Note 3 — Chapter II

This sea is called by several names, viz., “The Dead Sea,” “The Sea of the Plain,” or “of the Arabah,” and “The East Sea.” In the 2nd Book of Esdras v. 7, it is called the “Sodomish Sea.” Josephus uses a similar name, ἡ Σοδομύτυς λίμνη—the Sodomite Lake; he also calls it by the same name as Diodorus Siculus, the “Asphaltic Lake”—ἡ Ἀσφαλτίτις λίμνη. It contains 26 per cent. of salt, including large quantities of magnesium compounds; its weight is of course great, a gallon weighing almost 12-1/2 lb.; and its buoyancy is proportionate to the weight, being such that the human body cannot sink in it. At the south side is a mass of crystallised salt, and in it is a very peculiar cavern, extending at least five miles, varying in height from 200 to 400 feet. This sea is 1312 feet below the level of the Mediterranean; the river Jordan, from the Sea of Galilee, flows into it, but no river flows from it.