2. The physical facts ascertained by scientific research are as follows: The formation of the great valley of the Jordan must have been long antecedent to historic times, and coeval with the existing mountain-ranges; the val- ley was, at some remote period, filled with water to the level of the ocean ; the water has gradually decreased, apparently by evaporation, and has left a number of shore-lines, traced by terraces along the mountain-sides, all antecedent to historic times: the portion of the Dead Sea north of el-Lisiin forms a distinct basin, and appears to have done so from a time long anterior to Abraham. The southern section is different : it is very shallow ; its bottom is slimy. "Sulphur springs stud its shores; sulphur is strewn, whether in layers or in fragments, over the desolate plains; and bitumen is ejected, in great, floating masses, from the bottom of the sea, oozes through the fissures of the rocks, is deposited with grav- el on the beach, or, as in the Wady Mahawat, appears, with sulphur, to have been precipitated during some convulsion" (Tristram, p. 358), and that at a period long subsequent to the latest diluvial formation, and appar- ently within the historic period.
There can be no doubt that the destruction of the cities was miraculous. A shower of ignited sulphur was rained upon them. May we not connect this his- toric fact with the observed fact just stated? Again, it is said that "the plain of Siddim was filled with bi- tumen pits." Bitumen is inflammable, and, when ig- nited by the fierj' shower, would burn fiercely. May we not also connect this with the phenomena of Wady Mahawat, of which Tristram says, " The whole appear- ance points to a shower of hot sulphur, and an irruption of bitumen upon it, which would naturally be calcined and impregnated with its fumes?" (p. 35()). The sa- cred writer further says that the vale of Siddim became the Salt Sea, or was submerged. The southern part of the lake is now a muddy flat, covered with a few feet of water. Suppose the vale to have sunk a few feet, or the water to have risen a few feet, after the miraculous de- struction of the cities: cither supposition would accord willi tlie Biblical narrative, Mould not be withdut a par- allel in the history of countries exposed to earthtpiakes, and would not be opposed to any results of modern ob- servation; it would accord, besides, with the views of ancient writers and with uniform Jewish tradition (Jo- seph us, .4 j;^ i, 9; IFwr, iv, 8, 4 ; Eeland, p. 254 sq.).
This was the view suggested by Dr. Robinson, and sanctioned by the distinguished geologist, Leopold von Bucdi. In his latest work, published since his death, Koliiiison says: "It seems to be a necessary conclusion that the Dead Sea extended no farther south than the
SALT SEA
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SALT, VALLEY OF
peninsula, and that the cities destroyed lay on the soutli of the lake as it then existed. Lot tied from Sodom to Zoar, which was ntar (Gen. xix, '20) ; and Zoar, as we know, was in the mouth of Wady Kerak as it opens upon the neck of tlie peninsula. The fertile plain, therefore, which Lot chose for himself, where Sodom was situated, and which was well watered, like the land of Eg3'pt, lay also south of the lake 'as thou comest to Zoar' (Gen. xiii, 10, 11). Even to the present day, more living streams How into the (ihor at the soutli end of the sea, from wadys of the eastern mountains, than are found so near together in all Palestine be- sides. Tracts of exuberant fertility are still seen along the streams, though elsewhere the district around the southern baj^ is almost desert" (Phz/sical Geof/r. of' the lldly Land, p. 213). Notwithstanding the arguments and almost contemptuous insinuations of some recent writers, not a single fact has been adduced calculated to overthrow this view ; but, on the contrary, each ncAV discovery seems as if a new evidence in its favor.
3. Later and Modern Notices. — It does not appear probable that, with the above exception, the condition or aspect of the lake in ancient times was materially different from what it is at present. Other parts of Syria may have deteriorated in climate and appear- ance, owing to the destruction of the wood which once covered them ; but there are no traces either of the an- cient existence of wood in the neighborhood of the lake, or of anything which would account for its destruction, supposing it to have existed. A few spots — such as Ain-Jidy, the mouth of the Wady Zuweireh, and that of the Wady ed-Draa — were more cultivated, and, con- sequentljf, more populous, than they are under the dis- couraging influences of Alohammedanism. But such at- tempts must always have been partial, confined to the immediate neighborhood of the fresh springs and to a certain degree of elevation, and ceasing directly irri- gation was neglected. In fact, the climate of the shores of the lake is too sultry and trying to allow of any con- siderable amount of civilized occupation being conduct- ed there. Nothing will grow without irrigation, and artificial irrigation is too laborious for such a situation. The plain of Jericho, we know, was cultivated like a garden ; but the plain of Jericho is very nearly on a level with the spring of Ain-.Iidy, some GOO feet above the Ghor el-Lisan, the Ghor es-Satieh, or other cultiva- ble portions of the beach of the Dead Sea. Of course, so far as the capabilities of the ground are concerned (provided there is plenty of water), the hotter the cli- mate, the better; and it is not too much to say that if some system of irrigation could be carried out and maintained, the plain of Jericho, and still more the shores of the lake (such as the peninsula and the south- ern plain), might be the most productive spots in the world. But this is not possible, and the difficulty of communication witli the external world would alone be (as it must always have been) a serious bar to any great agricultural efforts in this district.