughar (i.e., Zoar), after the town that had escaped destruction and flourished in the Middle Ages. Likewise the Jews, who sometimes referred to it as the East Sea, to distinguish it from the Mediterranean, or the Sea of the Aravah, referring to the valley in which it lies, but more often called it the Sea of Sodom. Except for the little used Arab name Al Buhairah al Miyyatah, the Dead Lake, the notion of lifelessness is not reflected in Arab and Jewish names, though Mare Mortuum, the Dead Sea, had appeared in early Roman texts. (In Tacitus' History we also find it called the Jewish Sea.) Today the Arabs call it Bahr el-Lut, the Sea of Lot. To Jews it is still Yam Ha-Melah.}}</ref>—is the {{gloss|Sea of Salt}} ({{langx|he|ים המלח|Yām HamMelaḥ}}). Other Hebrew names for the lake also mentioned in the [[Bible]] are the Sea of [[Arabah]] ({{langx|he|ים הערבה|Yām Ha'Ărāvâ|link=no}}) and the Eastern Sea ({{langx|he|היםהקדמוני|HaYām HaQadmōnî|link=no}}). In the [[Talmud]], it is called {{gloss|Sea of Salt}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jerusalem Talmud Kilayim 9:3:16 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Jerusalem_Talmud_Kilayim.9.3.16?ven=hebrew%7CThe_Jerusalem_Talmud%2C_edition_by_Heinrich_W._Guggenheimer._Berlin%2C_De_Gruyter%2C_1999-2015&lang=he |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=[[Sefaria]] |quote=ימא דמילחא}}</ref> or {{gloss|Sea of Sodom}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bava Batra 74b:12 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Bava_Batra.74b.12?ven=hebrew%7CWilliam_Davidson_Edition_-_Vocalized_Aramaic&lang=he |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=Sefaria |quote=ימה של סדום}}</ref>

The Arabic name is {{tlit|ar|al-Bahr al-Mayyit}} ({{lang|ar|البحر الميت}}), or usually without the article {{tlit|ar|al-}}.<ref name="ReferenceA">The first article {{lang|ar-Latn|al-}} is unnecessary and usually not used.</ref> It is also known in Arabic as the {{gloss|Sea of [[Lot (Bible)|Lot]]}} ({{langx|ar|بحر لوط|baḥr Lūṭ}},<ref name="Sharon">{{cite book |author=Moshe Sharon |author-link=Moshe Sharon |title=Bani Na'im: Maqam an-Nabi Lut |series=[[Corpus Inscriptionum Arabicarum Palaestinae]] (CIAP) |volume=Two: B–C |page=15 (of pp.12–21) |publisher=Brill |location=Leiden, Boston, Cologne |year=1999 |isbn=978-90-04-11083-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&q=Brekke |access-date=30 December 2019 |archive-date=30 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075942/https://books.google.com/books?id=EPFDU8POrXIC&q=Brekke#v=onepage&q=Brekke&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref> or {{Lang|ar|بُحَيْرَة}} {{tlit|ar|Buhayrat}}, {{Lang|ar|بَحْرَة}} {{tlit|ar|Bahret}}, or {{Lang|ar|بِرْكَة لوط}} {{tlit|ar|Birket Lūṭ}})<ref name="LOC">{{cite book |title= Dead Sea: Israel and Jordan  |edition= 14th |volume= 1: A–E |page= 1163 |publisher= Cataloging Distribution Service, Library of Congress |location= Washington, D.C. |year= 1991 |issn= 1048-9711 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eCzC6pfXfJIC&pg=PA1163 |access-date= 30 December 2019 |archive-date= 30 October 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075942/https://books.google.com/books?id=eCzC6pfXfJIC&pg=PA1163#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status= live }}</ref> from the nephew of [[Abraham]] whose wife was said to have turned into a pillar of salt during the destruction of [[Sodom and Gomorrah]].<ref name="sodom">{{bibleverse|Gen|19|KJV}}</ref> Less often, it has been known in Arabic as the Sea of [[Zoara]] ({{Lang|ar|بَحْر صُوغَر}}) from a formerly important city along its shores.

Because of the large volume of [[ancient trade routes|ancient trade]] in the lake's naturally occurring free-floating [[bitumen]], its usual names in [[ancient Greek geographers|ancient Greek]] and [[ancient Roman geographers|Roman geography]] were some form of [[Bitumen|Asphalt]] Lake ({{langx|grc|Ἀσφαλτίτης|Asphaltítēs}}; or {{langx|grc|Ἀσφαλτίτις Λίμνη|Asphaltítis Límnē|label=no}}; {{langx|la|Lacus Asphaltites}}) or Asphalt Sea ({{lang|grc|Ἀσφαλτίτης Θάλασσα}}, {{tlit|grc|Asphaltítēs Thálassa}}).

It was also known as the 'Dead Sea' ({{langx|grc|Νεκρά Θάλασσα|Nekrá Thálassa|link=no}}; {{langx|la|Mare Mortuum|link=no}}<ref name=":1" />).{{citation needed|date= March 2024}} Another ancient name is the "Jewish Sea," ({{langx|la|Iudaicum mare}}), a term used by the second-century Roman historian [[Tacitus]].<ref name=":1" />

==Geography==
[[File:Dead Sea Galilee.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Satellite photography|Satellite photograph]], showing the location of the Dead Sea east of the Mediterranean Sea]]
The Dead Sea is a [[salt lake]] bordered by [[Jordan]] to the east and [[Palestine]]'s [[Israeli-occupied West Bank]] and [[Israel]] to the west.<ref name="DSC1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/10/world/middleeast/israel-jordan-and-palestinians-sign-water-project-deal.html|work=The New York Times|title=A Rare Middle East Agreement, on Water|date=9 December 2013|access-date=4 December 2023|quote=About 25 miles of the Dead Sea's shoreline lie in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and are claimed by the Palestinians as part of a future state.}}</ref><ref name="DSC2">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/pictureshow/2022/12/11/1139524126/photos-dead-sea-water-level-dropping-sinkholes-erosion|work=NPR|title=The Dead Sea is dying. These beautiful, ominous photos show the impact|access-date=4 December 2023|date=11 December 2022|quote=The Dead Sea is a landlocked lake that's partly in Jordan, Israel and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.}}</ref> It is an [[endorheic basin|endorheic lake]], meaning there are no outlet streams.

The Dead Sea lies in the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], a geographic feature formed by the [[Dead Sea Transform]] (DST). This left lateral-moving [[transform fault]] lies along the [[tectonic]] [[plate tectonics|plate boundary]] between the [[African Plate]] and the [[Arabian Plate]]. It runs between the [[East Anatolian Fault]] zone in [[Turkey]] and the northern end of the [[Red Sea Rift]] offshore of the southern tip of [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]].

Water feeds into the Dead Sea from various sources, many small or intermittent, including:
* [[Jordan River]], international border from the north<ref name="DSC1" />
* [[Arava Stream]] (Wadi Arava), international border from the south
* [[Wadi Mujib]] (Arnon Stream), Jordan, [[Karak Governorate]]<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* [[Wadi Darga]]<ref name="RSDSC"/> (Wadi Darajeh, Nahal Darga, or Nahal Dragot), West Bank
* [[Wadi al-Hasa]] (Brook of Zered), Jordan, boundary between [[Karak Governorate]] and [[Tafilah Governorate]]
* [[Nahal Arugot]] (Wadi Areijeh or Wadi Argot), mouth at [[Ein Gedi]], Israel<ref name="RSDSC">{{Cite web |url=http://www.gsi.gov.il/_uploads/ftp/GsiReport/2010/Tahal-GSI-19-2010.pdf |title=Red Sea – Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study (RSDSC) Program: Dead Sea Study, July 2010, p. 64 |access-date=2016-10-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161224200944/http://www.gsi.gov.il/_uploads/ftp/GsiReport/2010/Tahal-GSI-19-2010.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-24 }}</ref>
* [[Wadi Wala]], Jordan side<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* [[Wadi Zarqa Ma'in]], Jordan side<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* [[Nahal Tur]], West Bank
* [[Nahal Og]], West Bank
* Groundwater seepage<ref name="RSDSC"/>
* Direct rainfall

([[Wadi]] is the Arabic term for a river valley with a small or intermittent stream; ''Nahal'' is the equivalent in Hebrew. The two terms are often used interchangeably in English names for the same body of water.)

The water of [[Wadi Hassa]] is now completely consumed in Jordan.<ref name="RSDSC"/> The Jordan River, which passes through the [[Sea of Galilee]], has been substantially diverted. It currently only contributes about one-sixth of the inflow to the Dead Sea, less than direct rainfall.<ref name="RSDSC"/>

There are also small perennial springs under and around the Dead Sea, forming pools and [[quicksand]] pits along the edges.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Middle_East/Israel/Dead_Sea/index.html|title=Springs and quicksand at the Dead Sea|access-date=August 27, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081122023153/http://www.tommyimages.com/Stock_Photos/Middle_East/Israel/Dead_Sea/index.html|archive-date=November 22, 2008}}</ref>

The Wadi Mujib valley, 420 m below the sea level in the southern part of the Jordan valley, is a [[Man and the Biosphere Programme#Biosphere reserves|biosphere reserve]], with an area of {{convert|212|km2|abbr=on|lk=on}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/arab-states/jordan/mujib/|title=Mujib|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=7 May 2016|archive-date=30 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190930120313/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/arab-states/jordan/mujib/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Rainfall is scarcely {{convert|100|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} per year in the northern part of the Dead Sea and barely {{convert|50|mm|in|0|abbr=on}} in the southern part.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://exact-me.org/overview/p4144.htm |title=Dead Sea |publisher=Exact Me.org |access-date=January 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120074227/http://exact-me.org/overview/p4144.htm |archive-date=January 20, 2013 }}</ref> The Dead Sea zone's aridity is due to the [[rainshadow]] effect of the [[Judaean Mountains]]. The [[highland]]s east of the Dead Sea receive more rainfall than the Dead Sea itself.

To the west of the Dead Sea, the Judaean mountains rise less steeply and are much lower than the mountains to the east. Along the southwestern side of the lake is a {{convert|210|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}} tall [[halite]] mineral formation called [[Mount Sodom]].

==Geology==
{{More citations needed section|date=July 2020|find=Dead Sea geology}}
[[File:Dead Sea, Jordanian Shore.jpg|thumb|The Jordanian shore of the Dead Sea, showing salt deposits left behind by falling water levels]]

===Formation theories===
There are two contending hypotheses about the origin of the low elevation of the Dead Sea. The older hypothesis is that the Dead Sea lies in a true rift zone, an extension of the [[Red Sea Rift]], or even of the [[Great Rift Valley]] of [[eastern Africa]]. A more recent hypothesis is that the Dead Sea basin is a consequence of a "step-over" discontinuity along the Dead Sea Transform, creating an extension of the crust with consequent subsidence.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2007TC002119| title= Pull-apart basin formation and development in narrow transform zones with application to the Dead Sea Basin |doi= 10.1029/2007TC002119 | date =2008 | journal = Tectonics | volume = 27 | pages= 620–637 | issue =6 |last1 =  Smit | first1 = J. |last2 =  Brun | first2 =  J.-P. |last3 =  Cloetingh | first3 = S.|last4 =  Ben-Avraham | first4 =  Z.| bibcode= 2008Tecto..27.6018S }}</ref>

===Sedom Lagoon===
During the late [[Pliocene]]-early [[Pleistocene]], what is now the valley of the Jordan River, Dead Sea, and the northern Wadi [[Arabah]] was repeatedly inundated by waters from the [[Mediterranean Sea]].<ref name="Stein">{{cite web |author=Mordechai Stein |title=The limnological history of late Pleistocene – Holocene water bodies in the Dead Sea basin |url=http://www.gsi.gov.il/_Uploads/4739SteinF.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513022228/http://www.gsi.gov.il/_Uploads/4739SteinF.pdf |archive-date=2013-05-13}}{{self-published inline|date=February 2021}} (Adjunct Professor at HUJI and senior researcher (emeritus as of 2024) of the [[Geological Survey of Israel]], Geochemistry and Ecological Geology Division.)</ref> The waters formed in a narrow, crooked bay that is called by geologists the Sedom Lagoon, which was connected to the sea through what is now the [[Jezreel Valley]].<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249853291 | title= Climatic changes during the Pliocene as observed from climate-sensitive rocks and clay minerals of the Sedom formation, the Dead Sea Basin | date = 2009 | first1=S. |last1= Shoval | first2 = Olga | last2 = Zlatkin | journal= Clay Minerals | volume= 44 | issue= 4 | pages= 469–486 | doi= 10.1180/claymin.2009.044.4.469  | bibcode= 2009ClMin..44..469S }}</ref> The floods of the valley came and went depending on long-scale changes in the tectonic and [[Climate variability and change|climatic conditions]].<ref name=Stein/>

The Sedom Lagoon extended at its maximum from the [[Sea of Galilee]] in the north to somewhere around {{convert|50|km|mi|-1|abbr=on}} south of the current southern end of the Dead Sea, and the subsequent lakes never surpassed this expanse. The [[Hula Valley|Hula Depression]] was never part of any of these water bodies due to its higher elevation and the high threshold of the [[Chorazin#Geomorphology|Korazim block]] separating it from the Sea of Galilee basin.<ref name=Kafri2010>
{{cite book |author1= Uri Kafri |author2= Yoseph Yechieli |title= Groundwater Base Level Changes and Adjoining Hydrological Systems |year= 2010 |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media |isbn= 978-3-642-13944-4 |page= 123 |bibcode= 2010gblc.book.....K |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=uu99EqQcZfYC&pg=PA123}}</ref>

===Salt deposits===
The Sedom Lagoon deposited [[evaporites]] mainly consisting of [[rock salt]], which eventually reached a thickness of {{convert|2.3|km|2|abbr=on}} on the old basin floor in the area of today's [[Mount Sedom]].<ref name="BenAvrahamKatsman15">{{cite journal |first1= Zvi |surname1= Ben-Avraham |first2= Regina |surname2= Katsman |title= The formation of graben morphology in the Dead Sea Fault, and its implications |journal= Geophysical Research Letters |publisher= American Geophysical Union |volume= 42 |issue= 17 |year= 2015 |at= 2.2. Sedimentary Regime, p. 6991 (of 6989–6996) |doi-access=free |doi= 10.1002/2015GL065111 |bibcode= 2015GeoRL..42.6989B |quote= Estuarine-lagoonal series of syn-rift evaporites of the latest Miocene—Pliocene ages. Sedimentary regime and mineral composition indicate that .... the Sedom formation in the DSB [Dead Sea Basin] .... , consisting mainly of [[halite]], can be related to ingression of sea waters .... through the Yezreel Valley inland into the Jordan-Arava rift valley (from the Sea of Galilee to the present-day Dead Sea....) in the Late Neogene. After its disconnection from the open sea that could be associated with either eustatic changes in the sea, tectonic uplift of Judea-Samaria anticline, or other processes [Stein, 2014], the rift valley was occupied by a series of hypersaline terminal lakes. They occasionally evaporated and precipitated halite. .... Restoration of the Sedom diapir to its original uniform thickness covering the basin floor yields 2.3 km.| issn = 0094-8276}}</ref>

===Lake formation===
[[File:ISS-55 Nile River delta, Egypt.jpg|thumb|[[NASA]] photo showing depth of the Dead Sea [[Drainage basin|basin]] (slightly below center). The Mediterranean Sea is on the right, with the Suez Canal visible connecting it to the Red Sea on left (slightly above center).]]

According to Kafri, during the late [[Neogene]], i.e. in the [[Pliocene]] (ended c. 2.5 million years ago), the [[eustatic sea level]] was at 50–100 metres [[above sea level|above the current sea level]], thus flooding the northern valleys connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the [[Jordan Rift Valley]], which led to the creation of a crooked-shaped lagoon. This high eustatic sea level situation subsequently came to an end, and the ocean could no longer flood the area. Thus, the long lagoon became a landlocked lake, which – due to the high evaporation rate – retreated toward the lower, southern part of the rift valley.<ref name=Kafri2010/> However, Mordechai Stein considers the formation process as not yet clarified, speaking of a late Pliocene-early [[Pleistocene]] process in which tectonics might also have played a part in blocking water ingression from the Mediterranean to its former bay or lagoon.<ref name=Stein/>

The first prehistoric lake to follow the Sedom Lagoon is named '''Lake Amora''' (which possibly appeared in the early Pleistocene; its sediments developed into the Amora (Samra) Formation, dated to over 200–80 [[kyr]] [[Before Present|BP]]), followed by '''[[Lake Lisan]]''' (c. 70–14 kyr) and finally by the Dead Sea.<ref name=Stein/><ref name=Kafri2010/><ref name=Torfstein/>

===Lake salinity===
The water levels and salinity of the successive lakes (Amora, Lisan, Dead Sea) have either risen or fallen as an effect of the tectonic dropping of the valley bottom, and due to climate variation. As the climate became more arid, Lake Lisan finally shrank and became saltier, leaving the Dead Sea as its last remainder.<ref name=Stein/><ref name="Kafri2010"/>

From 70,000 to 12,000 years ago, Lake Lisan's level was {{convert|100|to|250|m|ft|-1|abbr=on}} higher than its current level, possibly due to lower evaporation than in the present.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zech |first1=Roland |last2=Zech |first2=Michael |last3=Marković |first3=Slobodan |last4=Hambach |first4=Ulrich |last5=Huang |first5=Yongsong |date=1 October 2013 |title=Humid glacials, arid interglacials? Critical thoughts on pedogenesis and paleoclimate based on multi-proxy analyses of the loess–paleosol sequence Crvenka, Northern Serbia |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018213003568 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=387 |pages=165–175 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2013.07.023 |bibcode=2013PPP...387..165Z |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=20 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120071659/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018213003568 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sorin |first1=Lisker |last2=Anton |first2=Vaks |last3=Miryam |first3=Bar-Matthews |last4=Roi |first4=Porat |last5=Amos |first5=Frumkin |date=May 2010 |title=Late Pleistocene palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Dead Sea area (Israel), based on speleothems and cave stromatolites |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379110000302 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=29 |issue=9–10 |pages=1201–1211 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.01.018 |bibcode=2010QSRv...29.1201S |access-date=19 November 2022 |archive-date=20 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221120071702/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379110000302 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref> Its level fluctuated dramatically, rising to its highest level around 26,000 years ago, indicating a very wet climate in the [[Near East]].<ref name="SocietySociety1971">{{cite book |author1= Geochemical Society |author2= Meteoritical Society |title= Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3LccAQAAIAAJ |access-date= April 12, 2011 |year= 1971 |publisher= Pergamon Press |archive-date= October 30, 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075942/https://books.google.com/books?id=3LccAQAAIAAJ |url-status= live }}</ref> Around 10,000 years ago, the lake's level dropped dramatically, probably even lower than today. During the last several thousand years, the lake has fluctuated approximately {{convert|400|m|ft|-2|abbr=on}}, with some significant drops and rises. Current theories as to the cause of this dramatic drop in levels rule out [[volcano|volcanic activity]]; therefore, it may have been a seismic event.

===Salt mounts formation===
In [[prehistoric times]], great amounts of sediment collected on the floor of Lake Amora.<ref name=Kafri2010/><ref name=Torfstein>{{cite journal | url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016703709000957 | journal = Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta | volume= 73 | issue= 9 | date=  2009 |pages =2603–2630| title = U-series and oxygen isotope chronology of the mid-Pleistocene Lake Amora (Dead Sea basin) | first1 = Adi | last1 = Torfstein  | first2 =  Alexandra | last2 = Haase-Schramm  | first3 =  Nicolas | last3 = Waldmann  | first4 =  Yehoshua | last4 = Kolodny  | first5 =  Mordechai | last5 = Stein | doi= 10.1016/j.gca.2009.02.010  | bibcode = 2009GeCoA..73.2603T | url-access = subscription }}</ref> The sediment was heavier than the salt deposits and squeezed the salt deposits upwards into what are now the [[Lisan Peninsula]] and [[Mount Sodom]] (on the southwest side of the lake). Geologists explain the effect in terms of a bucket of mud into which a large flat stone is placed, forcing the mud to creep up the sides of the bucket. When the floor of the Dead Sea dropped further due to tectonic forces, the salt mounts of Lisan and Mount Sodom stayed in place as high cliffs (see [[salt dome]]).

==Climate==
The Dead Sea has a [[hot desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification]] BWh), with year-round sunny skies and dry air. It has less than {{convert|50|mm|in|0|}} mean annual rainfall and a summer average temperature between {{convert|32|and|39|C|F}}. Winter average temperatures range between {{convert|20|and|23|C|F}}. The region has weaker [[ultraviolet radiation]], particularly the UVB (erythrogenic rays). Given the higher [[atmospheric pressure]], the air has a slightly higher [[oxygen]] content (3.3% in summer to 4.8% in winter) as compared to oxygen concentration at sea level.<ref name=DSRC>{{cite web|title=Natural Resources|url=http://www.deadsea-health.org/new_html/general_main.html|work=Dead Sea Research Center|access-date=27 October 2013|archive-date=6 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131006174640/http://deadsea-health.org/new_html/general_main.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.extremescience.com/dead-sea.htm|title=Lowest Elevation: Dead Sea|access-date=May 22, 2007|work=Extreme Science|archive-date=October 7, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007161953/http://extremescience.com/dead-sea.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Barometric pressures at the Dead Sea were measured between 1061 and 1065 hPa and clinically compared with health effects at higher altitude.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kramer |first1=Mordechai R. |last2=Springer |first2=Chaim |last3=Berkman |first3=Neville |last4=Glazer |first4=Mendel |last5=Bublil |first5=Milli |last6=Bar-Yishay |first6=Ephraim |last7=Godfrey |first7=Simon |title=Rehabilitation of Hypoxemic Patients With COPD at Low Altitude at the Dead Sea, the Lowest Place on Earth |journal=Chest |date=March 1998 |volume=113 |issue=3 |pages=571–575 |doi=10.1378/chest.113.3.571 |pmid=9515826 }}</ref> (This barometric measure is about 5% higher than sea level standard atmospheric pressure of 1013.25 hPa, which is the global ocean mean or ATM.) The Dead Sea affects temperatures nearby because of the moderating effect a large body of water has on climate. During the winter, sea temperatures tend to be higher than land temperatures, and vice versa during the summer months. This is the result of the water's mass and [[specific heat capacity]]. On average, there are 192 days above {{cvt|30|°C|||}} annually.<ref>{{cite web|title=Climatological Averages for Dead Sea |url=http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE |publisher=IMS |access-date=June 9, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607231313/http://ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE |archive-date=June 7, 2011 }}</ref>

{{Weather box|location=Dead Sea, Sedom (390 m below sea level)|metric first=yes|single line=yes
|Jan humidity=41
|Feb humidity=38
|Mar humidity=33
|Apr humidity=27
|May humidity=24
|Jun humidity=23
|Jul humidity=24
|Aug humidity=27
|Sep humidity=31
|Oct humidity=33
|Nov humidity=36
|Dec humidity=41
|Jan record low C=5.4
|Feb record low C=6.0
|Mar record low C=8.0
|Apr record low C=11.5
|May record low C=19.0
|Jun record low C=23.0
|Jul record low C=26.0
|Aug record low C=26.8
|Sep record low C=24.2
|Oct record low C=17.0
|Nov record low C=9.8
|Dec record low C=6.0
|year record low C=5.4
|Jan record high C=26.4
|Feb record high C=30.4
|Mar record high C=33.8
|Apr record high C=42.5
|May record high C=45.0
|Jun record high C=46.4
|Jul record high C=47.0
|Aug record high C=44.5
|Sep record high C=43.6
|Oct record high C=40.0
|Nov record high C=35.0
|Dec record high C=28.5
|year record high C=47.0
|Jan high C=20.5
|Feb high C=21.7
|Mar high C=24.8
|Apr high C=29.9
|May high C=34.1
|Jun high C=37.6
|Jul high C=39.7
|Aug high C=39.0
|Sep high C=36.5
|Oct high C=32.4
|Nov high C=26.9
|Dec high C=21.7
|year high C=30.4
|Jan mean C= 16.6
|Feb mean C= 17.7
|Mar mean C= 20.8
|Apr mean C= 25.4
|May mean C= 29.4
|Jun mean C= 32.6
|Jul mean C= 34.7
|Aug mean C= 34.5
|Sep mean C= 32.4
|Oct mean C= 28.6
|Nov mean C= 23.1
|Dec mean C= 17.9
|year mean C= 26.1
|Jan low C=12.7
|Feb low C=13.7
|Mar low C=16.7
|Apr low C=20.9
|May low C=24.7
|Jun low C=27.6
|Jul low C=29.6
|Aug low C=29.9
|Sep low C=28.3
|Oct low C=24.7
|Nov low C=19.3
|Dec low C=14.1
|year low C=21.9
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm=7.8
|Feb precipitation mm=9.0
|Mar precipitation mm=7.6
|Apr precipitation mm=4.3
|May precipitation mm=0.2
|Jun precipitation mm=0.0
|Jul precipitation mm=0.0
|Aug precipitation mm=0.0
|Sep precipitation mm=0.0
|Oct precipitation mm=1.2
|Nov precipitation mm=3.5
|Dec precipitation mm=8.3
|year precipitation mm=41.9
|Jan precipitation days=3.3
|Feb precipitation days=3.5
|Mar precipitation days=2.5
|Apr precipitation days=1.3
|May precipitation days=0.2
|Jun precipitation days=0.0
|Jul precipitation days=0.0
|Aug precipitation days=0.0
|Sep precipitation days=0.0
|Oct precipitation days=0.4
|Nov precipitation days=1.6
|Dec precipitation days=2.8
|year precipitation days=15.6
|unit precipitation days=
|source 1=Israel Meteorological Service<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/LongTermInfo |title=Averages and Records for several places in Israel |publisher=Israel Meteorological Service |date=June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100914010915/http://www.ims.gov.il/IMS/CLIMATE/LongTermInfo |archive-date=2010-09-14 }}</ref>
|date=March 2011}}

==Chemistry==
[[File:Dead Sea Halite View 031712.jpg|thumb|Halite deposits (and [[teepee structure]]) along the western Dead Sea coast]]
With 34.2% [[salinity]] (in 2011), it is one of the [[List of bodies of water by salinity|world's saltiest bodies of water]], though [[Lake Vanda]] in [[Antarctica]] (35%), [[Lake Assal (Djibouti)|Lake Assal]] in [[Djibouti]] (34.8%), Lagoon [[Garabogazköl]] in the [[Caspian Sea]] (up to 35%) and some hypersaline ponds and lakes of the [[McMurdo Dry Valleys]] in [[Antarctica]] (such as [[Don Juan Pond]] (44%)) have reported higher salinities.

In the 19th century and the early 20th century, the surface layers of the Dead Sea were less salty than today, which resulted in an average density in the range of 1.15–1.17 g/cm<sup>3</sup> instead of the present value of around 1.25 g/cm<sup>3</sup>. A sample tested by [[Albert James Bernays|Bernays]] in the 19th century had a salinity of 19%. By the year 1926, the salinity had increased<ref>Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, Volume 7, page 879</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friend |first1=J. Newton |title=Examination of Dead Sea Water for Eka-Cæsium and Eka-Iodine |journal=Nature |date=June 1926 |volume=117 |issue=2953 |pages=789–790 |doi=10.1038/117789b0 |bibcode=1926Natur.117..789F |s2cid=4114399 }}</ref> (although it was also suspected that the salinity varies seasonally and depends on the distance from the mouth of the [[Jordan River|Jordan]]).

Until the winter of 1978–79, when a major mixing event took place,<ref name=overturn/> the Dead Sea was composed of two stratified layers of water that differed in temperature, density, age, and salinity. The topmost {{convert|35|m|ft|0|sp=us}} or so of the Dead Sea had an average salinity of about 30%, and a temperature that swung between {{convert|19|and|37|°C|°F|abbr=on}}. Underneath a zone of transition, the lowest level of the Dead Sea had waters of a consistent {{convert|22|°C|°F|abbr=on}} temperature, salinity of over 34%, and complete [[Saturated solution|saturation]] of [[sodium chloride]] (NaCl).<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-642-14779-1_4 |chapter=The Dramatic Drop of the Dead Sea: Background, Rates, Impacts and Solutions |title=Macro-engineering Seawater in Unique Environments |series=Environmental Science and Engineering |year=2010 |last1=Abu Ghazleh |first1=Shahrazad |last2=Abed |first2=Abdulkader M. |last3=Kempe |first3=Stephan |pages=77–105 |isbn=978-3-642-14778-4 }}</ref> Since the water near the bottom is [[Saturated solution|saturated]] with NaCl, that salt precipitates out of solution onto the [[sea floor]].

Beginning in the 1960s, water inflow to the Dead Sea from the Jordan River was reduced as a result of large-scale irrigation and generally low rainfall. By 1975, the upper water layer was saltier than the lower layer. Nevertheless, the upper layer remained suspended above the lower layer because its waters were warmer and thus less dense. When the upper layer cooled so its density was greater than the lower layer, the waters mixed (1978–79). For the first time in centuries,{{citation needed|date=October 2024}} the lake was a homogeneous body of water. Since then, [[Lake stratification|stratification]] has begun to redevelop.<ref name=overturn>{{cite web|url=http://www1.american.edu/TED/deadsea.htm|title=Dead Sea Canal|publisher=American.edu|date=1996-12-09|access-date=May 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090522133748/http://www1.american.edu/TED/deadsea.htm|archive-date=May 22, 2009}}</ref>[[File:SaltCementedPebblesDeadSea.JPG|thumb|Pebbles cemented with [[halite]] on the western shore of the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi|alt=|left]]

The mineral content of the Dead Sea is very different from that of ocean water. The exact composition of the Dead Sea water varies mainly with season, depth and temperature. In the early 1980s, the concentration of ionic species (in g/kg) of Dead Sea surface water was Cl<sup>−</sup> (181.4), Br<sup>−</sup> (4.2), SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup> (0.4), HCO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup> (0.2), Ca<sup>2+</sup> (14.1), Na<sup>+</sup> (32.5), K<sup>+</sup> (6.2) and Mg<sup>2+</sup> (35.2). The total salinity was 276 g/kg.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Steinhorn |first1=Ilana |title=In situ salt precipitation at the Dead Sea |journal=Limnology and Oceanography |date=May 1983 |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=580–583 |id={{INIST|9327311}} |doi=10.4319/lo.1983.28.3.0580 |bibcode=1983LimOc..28..580S |doi-access=free }}</ref> These results show that the composition of the salt, as anhydrous chlorides on a weight percentage basis, was [[calcium chloride]] (CaCl<sub>2</sub>) 14.4%, [[potassium chloride]] (KCl) 4.4%, [[magnesium chloride]] (MgCl<sub>2</sub>) 50.8% and [[sodium chloride]] (NaCl) 30.4%. In comparison, the salt in the water of most [[ocean]]s and [[sea]]s is approximately 85% [[sodium chloride]]. The concentration of [[sulfate]] ions (SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup>) is very low, and the concentration of [[bromide]] ions (Br<sup>−</sup>) is the highest of all waters on Earth.
[[File:Halite Dead Sea Beach Pebbles.JPG|thumb|Beach pebbles made of [[halite]]; western coast]]

The salt concentration of the Dead Sea fluctuates around 31.5%. This is unusually high and results in a nominal density of 1.24&nbsp;kg/L. Anyone can easily float in the Dead Sea because of natural [[buoyancy]]. In this respect the Dead Sea is similar to the [[Great Salt Lake]] in [[Utah]] in the United States.

An unusual feature of the Dead Sea is its discharge of [[Bitumen|asphalt]]. From deep [[seeps]], the Dead Sea constantly spits up small pebbles and blocks of the black substance.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bein |first1=A. |last2=Amit |first2=O. |title=The evolution of the dead sea floating asphalt blocks: Simulations by pyrolysis |journal=Journal of Petroleum Geology |date=April 1980 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=439–447 |doi=10.1111/j.1747-5457.1980.tb00971.x |bibcode=1980JPetG...2..439B }}</ref> Asphalt-coated figurines and bitumen-coated [[Neolithic]] skulls from [[archaeological]] sites have been found. [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]] [[mummification]] processes used asphalt imported from the Dead Sea region.<ref>Niemi, Tina M., [[Zvi Ben-Avraham]] and Joel Gat, eds., ''The Dead Sea: the lake and its setting,'' 1997, Oxford University Press, p. 251 {{ISBN|978-0-19-508703-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rullkötter |first1=J. |last2=Nissenbaum |first2=A. |title=Dead sea asphalt in egyptian mummies: Molecular evidence |journal=Naturwissenschaften |date=December 1988 |volume=75 |issue=12 |pages=618–621 |doi=10.1007/BF00366476 |pmid=3237249 |bibcode=1988NW.....75..618R |s2cid=29037897 }}</ref>

==Putative therapies==
{{More medical citations needed|date=March 2015}}
The Dead Sea area has become a location for [[health]] [[research]] and potential treatment for several reasons. The mineral content of the water, the low content of [[pollen]]s and other [[allergen]]s in the [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]], the reduced [[ultraviolet]] component of [[Sunlight|solar radiation]], and the higher [[atmospheric pressure]] at this great depth each may have specific [[health effect]]s. For example, persons experiencing reduced [[respiration (physiology)|respiratory]] function from [[disease]]s such as [[cystic fibrosis]] seem to benefit from the increased atmospheric pressure.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.deadsea-health.org/new_html/diseases_respiratory.html|title=Asthma, Cystic Fibrosis, Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease|access-date=May 22, 2007|work=Dead Sea Research Center|archive-date=June 21, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070621161407/http://www.deadsea-health.org/new_html/diseases_respiratory.html}}</ref>

The region's climate and low elevation have made it a popular center for assessment of putative therapies:
* [[Climatotherapy]]: Treatment which exploits local climatic features such as [[temperature]], [[humidity]], [[sunshine]], [[barometric pressure]] and special atmospheric constituents
* [[Heliotherapy]]: Treatment that exploits the biological effects of the [[sun]]'s radiation
* [[Thalassotherapy]]: Treatment that exploits bathing in Dead Sea [[water]]

There is evidence that the  unique [[attenuation]] and spectrum of UV rays near the Dead Sea contribute to effective photoclimatherapy for [[psoriasis]], in part because the reduced exposure to solar radiation allows for longer periods of sunbathing.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1159/000249201 |title=Seasonal Variation of UV Radiation at the Dead Sea |date=1987 |last1=Leibovici |first1=V. |last2=Sagi |first2=E. |last3=Siladji |first3=S. |last4=Greiter |first4=J.C. |last5=Greiter |first5=F. |last6=Holubar |first6=K. |journal=Dermatology |volume=174 |issue=6 |pages=290–292 |pmid=3622880 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/19538811}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1046/j.1365-4362.2003.01683.x |title=Ultraviolet radiation properties as applied to photoclimatherapy at the Dead Sea |date=2003 |last1=Kudish |first1=A. I. |last2=Abels |first2=D. |last3=Harari |first3=M. |journal=International Journal of Dermatology |volume=42 |issue=5 |pages=359–365 |pmid=12755972 }}</ref><ref name="Emmanuel_2022">{{cite journal |last1=Emmanuel |first1=Thomas |last2=Petersen |first2=Annita |last3=Houborg |first3=Hannah Inez |date=August 2022 |title=Climatotherapy at the Dead Sea for psoriasis is a highly effective anti-inflammatory treatment in the short term: An immunohistochemical study |journal=Experimental Dermatology |volume=31 |issue=8 |pages=1136–1144 |doi=10.1111/exd.14549 |pmid=35196397 |pmc=9541097 }}</ref>

[[Rhinosinusitis]] patients receiving Dead Sea saline [[nasal irrigation]] exhibited improved symptom relief compared to standard [[hypertonic]] saline spray in one study.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Michael |last2=Vidyasagar |first2=Ramakrishnan |last3=Joseph |first3=Ninos |title=A Randomized, Prospective, Double-Blind Study on the Efficacy of Dead Sea Salt Nasal Irrigations |journal=The Laryngoscope |date=June 2006 |volume=116 |issue=6 |pages=878–882 |doi=10.1097/01.mlg.0000216798.10007.76 |pmid=16735920 |s2cid=13013715 }}</ref>

Dead Sea mud pack therapy has been suggested to temporarily relieve pain in patients with [[osteoarthritis]] of the knees. According to researchers of the [[Ben Gurion University of the Negev]], treatment with mineral-rich mud compresses can be used to augment conventional medical therapy.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Flusser |first1=Daniel |last2=Abu-Shakra |first2=Mahmoud |last3=Friger |first3=Michael |last4=Codish |first4=Shlomi |last5=Sukenik |first5=Shaul |title=Therapy With Mud Compresses for Knee Osteoarthritis: Comparison of Natural Mud Preparations With Mineral-Depleted Mud |journal=Journal of Clinical Rheumatology |date=August 2002 |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=197–203 |doi=10.1097/00124743-200208000-00003 |pmid=17041359 |s2cid=7647456 }}</ref>

{{wide image|Deadsea_panorama.jpg|800px|Panorama of the Dead Sea from the [[Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts|Mövenpick]] Resort, Jordan}}

==Life forms==
[[File:Dead Sea Sunrise.jpg|thumb|Dead Sea in the morning, seen from [[Masada]]]]

The sea is called "dead" because its high salinity prevents macroscopic aquatic organisms, such as fish and [[aquatic plant]]s, from living in it, though minuscule quantities of bacteria and microbial fungi are present.

In times of flood, the salt content of the Dead Sea can drop from its usual 35% to 30% or lower. It temporarily comes to life in the wake of rainy winters. In 1980, after one such rainy winter, the normally dark blue Dead Sea turned red. Researchers from [[Hebrew University of Jerusalem]] found it to be teeming with an [[alga]] called ''[[Dunaliella]]''. ''Dunaliella'' in turn nourished [[carotenoid]]-containing (red-[[pigment]]ed) [[halobacteria]], whose presence caused the color change. Since 1980, the basin has been dry and the algae and the bacteria have not returned in measurable numbers.

In 2011 a group of scientists from Be'er Sheva, Israel and Germany discovered fissures in the floor of the Dead Sea by scuba diving and observing the surface. These fissures allow fresh and brackish water to enter. They sampled [[biofilm]]s surrounding the fissures and discovered numerous species of bacteria and [[archaea]].<ref>{{cite journal |volume=7|issue=6|article-number=e38319|doi= 10.1371/journal.pone.0038319 |year = 2012|last1 = Ionescu|first1 = Danny|last2=Siebert|first2=Christian|last3=Polerecky|first3=Lubos|last4=Munwes|first4=Yaniv Y.|last5=Lott|first5=Christian|last6=Häusler|first6=Stefan|last7=Bižić-Ionescu|first7=Mina|last8=Quast|first8=Christian|last9=Peplies|first9=Jörg|last10=Glöckner|first10=Frank Oliver|last11=Ramette|first11=Alban|last12=Rödiger|first12=Tino|last13=Dittmar|first13=Thorsten|last14=Oren|first14=Aharon|last15=Geyer|first15=Stefan|last16=Stärk|first16=Hans-Joachim|last17=Sauter|first17=Martin|last18=Licha|first18=Tobias|last19=Laronne|first19=Jonathan B.|last20=De Beer|first20=Dirk|title=Microbial and Chemical Characterization of Underwater Fresh Water Springs in the Dead Sea|journal=PLOS ONE|pmid=22679498|pmc=3367964|bibcode=2012PLoSO...738319I|doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Human settlement==
There are several small communities near the Dead Sea. These include [[Ein Gedi]], [[Neve Zohar]] and the [[Israeli settlement]]s in the [[Megilot Regional Council]]: [[Kalya]], [[Mitzpe Shalem]] and [[Avnat]]. There is a nature preserve at Ein Gedi, and several Dead Sea hotels are located on the southwest end at [[Ein Bokek]] near Neve Zohar. [[Highway 90 (Israel–Palestine)|Highway 90]] runs north–south on the Israeli side for a total distance of {{convert|565|km|0|abbr=on}} from [[Metula]] on the [[Lebanon|Lebanese]] border in the north to its southern terminus at the [[Egypt]]ian border near the [[Red Sea]] port of [[Eilat]].

[[Potash City]] is a small community on the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, and others including Suweima. [[Highway 65 (Jordan)|Highway 65]] runs north–south on the Jordanian side from near Jordan's northern tip down past the Dead Sea to the port of [[Aqaba]].

==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]]]."

During the First Temple period, the [[kingdom of Judah]] ruled the western shore of the Dead Sea, while Moab controlled the eastern shore.<ref name=":2">{{Citation |last=Schiffman |first=Lawrence H. |title=On the Edge of the Diaspora: Jews in the Dead Sea Region in the First Two Centuries C.E. |date=2012-01-01 |work='Go Out and Study the Land' (Judges 18:2) |pages=175–195 |url=https://brill.com/display/book/edcoll/9789004214132/B9789004214132_012.xml |access-date=2025-06-26 |publisher=Brill |language=en |doi=10.1163/9789004214132_012 |isbn=978-90-04-21413-2|url-access=subscription }}</ref> To the south were the [[Edom|Edomites]].<ref name=":2" /> Judah established several fortresses along its side of the sea.<ref name=":2" /> Development in this area was likely driven by new economic opportunities arising from the Dead Sea's natural resources, including salt, bitumen, as well as cash crops.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> Both Ein Gedi and Jericho on Judah's side were vital centers for cultivating the highly prized [[Judean date palm|Judean date palms]] during this time.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last1=Mashiach |first1=Avraham |last2=and Davidovich |first2=Uri |date=2023-01-02 |title=The En-Gedi Spring Site and the Judahite Expansion into the Judaean Desert in the Late Iron Age |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=11–14 |doi=10.1080/03344355.2023.2190273 |issn=0334-4355 |pmc=10273384 |pmid=37333895}}</ref> Ein Gedi thrived as a major economic hub in the final century of Judah,<ref name=":4">{{Cite journal |last1=Mashiach |first1=Avraham |last2=and Davidovich |first2=Uri |date=2023-01-02 |title=The En-Gedi Spring Site and the Judahite Expansion into the Judaean Desert in the Late Iron Age |journal=Tel Aviv |volume=50 |issue=1 |page=38 |doi=10.1080/03344355.2023.2190273 |issn=0334-4355 |pmc=10273384 |pmid=37333895}}</ref> before its destruction on the eve of the [[Babylonian captivity]].<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |last=Porath |first=Yosef |date=2021 |title=The Synagogue at En-Gedi |journal=Qedem |volume=64 |pages=3–4, 55 |jstor=27123172 |issn=0333-5844}}</ref> 

===Hellenistic 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 |journal=The Biblical Archaeologist |volume=22 |issue=2 |pages=40–48 |doi=10.2307/3209307 |jstor=3209307 |s2cid=133997328 }}</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]]''}}

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> [[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 |author=Josephus |title=Antiquities of the Jews |title-link=Antiquities of the Jews |volume=1 |chapter=9 |access-date=2012-02-18 |chapter-url=http://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111185534/https://sacred-texts.com/jud/josephus/ant-1.htm |archive-date=2020-11-11 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Herod the Great]], king of [[Herodian kingdom|Judaea]], built or rebuilt several fortresses and palaces along the western shore of the Dead Sea, with [[Masada]] being the most famous. 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>

During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, some [[Essenes]], an ascetic Jewish sect, settled along the western shore of the Dead Sea. Roman historian [[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). Based on this, It is widely accepted, though still debated, that the Jewish community at [[Qumran]] was part of the Essene sect, and that the "[[Dead Sea Scrolls]]" discovered in [[Qumran Caves|nearby caves]] during the 20th century were their library.<ref>Found today in the [[Shrine of the Book]] at the Israel Museum of Jerusalem</ref>

The Dead Sea region was active during the [[First Jewish–Roman War]] (66–73 CE). Early in the conflict, a group of [[Sicarii]], a radical Jewish sect, seized control of the fortress of Masada and killed the Roman garrison stationed there. After [[Menahem ben Judah|their leader]] was killed in Jerusalem, the Sicarii fled to Masada and took refuge in the fortress.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Smallwood |first=Edith Mary |title=The Jews under Roman Rule from Pompey to Diocletian: A Study in Political Relations |date=2001 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-50204-8 |series=Brill Book Archive Part 1 |location=Leiden Boston |pages=292, 295}}</ref> In 68 CE, Roman commander [[Vespasian]], tasked with suppressing the Jewish revolt, arrived at the Dead Sea and tested its buoyancy by throwing bound, non-swimmer captives into the water.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Rogers |first=Guy MacLean |title=For the Freedom of Zion: The Great Revolt of Jews against Romans, 66–74 CE |date=2021 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-24813-5 |location=New Haven |pages=287–288}}</ref> Archaeological evidence suggests that around this time, the Qumran community was destroyed.<ref name=":6" /> The Sicarii at Masada continued to resist the Romans after the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70 CE)|destruction of the Second Temple]] in 70 CE, holding out until 73/74 CE, when a [[Siege of Masada|siege]] by the Roman [[Legio X Fretensis]] resulted in the deaths of 960 inhabitants by suicide, according to [[Josephus]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cohen |first=Shaye J. D. |date=1982 |title=Masada: Literary Tradition, Archaeological Remains, and the Credibility of Josephus |url=https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.18647/1056/JJS-1982 |journal=Journal of Jewish Studies |volume=33 |issue=1–2 |pages=393–394 |doi=10.18647/1056/JJS-1982|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The Roman camps surrounding Masada were constructed by Jewish slaves who received water from nearby towns, which were supplied with drinking water from the [[Ein Feshkha|Ein Feshcha]] springs and other nearby sweetwater sources.<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>

[[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]]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 |last1=Cooper |first1=Levi |date=February 12, 2009 |title=World of Our Sages: Salty Hands |url=http://www.pardes.org.il/online_learning/weekly-talmud/2009-02-12.php |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 |website=Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies}}</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}}

The Jewish village of Ein Gedi, which had been continuously inhabited since the 5th century BCE, was destroyed in the 7th century by a devastating fire.<ref name=":5" />

===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.

==Tourism and leisure==
[[File:Ein Bokek - Dead Sea2.jpg|thumb|[[Ein Bokek]], a resort on the Israeli shore]]

===British Mandate period===
A [[golf course]] named for [[Sodom and Gomorrah]] was built by the British at [[Kalya|Kalia]] on the northern shore.

===Israel===
The first major Israeli hotels were built in nearby [[Arad, Israel|Arad]], and since the 1960s at the [[Ein Bokek]] resort complex.

Israel has 15 hotels along the Dead Sea shore, generating total revenues of $291 million in 2012. Most Israeli hotels and resorts on the Dead Sea are on a {{convert|6|km|mi|spell=in|adj=mid|abbr=off}} stretch of the southern shore.<ref name=WorldBank/>

===Jordan===
[[File:Kempinski Hotel Ishtar - Dead Sea - Jordan.jpg|thumb|Kempinski Hotel, one of the many hotels on the [[Jordan]]ian shore]]
On the Jordanian side, nine international franchises have opened [[seaside resort]] hotels near the [[King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center]], along with resort apartments, on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. The 9 hotels have boosted the Jordanian side's capacity to 2,800 rooms.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://jordantimes.com/news/local/dead-sea-aqaba-hotels-packed-during-eid-al-fitr-holiday|title=Dead Sea, Aqaba hotels packed during Eid Al Fitr holiday|access-date=12 July 2016|date=10 July 2016|work=The Jordan Times|archive-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711122153/http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/dead-sea-aqaba-hotels-packed-during-eid-al-fitr-holiday|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 22 November 2015, the Dead Sea panorama road was included along with [[Google Street View in Jordan|40 archaeological locations]] in Jordan, to become live on [[Google Street View]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.google.com/streetview/|title=Discover Street View and contribute your own imagery to Google Maps.|website=Google Maps Street View|access-date=2022-05-13|archive-date=2021-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205145017/https://www.google.com/streetview/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Palestine (West Bank)===
The portion of Dead Sea coast which Palestinians could possibly eventually manage is about {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=off}} long. The [[World Bank]] estimates that such Dead Sea tourism industry could generate $290 million of revenues per year and 2,900 jobs.<ref name=WorldBank/> However, Palestinians have been unable to obtain construction permits for tourism-related investments on the Dead Sea.<ref name=WorldBank/> According to the World Bank, officials in the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities state that the only way to apply for such permits is through the Joint Committees established under the Oslo Agreement, but the relevant committee has not met with any degree of regularity since 2000.<ref name=WorldBank/>

==Chemical industry==
{{multiple image
|direction=vertical
|align=right
|width=220
|image1=STS028-96-65.jpg
|caption1=View of salt evaporation pans on the Dead Sea, taken in 1989 from the [[Space Shuttle Columbia]] ([[STS-28]]). The southern half is separated from the northern half at what used to be the [[Lisan Peninsula]] because of the fall in level of the Dead Sea.
|image2=Dead-Sea---Salt-Evaporation-Ponds.jpg
|caption2=View of the mineral evaporation ponds almost 12 years later ([[STS-102]]). A northern and small southeastern extension were added and the large polygonal ponds subdivided.
}}

===British Mandate period===
In the early part of the 20th century, the Dead Sea began to attract interest from chemists who deduced the sea was a natural deposit of [[potash]] (potassium chloride) and [[bromine]]. A [[Concessions in Mandatory Palestine|concession was granted by the British Mandatory government]] to the newly formed Palestine Potash Company in 1929. Its founder, Siberian Jewish engineer and pioneer of [[Lake Baikal]] exploitation, [[Moshe Novomeysky|Moses Novomeysky]], had worked for the charter for over ten years having first visited the area in 1911.<ref name="Norris2013"/> The first plant, on the north shore of the Dead Sea at [[Kalya]], commenced production in 1931<ref name="Norris2013">{{cite book|author=Jacob Norris|title=Land of Progress: Palestine in the Age of Colonial Development, 1905–1948|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hV9zeYpzCawC&pg=PA159|date=11 April 2013|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-966936-3|pages=159–|access-date=22 December 2018|archive-date=30 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075942/https://books.google.com/books?id=hV9zeYpzCawC&pg=PA159#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> and produced potash by solar evaporation of the brine. Employing Arabs and Jews, it was an island of peace in turbulent times.<ref name = "PM Nov 1930">{{Cite magazine | title = Wealth From The Dead Sea | magazine = Popular Mechanics | volume = 54 | issue = 5 | pages = 794–798 | publisher = Hearst Magazines | location = Chicago | date = November 1930 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=uOQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA794 | access-date = 2020-09-28 | archive-date = 2023-10-30 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075942/https://books.google.com/books?id=uOQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA794#v=onepage&q&f=false | url-status = live }}</ref> In 1934 a second plant was built on the southwest shore, in the [[Mount Sodom]] area, south of the [[Lisan Peninsula|'Lashon' region]] of the Dead Sea. Palestine Potash Company supplied half of Britain's potash during [[World War II]]. Both plants were destroyed by the Jordanians in the [[1948 Arab–Israeli War]].<ref>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=1o_pCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136 |title= Saline Lakes V: Proceedings of the Vth International Symposium on Inland Saline Lakes, held in Bolivia, 22–29 March 1991 |first= Stuart H. |last= Hurlbert |date= 6 December 2012 |publisher= Springer Science & Business Media |via= Google Books |isbn= 978-94-011-2076-0 |access-date= 13 September 2020 |archive-date= 30 October 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231030075943/https://books.google.com/books?id=1o_pCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA136#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status= live }}</ref>

===Israel===
The [[Dead Sea Works]] was founded in 1952 as a state-owned enterprise based on the remnants of the Palestine Potash Company.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/who-really-owns-the-dead-sea.premium-1.515340|title=Who Really Owns the Dead Sea?|first=Asher|last=Schechter|date=14 April 2013|newspaper=Haaretz|access-date=17 May 2016|archive-date=24 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624005034/http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/business/who-really-owns-the-dead-sea.premium-1.515340|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1995, the company was privatized and it is now owned by [[Israel Chemicals]]. From the Dead Sea brine, Israel produces (2001) 1.77 million [[ton]]s potash, 206,000 tons elemental bromine, 44,900 tons [[caustic soda]], 25,000 tons [[magnesium]] metal, and sodium chloride. Israeli companies generate around US$3 billion annually from the sale of Dead Sea minerals (primarily potash and bromine), and from other products that are derived from Dead Sea Minerals.<ref name=WorldBank>World Bank, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department, [http://hlrn.org/img/violation/Area+C+Report+Oct-13.pdf Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222012616/http://hlrn.org/img/violation/Area+C+Report+Oct-13.pdf |date=2014-02-22 }}, October 2, 2013</ref>

===Jordan===
On the Jordanian side of the Dead Sea, [[Arab Potash]] (APC), formed in 1956, produces 2.0 million tons of potash annually, as well as sodium chloride and bromine. The plant is located at Safi, South Aghwar Department, in the [[Karak Governorate]].

Jordanian Dead Sea mineral industries generate about $1.2 billion in sales (equivalent to 4 percent of Jordan's GDP).

===West Bank===
The Palestinian Dead Sea Coast is about {{convert|40|km|mi|abbr=off}} long. The Palestinian economy is unable to benefit from Dead Sea chemicals due to restricted access, permit issues and the uncertainties of the investment climate.<ref name=WorldBank/> The World Bank estimates that a Palestinian Dead Sea chemicals industry could generate $918M incremental value added per year, "almost equivalent to the contribution of the entire manufacturing sector of Palestinian territories today".<ref name=WorldBank/>

===Extraction===
Both companies, Dead Sea Works Ltd. and Arab Potash, use extensive salt [[pan evaporation|evaporation pan]]s that have essentially diked the entire southern end of the Dead Sea for the purpose of producing [[carnallite]], potassium magnesium chloride, which is then processed further to produce potassium chloride. The [[Salt evaporation pond|ponds]] are separated by a central dike that runs roughly north–south along the international border. The [[power plant]] on the Israeli side allows production of magnesium metal (by a subsidiary, Dead Sea Magnesium Ltd.).

Due to the popularity of the sea's therapeutic and healing properties, several companies have also shown interest in the manufacturing and supplying of Dead Sea salts as raw materials for body and skin care products.

==Recession and environmental concerns==
[[File:Dead Sea Coastal Erosion March 2012.JPG|thumb|right|Gully in unconsolidated Dead Sea sediments exposed by recession of water levels. It was excavated by floods from the [[Judean Mountains]] in less than a year.]]

===Receding shoreline{{anchor|recession}}===
Since 1930, when its surface was {{convert|1050|km2|abbr=on}} and its level was {{convert|390|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below sea level, the Dead Sea has been monitored continuously. The Dead Sea has been rapidly shrinking since the 1960s because of diversion of incoming water from the Jordan River to the north<ref name=klein1987/> as part of the [[National Water Carrier]] scheme,<ref name=sinkholes/> completed in 1964.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://research.haifa.ac.il/~eshkol/kantorb.html | title=The National Water Carrier | first=Shmuel | last=Kantor | access-date=19 June 2021 | publisher=the [[University of Haifa]] | archive-date=2 October 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002192717/http://research.haifa.ac.il/~eshkol/kantorb.html }}</ref> The southern end is fed by a canal maintained by the [[Dead Sea Works]], a company that converts the sea's raw materials. From a water surface of {{convert|395|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below sea level in 1970<ref name=klein1987>{{cite journal |last1=Klein |first1=C. |last2=Flohn |first2=H. |title=Contributions to the knowledge of the fluctuations of the Dead Sea level |journal=Theoretical and Applied Climatology |date=1987 |volume=38 |issue=3 |pages=151–156 |id={{INIST|7617200}} |doi=10.1007/BF00868099 |bibcode=1987ThApC..38..151K |s2cid=122554176 }}</ref> it fell {{convert|22|to|418|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below sea level in 2006, reaching a drop rate of {{convert|1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} per year.  By 2025 it reached a height of {{convert|439|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} below sea level, a drop of more than {{convert|1|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} per year. As the water level decreases, the characteristics{{vague|date=October 2021}} of the Sea and surrounding region may substantially change.

{{as of|2021}}, the surface of the Sea has shrunk by about 33 percent since the 1960s, which is partly attributed to the much-reduced flow of the Jordan River since the construction of the National Water Carrier project, and the amount of water from the rains reaching the Dead Sea has diminished even further since [[flash flood]]s started pouring into the sinkholes left by its shrinkage. The [[EcoPeace Middle East]], a joint Israeli-Palestinian-Jordanian environmental group, has estimated that the annual flow into the Dead Sea from the Jordan is {{as of|lc=yes|2021}} less than {{convert|100,000,000|m3}} of water, compared with former flows of between {{convert|1,200,000,000|m3}} and {{convert|1,300,000,000|m3}}.<ref name=sinkholes/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Water level (m)
! Surface (km<sup>2</sup>)
|-
| '''1930'''|| −390|| 1050
|-
| '''1980'''|| −400|| 680
|-
| '''1992'''|| −407|| 675
|-
| '''1997'''|| −411|| 670
|-
| '''2004'''|| −417|| 662
|-
| '''2010'''|| −423|| 655
|-
| '''2016'''|| −430.5|| 605
|}
Sources: Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research,<ref name="ISRAMAR"/> ''[[Haaretz]]'',<ref name="HRTZ"/> [[Jordan Valley Authority]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sesrtcic.org/Presentations/Water_Management_Symposium/Jordan/Jordan.pdf|title=River Basin Management|access-date=31 May 2014|author=Eng. Sa'ad Abu Hammour, JVA|publisher=Jordan Valley Authority|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140531104927/http://www.sesrtcic.org/Presentations/Water_Management_Symposium/Jordan/Jordan.pdf|archive-date=2014-05-31|url-status=usurped}}</ref>
[[File:The Dead Sea 1972-2011 - NASA Earth Observatory.jpg|thumb|center|upright=3|Views in 1972, 1989, and 2011 compared<ref>{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77592|title=The Dead Sea: Image of the Day|date=6 April 2012|access-date=23 September 2013|archive-date=19 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119021358/http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=77592|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

===={{anchor|sinkholes}}Sinkholes and their impact====
The Dead Sea level drop has been followed by a [[groundwater]] level drop, causing brines that used to occupy underground layers near the shoreline to be flushed out by freshwater. This is believed to be the cause of the recent appearance of large [[sinkhole]]s along the western shore—incoming freshwater dissolves salt layers, rapidly creating subsurface cavities that subsequently collapse to form these sinkholes.<ref>{{cite book|author=M. Abelson|author2=Y. Yechieli |author3=O. Crouvi |author4=G. Baer |author5=D. Wachs |author6=A. Bein |author7=V. Shtivelman |title=Evolution of the Dead Sea Sinkholes: special paper 401|publisher=[[Geological Society of America]]| pages=241–253| year=2006}}</ref> {{as of|2021}} [[Ein Gedi]], on the western coast, has been subject to a large number of sinkholes appearing in the area, attributed to the decline in the water level of the Dead Sea.<ref name=sinkholes>{{cite web | last=Tlozek | first=Eric | title=The Dead Sea is disappearing, leaving behind a landscape shattered by sinkholes | website=[[ABC News (Australia)|ABC News]] | publisher=[[Australian Broadcasting Corporation]] | date=10 June 2021 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-10/the-disappearing-dead-sea-sinkhole-science-en-gedi/100123858 | access-date=19 June 2021 | others=Cinematography: Alon Farago and Abu Saada; Graphics: Andres Gomez Isaza | archive-date=19 June 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210619034832/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-10/the-disappearing-dead-sea-sinkhole-science-en-gedi/100123858 | url-status=live }}</ref>

As a result of the sinkholes, most beach resorts along the west shore of the northern basin had to be shut down, with just three remaining near the basin's northwest tip (see [[List of beaches in Palestine#Dead Sea|List of beaches in Palestine: Dead Sea]]).

===Link to the Red Sea===
[[File:Red Sea - Dead Sea Canal map.jpg|thumb|right|The proposed [[Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance]]]]
In May 2009 at the [[World Economic Forum]], Jordan introduced plans for a "[[Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance|Jordan National Red Sea Development Project]]" (JRSP). This is a plan to convey seawater from the [[Red Sea]] near Aqaba to the Dead Sea. Water would be desalinated along the route to provide fresh water to Jordan, with the brine discharge sent to the Dead Sea for replenishment. Israel has expressed its support and will likely benefit from some of the water delivery to its [[Negev]] region.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jordan, Israel agree $900 million Red Sea-Dead Sea project |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-economy-water/jordan-israel-agree-900-million-red-sea-dead-sea-project-idUSKBN0LU23Z20150226 |access-date=11 December 2018 |work=Reuters |date=26 February 2015 |language=en |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215174726/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-economy-water/jordan-israel-agree-900-million-red-sea-dead-sea-project-idUSKBN0LU23Z20150226 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=JRSP>Jordan Red Sea Project: {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324005936/http://www.jrsp-jordan.com/imgs/JRSP%20Project%20Description.pdf |date=2012-03-24 }} Original: [http://www.jrsp-jordan.com/imgs/JRSP%20Project%20Description.pdf Jordan Red Sea Project Description], retrieved on May 11, 2011</ref>

At a regional conference in July 2009, officials expressed concern about the declining water levels. Some suggested industrial activities around the Dead Sea might need to be reduced. Others advised environmental measures to restore conditions such as increasing the volume of flow from the Jordan River to replenish the Dead Sea. Currently, only sewage and effluent from fish ponds run in the river's channel. Experts also stressed the need for strict conservation efforts. They said agriculture should not be expanded, sustainable support capabilities should be incorporated into the area and pollution sources should be reduced.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.jpost.com/Features/Back-from-the-Dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131027040042/http://www.jpost.com/Features/Back-from-the-Dead |archive-date=October 27, 2013 |title=Back from the Dead? |author=Ehud Zion Waldoks |newspaper=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |date=July 8, 2009 }}</ref>

In October 2009, the Jordanians accelerated plans to extract around {{convert|300|e6m3|e9cuft|0|abbr=off}} of water per year from the Red Sea, desalinate it for use as fresh water and send the waste water to the Dead Sea by tunnel, despite concerns about inadequate time to assess the potential environmental impact. According to Jordan's minister for water, General Maysoun Zu'bi, this project could be considered as the first phase of the [[Red Sea–Dead Sea Water Conveyance]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6285055/Jordan-to-refill-shrinking-Dead-Sea-with-salt-water.html|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20091013062851/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/6285055/Jordan-to-refill-shrinking-Dead-Sea-with-salt-water.html|archive-date= 13 October 2009|title=Jordan to refill shrinking Dead Sea|newspaper=Daily Telegraph|date=10 October 2009}}</ref>

In December 2013, Israel, Jordan and the [[Palestinian Authority]] signed an agreement for laying a water pipeline to link the Red Sea with the Dead Sea. The pipeline would be {{convert|180|km|abbr=on}} long and is estimated to take up to five years to complete.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/dead-sea-pipeline-water-red-sea|date=2013-12-09|title=Dead Sea neighbours agree to pipeline to pump water from Red Sea|first=Harriet|last=Sherwood|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2016-12-14|archive-date=2018-07-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704153555/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/09/dead-sea-pipeline-water-red-sea|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2015 it was reported that the level of water was dropping by {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on|1}} a year.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=58290|title=Dead Sea Dying: Levels of salt water are dropping by three feet annually|author=Catholic Online|access-date=2015-01-08|archive-date=2015-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150108112540/http://www.catholic.org/news/international/middle_east/story.php?id=58290|url-status=live}}</ref>

On 27 November 2016, the Jordanian government shortlisted five consortia to implement the project. Jordan's ministry of Water and Irrigation said that the $100 million first phase of the project would begin construction in the first quarter of 2018, and would be completed by 2021.<ref name="JT"/> The project was officially abandoned in June 2021, having never broken ground.<ref name="TOI-Nixed">{{cite web |title=After years of delays, Jordan said to nix Red Sea-Dead Sea canal with Israel, PA |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-years-of-delays-jordan-said-to-nix-red-sea-dead-sea-canal-with-israel-pa/ |website=The Times of Israel |date=17 June 2021 |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-date=22 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230522234420/https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-years-of-delays-jordan-said-to-nix-red-sea-dead-sea-canal-with-israel-pa/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Lakes|Water|Asia}}
* [[Aral Sea]]
*[[List of bodies of water by salinity]]
* [[List of drying lakes]]
* [[List of places on land with elevations below sea level]]
* [[Mediterranean–Dead Sea Canal]]
* [[Benjamin Elazari Volcani]]
* [[PEF rock]] with the Dead Sea level reference line used between 1900 and 1913

==References==
{{Reflist|40em}}

==Further reading==
* The World Bank, 2013, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130915013427/http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/MENAEXT/EXTREDSEADEADSEA/0,,contentMDK:21827416~pagePK:64168427~piPK:64168435~theSitePK:5174617,00.html "The Red Sea – Dead Sea Water Conveyance Study Program"], and source of basic data on the Dead Sea.
* Yehouda Enzel, et al., eds (2006) ''New Frontiers in Dead Sea Paleoenvironmental Research'', Geological Society of America, {{ISBN|978-0-8137-2401-0}}
* Niemi, Tina M., [[Zvi Ben-Avraham|Ben-Avraham, Z.]], and Gat, J., eds., 1997, The Dead Sea: The Lake and Its Setting: N.Y., [[Oxford University Press]], 286 p.
* World Bank, Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Department, [http://hlrn.org/img/violation/Area+C+Report+Oct-13.pdf Area C and the Future of the Palestinian Economy], October 2, 2013

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Dead Sea}}
* {{Wikivoyage inline|Dead Sea}}   ([[:voy:Dead Sea (Israel and the West Bank)|Israeli and West Bank part]] and [[:voy:Dead Sea (Jordan)|Jordanian part]])
* {{Wiktionary-inline|Dead Sea}}
* {{cite EB9 |wstitle = Dead Sea |volume= VII |last= Porter |first= Josias Leslie  |author-link= Josias Leslie Porter | pages=1–3 |short=1 }}
* {{Cite EB1911 |wstitle= Dead Sea |volume= 7 |last= Macalister |first= Robert Alexander Stewart |author-link= R. A. Stewart Macalister |pages=878–880 |short=1}}

{{Prone to spam|date=August 2013}}
<!-- {{No more links}}

       Please be cautious adding more external links.

       Wikipedia is not a collection of links and should not be used for advertising.

       Excessive or inappropriate links will be removed.

       See [[Wikipedia:External links]] and [[Wikipedia:Spam]] for details.

If there are already suitable links, propose additions or replacements on
the article's talk page, or submit your link to the relevant category at
the Open Directory Project (dmoz.org) and link there using {{Dmoz}}.

-->

{{List of seas}}
{{Regions of the world}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Dead Sea| ]]
[[Category:Endorheic lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Extreme points of Earth]]
[[Category:Lowest points of countries]]
[[Category:Bodies of water of Jordan]]
[[Category:Lakes of Israel]]
[[Category:Catholic pilgrimage sites]]
[[Category:Sacred lakes]]
[[Category:Shrunken lakes]]
[[Category:Hebrew Bible geography]]
[[Category:Lakes of the West Bank]]
[[Category:Saline lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Israel–Jordan border]]
[[Category:Borders of the West Bank]]
[[Category:International lakes of Asia]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]