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grandest scenery man ever enjoj-ecl, in an atmosphere where lialf a lung is sufficient for respiration" (The Land o/J.siwI, p. 295 ).
III. Orl(/in and History.— It is a question of the high- est importance, and one which has created much con- troversy among scientific and Biblical students, whether the present physical aspect of the Jordan valley and shores of the Dead Sea tends to throw any light upon its origin and changes, or upon the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Our knowledge of the physical struct- ure of the Jordan valley, and of the various strata and deposits along the shores of the Dead Sea, is not yet sufficiently extensive or minute to enable us to construct a satisfactory theory on the points at issue ; but it may be well to state here in a few simple propositions what are the actual statements made in Scripture about the Dead Sea, and what are the facts which scientific in- vestigation, so far as hitherto prosecuted, has established.
1. The references to the Dead Sea in Scripture are few, and mostly incidental. Three passages deserve special attention. (1.) In Gen. xiii, 10, where the sa- cred writer relates the story of the separation of Abra- liam and Lot, he represents the two as standing on the mountain-top east of Bethel. He then says, '• Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain (or circuit) of Jor- dan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the gar- den of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar." It has been inferred from this that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the whole plain around them, must have been in sight at the time refer- red to, and must therefore have been situated at the northern end of the Dead Sea, which alone is visible from the height at Bethel. But a careful examination of the passage shows that this does not follow. The patriarchs looked towards " the circuit of the Jordan." It is not implied that they saw it all, nor is it said that Sodom and Gomorrah were in sight. They saw enough to give them a general idea of the whole region. One thing is evident from the statement: a remarkable change was effected in the plain at the time of the de- struction of Sodom. It was fertile and well watered be/ore that event, but manifestly not so, or not so much 60, (ifler it. This is corroborated by the narrative in Gen. xix, 24, 25.
(2.) The second passage is Gen. xiv, 2-10, which con- tains the story of Lot's capture. Ver. 3 is important: " All these (kings) were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the Salt Sea." There cannot be a doubt that the idea here expressed is that the district called in the time of Lot " the vale of Siddim" had become, in the time of tlie writer, " the Salt Sea," or at least consti- tuted a part of that sea. The Hebrew phrase estab- lishes the identity of the two just as certainly as the similar phrase in ver. 2 establishes the identity of Bela and Zoar. The clause is found in all the ancient MSS. and versions, and in the Targum of Onkelos. Its gen- uineness rests on the verj' same basis as the other por- tions of the narrative. It was manifestly the opinion of IMoses that the vale of Siddiin was submerged. An- other point in the narrative demands attention. The route of the invading host is traced. They attacked the Kephaim in Bashan, then marched southward through Moab and Kdom to Paran, on the west side of the Arabah, opposite Edom. There they turned, and after resting at tlie fountain of Kadcsh, tliey swept the territory of the Amalekites on the south of Jiidah, and of the Amorites " wlio dwelt in Kngedi." Having thus ravaged all the countries surrounding the cities of the plain, they descended upon their territory from the west. Tlie inhabitants now came out against them, and were marshalled in the vale of Siddim. The exact locality of tlie vale is not described. It may have been north or it may have l)een south of Kngedi. One thing, however, is certain : if the western shores of the sea were then ns they are now, no army could have marched along them from Engedi to Jericlio. On the other hand,
from Engedi there is a good path southward. It is said, moreover, that " the vale of Siddim was full of bitumen pits" (ver. 10). There is no part of the valley north of the sea to which this would apply ; nor, indeed, is there any plain or vale along its shores '• full of bitumen pits" at the present day. These facts render it impossible that the vale of Siddim could have been on the plain of Jericho, and they seem to confirm the previous state- ment that Siddiin was submerged. See SiODur.
(3.) The third passage is Gen. xix, 24, 25 : " Then the Lord rained ujuni Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven ; and lie overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." Abraham, when, on the succeeding morning, he reached the mountain -brow, '"looked towards Sodom and Go- morrah, and towards all the land of the plain, and be- held, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace" (ver. 28). As Abraham was at this time residing at Hebron, the view towards the south end of the Dead Sea would have been much more dis- tinct than to the northern end, although the lake itself is visible from Beni-Naim (the traditionary site of Abra- ham's interview with Jehovah) through gaps in the western mountains (Eobinson, Bib. Bes. ii, 189). See Sonojr.