Dead Sea

The name given by Greek writers of the second century to that inland sea called in Scripture the "salt sea" (Genesis 14:3; Numbers 34:12), the "sea of the plain" (Deuteronomy 3:17), the "east sea" (Ezek. 47:18; Joel 2:20), and simply "the sea" (Ezek. 47:8). The Arabs call it Bahr Lut, i.e., the Sea of Lot. It lies about 16 miles in a straight line to the east of Jerusalem. Its surface is 1,292 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea. It covers an area of about 300 square miles. Its depth varies from 1,310 to 11 feet. From various phenomena that have been observed, its bottom appears to be still subsiding. It is about 53 miles long, and of an average breadth of 10 miles. It has no outlet, the great heat of that region causing such rapid evaporation that its average depth, notwithstanding the rivers that run into it (see JORDAN), is maintained with little variation. The Jordan alone discharges into it no less than six million tons of water every twenty-four hours.

The waters of the Dead Sea contain 24.6 per cent. of mineral salts, about seven times as much as in ordinary sea-water; thus they are unusually buoyant. Chloride of magnesium is most abundant; next to that chloride of sodium (common salt). But terraces of alluvial deposits in the deep valley of the Jordan show that formerly one great lake extended from the Waters of Merom to the foot of the watershed in the Arabah. The waters were then about 1,400 feet above the present level of the Dead Sea, or slightly above that of the Mediterranean, and at that time were much less salt.

Nothing living can exist in this sea. "The fish carried down by the Jordan at once die, nor can even mussels or corals live in it; but it is a fable that no bird can fly over it, or that there are no living creatures on its banks. Dr. Tristram found on the shores three kinds of kingfishers, gulls, ducks, and grebes, which he says live on the fish which enter the sea in shoals, and presently die. He collected one hundred and eighteen species of birds, some new to science, on the shores, or swimming or flying over the waters. The cane-brakes which fringe it at some parts are the homes of about forty species of mammalia, several of them animals unknown in England; and innumerable tropical or semi-tropical plants perfume the atmosphere wherever fresh water can reach. The climate is perfect and most delicious, and indeed there is perhaps no place in the world where a sanatorium could be established with so much prospect of benefit as at Ain Jidi (Engedi).", Geikie's Hours, etc.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (a.) Deprived of life; -- opposed to alive and living; reduced to that state of a being in which the organs of motion and life have irrevocably ceased to perform their functions; as, a dead tree; a dead man.

2. (a.) Destitute of life; inanimate; as, dead matter.

3. (a.) Resembling death in appearance or quality; without show of life; deathlike; as, a dead sleep.

4. (a.) Still as death; motionless; inactive; useless; as, dead calm; a dead load or weight.

5. (a.) So constructed as not to transmit sound; soundless; as, a dead floor.

6. (a.) Unproductive; bringing no gain; unprofitable; as, dead capital; dead stock in trade.

7. (a.) Lacking spirit; dull; lusterless; cheerless; as, dead eye; dead fire; dead color, etc.

8. (a.) Monotonous or unvaried; as, a dead level or pain; a dead wall.

9. (a.) Sure as death; unerring; fixed; complete; as, a dead shot; a dead certainty.

10. (a.) Bringing death; deadly.

11. (a.) Wanting in religious spirit and vitality; as, dead faith; dead works.

12. (a.) Flat; without gloss; -- said of painting which has been applied purposely to have this effect.

13. (a.) Not brilliant; not rich; thus, brown is a dead color, as compared with crimson.

14. (a.) Cut off from the rights of a citizen; deprived of the power of enjoying the rights of property; as, one banished or becoming a monk is civilly dead.

15. (a.) Not imparting motion or power; as, the dead spindle of a lathe, etc. See Spindle.

16. (adv.) To a degree resembling death; to the last degree; completely; wholly.

17. (n.) The most quiet or deathlike time; the period of profoundest repose, inertness, or gloom; as, the dead of winter.

18. (n.) One who is dead; -- commonly used collectively.

19. (v. t.) To make dead; to deaden; to deprive of life, force, or vigor.

20. (v. i.) To die; to lose life or force.