Page 71 - Bible Geography and Near East Studies

Gedi spa hotel, visitors are now transported half a mile to the water that was only a few steps away in
1970.

A 2013 agreement between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority will provide a pipeline from the
Red Sea to the Dead Sea to put more water into the shrinking sea. As a side benefit, Israeli desalination
technology will also turn the seawater into drinking water along the way. According to the agreement,
the first pipeline is due to be finished in 2021.

Likely, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were once located in the deep Rift Valley that is now the Dead
Sea. Some archaeological work has already pinpointed some ruins as the potential location of these two
notorious communities, but the work is inconclusive. Two factors would make it very difficult to confirm
the biblical communities of Sodom and Gomorrah. First, 4,000 years have passed. Time, earthquakes,
and the corrosive nature of the soil itself would make it difficult to find anything from that time. Second,
the Bible describes an extremely destructive event that eliminated all life in the region very quickly. Such
destruction would add to the difficulty of finding proof of the original location of Sodom or Gomorrah.
Even so, the Dead Sea basin is almost certainly the location of the Genesis event.

En-gedi

En Gedi is an oasis along the western shore of the Dead Sea. The fresh-water springs here have allowed
nearly continuous inhabitation of this site since the flood. It is difficult to describe the contrast between
the vast Judean Wilderness and the small oasis of En Gedi.

In the rock-strewn, sunbaked wilderness, there are almost no fresh-water sources. The Judean
Wilderness begins at the northern end of the Dead Sea and ends more than 40 miles later, giving way to
the even larger – and even harsher – Negev Desert.

But in the nearly hidden oasis of En Gedi, a rich and luxuriant garden of
life provides a ready source of fresh water, shade, and produce. People
and wildlife have been drawn to En Gedi for centuries.

The historian Josephus praised En Gedi for its palm and balsam trees
2,000 years ago.

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