World Discoveries III: Dead Sea

World Discoveries III: Dead Sea
Distributed by Europe Images
Running time
 26 mins.
Country Israel
Language English

World Discoveries III: Dead Sea is a 1999 documentary that takes an indepth look at the Dead Sea, which is a lake on the border between Israel and Jordan. At 8.6 times saltier than the ocean, 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 is refined for fertilization, the lake’s mud has been scientifically proven to cure joint pain, and an entire beauty industry has gone up around its bath salts and mineral mud.

The film also shares the Dead Sea's Biblical history. Located on the border of Israel, King Herod used it as his spa, 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.

Centuries later the climate surround the Dead Sea is still arid and parched. The filmmaker asks how the blessed Jordan River, which the Hebrews crossed to get into the Promised Land and is surrounded by beautiful banana groves, could feed into this unholy, salty lake.

See also

Other documentaries concerning Israel:

References

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