World Discoveries III: Dead Sea
Encyclopedia
World Discoveries III: Dead Sea is a 1999 documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 that takes an indepth look at the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

, which is a lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 on the border between Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

. At 8.6 times saltier than the ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...

, the Dead Sea is so salty fish can't swim in it, boats can't sail on it, and animals can't survive around it. The film explores the ominous reputation the salty body of water has acquired and shows slow wide-screen nature shots of its surroundings.

Summary

World Discoveries III - Dead Sea travels around the Dead Sea to explore its history and current functions. The film shows, among other things, the white mountains of salt that are extracted from the water and exported throughout the world, the surrounding orange, lemon, and grapefruit groves, and the citrus-flavored honey that’s cultivated nearby.

The film points out that even though the body of water is so devoid of life it has been cultivated to produce a number of valuable products. While potash
Potash
Potash is the common name for various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water-soluble form. In some rare cases, potash can be formed with traces of organic materials such as plant remains, and this was the major historical source for it before the industrial era...

 is refined for fertilization, the lake’s mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...

 has been scientifically proven to cure joint pain, and an entire beauty industry has gone up around its bath salts
Bath salts
The term bath salts refers to a range of water-soluble, usually inorganic solid products designed to be added to a bath. They are said to improve cleaning, improve the experience of bathing, and serve as a vehicle for cosmetic agents...

 and mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

 mud
Mud
Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...

.

The film also shares the Dead Sea's Biblical history. Located on the border of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

, King Herod
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...

 used it as his spa
Spa
The term spa is associated with water treatment which is also known as balneotherapy. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are...

, and King David made it his retreat. But more ominously, the Dead Sea is said to have witnessed the extreme, supernatural fire that violently destroyed the sinners in Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah
Sodom and Gomorrah were cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis and later expounded upon throughout the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and Deuterocanonical sources....

.

Centuries later the climate surround the Dead Sea is still arid and parched. The filmmaker asks how the blessed Jordan River, which the Hebrews
Hebrews
Hebrews is an ethnonym used in the Hebrew Bible...

 crossed to get into the Promised Land
Promised land
The Promised Land is a term used to describe the land promised or given by God, according to the Hebrew Bible, to the Israelites, the descendants of Jacob. The promise is firstly made to Abraham and then renewed to his son Isaac, and to Isaac's son Jacob , Abraham's grandson...

 and is surrounded by beautiful banana groves, could feed into this unholy, salty lake.

See also

  • Dead Sea Canal
    Dead Sea canal
    The Mediterranean-Dead Sea canal is a proposed project to dig a canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Dead Sea, taking advantage of the 400-metre difference in water level between the seas. It is not to be confused with the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal . The project could correct the drop in the level...

  • Two Seas Canal
    Two Seas Canal
    The Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal is a proposed canal which would run from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and provide electricity and potable water to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This proposal has a major role in plans for economic cooperation between Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians,...

  • List of places on land with elevations below sea level
  • Great Salt Lake
    Great Salt Lake
    The Great Salt Lake, located in the northern part of the U.S. state of Utah, is the largest salt water lake in the western hemisphere, the fourth-largest terminal lake in the world. In an average year the lake covers an area of around , but the lake's size fluctuates substantially due to its...


Other documentaries concerning Israel:
  • King David Hotel
    King David Hotel
    The King David Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem, Israel. Opened in 1931, the hotel was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish Banker. To this day the hotel remains one of the most prominent and prestigious hotels in Israel, and...

  • Say Amen
    Say Amen
    Say Amen is a personal documentary film by David Deri, an Orthodox Jew, who reveals his homosexuality to his parents and siblings. The documentary is named one of the best five documentaries of the year 2005 by Israeli Film Academy and appeared in many film festivals, including HOTDOCS-Toronto,...

  • Women for Sale
    Women for Sale
    Women for Sale is a 2005 documentary by Nili Tal. It explores the phenomenon of Russian women who immigrate to Israel to work as prostitutes.-External links:****...


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK