New Book! The Dead Sea: A 10,000-Year History

Today we celebrate a major publication by Nir Arielli, Professor of International History at the University of Leeds. The book is called The Dead Sea: A 10,000-Year History. It is published by Yale University Press (2024) and will be launched at Waterstones on Albion St, Central Leeds this Thursday (13 February 2025) at 7pm. For booking information, please see here).

How has this book come about?

Like many other terminal lakes around the world, the Dead Sea is facing a major environmental crisis: it receives far less water than it did in the past, and as a result its water level is falling at an alarming rate. I wanted to write a book that would highlight the very rich history of the Dead Sea and the area surrounding it. By doing so, I hope to show readers that the Dead Sea is a unique place which should be saved.

What are the key argument(s) that the book develops?

The book explores how the same body of water was seen, understood and imagined in very different ways with the passage of time. For instance, the Dead Sea area was seen as both hostile and inviting, sacred and cursed, a seat of war and a resource that could bring prosperity. The lake is famed for having healing properties but, if ingested, its water can kill.

The history of the Dead Sea area also gives us an opportunity to examine the changing relationship between people and the environment. I argue that, in the vicinity of the lake, this relationship was governed by a particular set of changing conditions. Where settlements were established, to what extent they thrived, why they declined or were abandoned, and indeed much of the human history of the Dead Sea, was shaped by the interaction between changes in the local environment (both natural and human-made), shifting economic opportunities, and geopolitical developments.

What insight does the book provide into the relationship between religion and public life?

The Dead Sea area has immense religious significance. The lake itself and several sites around it are mentioned frequently in the Hebrew Bible. For centuries, scholars and travellers who visited the area sought to find the sites where biblical stories took place. From the late nineteenth century onwards, archaeology was mobilised in discussions on the veracity of biblical accounts relating to these sites.

The area around the lake has long attracted pilgrims. Jericho and Bethany Beyond the Jordan provide the backdrop for important events in the life of Jesus. Subsequently, the Byzantine period saw the establishment of numerous monasteries in the vicinity. There is also a medieval Islamic tradition that places the tomb of Moses not far from the Dead Sea.

At the same time, many Christian and Muslim authors described the lake itself as being cursed because of its association with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Some medieval and modern authors believed that the curse could still be traced in the fruits that grew near the lake and among the people who continued to reside around its shores. An examination of the history of the Dead Sea provides insights on how traditions and beliefs do or don’t weather the test of time.

Give us one quote from the book that you believe will make us go and read it!

“The story of the Dead Sea involves salt and sulphur, but also date palms and sugarcane. It can be pieced together thanks to sediments that gathered at the bottom of the lake, scrolls that were hidden in caves, the remains of mosaics and the accounts of travel writers. Its protagonists are Jews and Arabs but also Moabites, Nabataeans, Greeks, Idumaeans, Romans, Crusaders and Mamluks. Over the centuries, the shores of the lake have seen farmers and nomads, biblical figures and pilgrims, conquerors and explorers, great architects and entrepreneurs. Around the Dead Sea one can still find the remains of ancient cities, some of the oldest the world has seen, fortresses perched on hilltops and caves where rebels and refugees sought safety. It is a place that could be many different things – indeed, many opposing things.”