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(Sergio) This time, we are in the Dead Sea.
There is no other place like it on Earth.
- Get some good treatments. - Very nice.
- Get younger skin. - Yes.
- Yeah. - I feel much younger already.
A lot of important events in history
took place in this very region.
So, in the next four episodes,
we will explore the place where the ancient Israelites
have crossed over to the promised land for the first time
and the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist.
We will explore the Qumran Caves,
where most of the ancient Hebrew manuscripts were found,
and learn about the community of scribes who wrote them.
We will also explore Masada,
a fortification on top of an isolated rock plateau,
and how it relates to King David.
So, we are hiking down from Masada
on a snake path or a snake road.
That's what they call it.
In this episode,
we start with the geographical epicenter of all these events:
the Dead Sea.
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There are not that many roads
that can take you to the Dead Sea nowadays.
In fact, there are only two:
Road one that goes through Jerusalem
or Road 90 that goes through the West Bank.
Driving from Nazareth, it would have taken us four hours
if we had taken the Jerusalem route,
so we drove through the West Bank.
(singing in Hebrew) ♪
The scenery is quite different than what we are used to up north.
It is breathtaking.
As we descended lower and lower into the lowest road on Earth,
we could feel our ears pop.
This is the lowest land on Earth.
This is the lowest boulevard on Earth.
Do you smell that sulfuric smell?
It is a strong smell because there is hot springs somewhere.
I am walking on salt, literally.
We are at the Dead Sea,
and underneath me, a lot of salt accumulated
and became part of the beach.
It is so hard, it is like walking on hard ice,
but look how beautiful the water is and the color.
And if you touch it, it's like touching oil
from all the minerals that it has.
Wonderful place.
(Sergio) The Dead Sea
is the saltiest body of water on Earth.
In fact, it is 9.6 times saltier than the ocean.
It is so salty, that nothing lives in it,
not a single fish or a living organism.
But on the bright side, because of the salt level,
even if you try, you can't really sink.
You will simply float on top of it.
Now, why were we running?
Why were we? Yeah, that's a good question!
What are you doing?
Hydration, very important!
The Dead Sea has a big problem.
In recent years,
the water has been receding at an alarming rate.
It is so much smaller
than when I was here 20 years ago.
The dry shores started cracking,
and there is danger of sinkholes everywhere.
So, in 2018, Jordan will begin
the Red Sea/Dead Sea Water Conveyance Project.
The idea is to take water from the Red Sea
and bring it up to the Dead Sea.
The cool part is that it was possibly prophesied in Ezekiel 47:8
where it describes the Dead Sea becoming fresh
and having fish from the Great Sea living.
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So, we hope you enjoyed this episode.
Please subscribe below if you liked it.
If you didn't, still subscribe or else Rhoda will, like,
I don't know, send you salt from the Dead Sea.
Here. Speaking of that
- on your face. - Thank you.
- Get some good treatments. - Very nice.
- Get younger skin. - Yes.
- Yeah. - I feel much younger already.