The Dead Sea and the Jordan River. Barbara Kreiger

Coordinator at EcoPeace, for her endless patience, good humor, detailed explanations, and helpful leads.

      I am very grateful to Her Majesty Queen Noor of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for helping to ensure that my stay in Jordan some years ago was productive. In Amman I learned about the intricacies of Jordan Valley development, the Red Sea–Dead Sea canal, and tourism development. At Safi, the managers of the Arab Potash Company explained their plans for the Jordanian mineral extraction industry.

      In Israel, I thank Dr. Doron Markel, head of the Israel Water Authority’s Sea of Galilee Monitoring and Management Unit, for his clear and strong views and for his readiness to explain them to me. I also thank Dr. Ittai Gavrieli, who clarified certain important points. Notable among the scientists who provided valuable explanations of their work were oceanographer David Anati, zoologist Len Aronson, hydrologist Cippora Klein, geologist David Neev, microbiologist Aharon Oren, botanist Uzi Plitmann, and geologist Mordecai Stein. I am grateful for their time and expertise. I was also privileged to spend time with Professor Leo Picard, “father of geology in Israel.” Eli Raz, while head of the field school at Ein Gedi, talked with me about his work, as did Dov Gavish, professor of aerial photography and cartography. I also thank Hani E. Abu-Dayyeh, founder of NET Tours in East Jerusalem, for offering me a Palestinian perspective on development in the Dead Sea region.

      Rudolph Bloch related to me the genesis of the idea that led to the solar electric ponds. Eli Nevo talked to me about the early days of the first kibbutz established in the area, and Moshe Langotzki related his fascinating story. Shlomo Drori shared his recollections of individuals and events connected to the Dead Sea, while Ze’ev Vilnay told me the stories of his discovery of certain Dead Sea relics. As co-leader of the excavations at Bab edh-Dhra and other nearby sites over the course of a number of years, Professor Walter E. Rast gave me an important perspective on archaeological thought concerning those Early Bronze Age towns.

      I’m very grateful to CNN and to Bill Weir and his team, who included me in their own work at the Dead Sea and Jordan River and opened avenues of discussion that were extremely fruitful. At Dartmouth College, I want to thank Janice C. Allen, Curator of Visual Resources in the Visual Resource Center in the Department of Art History, for her timely and generous help. I was greatly aided in my research by the assistance of the staffs of several libraries and archives: the National Library of Israel, the Rockefeller Archaeological Museum in Jerusalem, and Baker-Berry Library at Dartmouth College. I also wish to thank the staff of the photo archives of the Jewish National Fund, the Central Zionist Archives, the Israel Government Press Office, and the Israel State Archives for their generosity and assistance.

      I could not have written parts of this book without the patient help of Yisrael Saraf, who guided me through the labyrinth of geological history and made it all real to me through our field trips. I also thank Gila Yudkin, professional tour guide, who was my hiking companion in the Dead Sea wadis along the western shore, and whose careful reading of my manuscript was most valuable.

      Finally, I thank my husband and sons, whose encouragement and continuing interest have meant so much to me over the years.

      A NOTE ON USAGE

      Virtually every place I have reason to mention has two names, Hebrew and Arabic, and sometimes a very different English equivalent—as in the very name of the Dead Sea itself. Where it is important, I give both the Hebrew and Arabic; otherwise I have tried to use the name by which the place is more commonly known to an English reader. One will also notice that spelling varies, since current transliteration practice is often different from what it was at other times. My purpose throughout has been clarity, and respect for both Arab and Jewish usage, which reflects the long histories of these languages in the vicinity of the Dead Sea.

      Biblical quotations are taken from a variety of sources, including the Standard Jewish Version (Jewish Publication Society, 1917).

      2.Map of the Dead Sea region.

      PART ONE

      This Strange Water

      In graceful lines the hills advance,

      The valley’s sweep repays the glance,

       And wavy curves of winding beach;

      But all is charred or crunched or riven,

       Scarce seems of earth whereon we dwell;

       Though framed within the lines of heaven

      The picture intimates a hell.

      HERMAN MELVILLE

       Clarel, A Poem and Pilgrimage in the Holy Land

      (II, XXIX, 11.13–19), 1876

      ONE

      Some Early History, Travelers, and Myths

       The drive down to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem is a plunge of more than 4,000 feet in the space of twenty miles, and the sensation it creates is that of landing in an airplane, ears stopped and voices muffled. If one can reach the bottom of the valley before the sun shows itself over the eastern Moab Mountains, one will catch the pink wash that is thrown briefly on the western side. One drives south along the shore, with the lake stretching out on the left and separated from the road by bare, rocky beach, a few scrappy bushes scattered among the stones. Immediately to the right is the line of cliffs whose contours the road will follow most of the length of the sea.

      The Moab Mountains, just a few miles across the lake, are veiled by a dusty haze, and the entire southern portion of the sea is barely distinguishable from the sky. The shore is outlined by a line of froth created by little waves stirring the edge of the water. The two-lane asphalt road winds as the coast does, a black ribbon imitating the thread of white foam.

      It is still early, this late winter day, yet the sun is high enough for the morning to feel full. As the road swings up, the shape of the shoreline becomes apparent, and one can also see whitecaps on the now active sea. Breezes pick up at either end of the day, with the heating or cooling of the air, and the waves may increase, then die down, only to resume in the evening. The lake seems to breathe with a life of its own, and one comes to feel its rhythms, often agitated in the morning, placid in mid-afternoon.

      The haze begins to lift, but even on clear days it may hang for some hours over the sea. From lake level, one notices that it is not resting on the water but is suspended over it. Beneath it the lake is cobalt, perhaps gray, later turquoise with patches of green and purple. From earliest times, observers have remarked on the ever-changing colors of the Dead Sea. Nineteen centuries ago, the Jewish historian Josephus digressed from his account of the Jewish war against the Romans to describe the lake, saying that “thrice daily it alters its appearance and reflects the sun’s rays with varying tints.”

      As the sun climbs, the blue of the water intensifies, and the surface of the lake is flecked with points of light, as though tiny crystals had been strewn and remain afloat to catch the light. It is hardly any wonder that over the centuries for every traveler who disparaged the sea, there were others who found its beauty unsurpassed. What one found “dreary and dismal,” another described as “a shining lake, whose immense and silvery surface reflects the rays of light like a mirror.” The Dead Sea, rich in historical and legendary associations, had power to impress beyond that of even more spectacular natural phenomena. Almost without exception, travelers projected their moods onto the sea, often investing it with the specters conjured up by their imaginations.

      The shores of the Dead Sea are regions of contrasts. One has simultaneous impressions of disparate qualities, and at times it is difficult to draw those perceptions into line to define time and place. Coming down to the valley from the west, one is aware of extraordinary depth and fantastic height. The lakeshore itself is arid and infertile, but it is interrupted by spring-fed expanses of reeds and rushes. There is one place