2017 Bethlehem Best of Israel Tour
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Several of our tour members enjoy the buoyancy unique to the Dead Sea, which is 9.6 times salty as the ocean.
Several of our tour members enjoy the buoyancy unique to the Dead Sea, which is 9.6 times salty as the ocean.
!["The Dead Sea (Hebrew: יָם הַמֶּלַח About this sound Yam ha-Melah lit. Salt Sea; Arabic: البحر الميت About this sound Al-Bahr al-Mayyit[5]) is a salt lake bordered by Jordan to the east and Israel and Palestine to the west. Its surface and shores are 430.5 metres (1,412 ft) below sea level,[4][6] Earth's lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 304 m (997 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. With a salinity of 342 g/kg, or 34.2%, (in 2011), it is 9.6 times as salty as the ocean and one of the world's saltiest bodies of water.[7] This salinity makes for a harsh environment in which plants and animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 50 kilometres (31 mi) long and 15 kilometres (9 mi) wide at its widest point.[1] It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley, and its main tributary is the Jordan River." (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Sea">Wikipedia</a>)](https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/2017-Bethlehem-Best-of-Israel-Tour/i-G7qRMTj/0/18acb083/Ti/20150704018-Ti.jpg)
![The site likely where John the Baptist preached and baptized, including the baptism of Jesus.<br><br>
"Bethabara (/bɛθˈæbərə/ beth-AB-ər-ə; בית עברה; bēt ‛ăbārāh; Βηθαβαρά; Bēthabará; "house of the ford, place of crossing") is the name used by some versions of the New Testament for the site "beyond (i.e. east of) the Jordan" where John the Baptist preached and performed baptisms, where he met with a group of priests and Levites sent by the Pharisees to investigate his ministry, and where he baptised Jesus.[1] The name "Bethabara" also appears on the 6th-century Madaba Map and in the Talmud."<br><br>
"The most likely location of Bethabara is Al-Maghtas in Jordan." (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bethabara">Wikipedia</a>)](https://photos.smugmug.com/Travel/2017-Bethlehem-Best-of-Israel-Tour/i-Vhhh2qW/0/b97d4526/Ti/20150704267-Ti.jpg)
