ISRAEL PHOTOS III  -- A COLLECTION OF PHOTOS FROM ISRAEL 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS OF SCENES AND SITES PERTINENT TO THE STUDY OF CHRISTIANITY

SALT OF THE EARTH

Matthew 5:13 (WEB) “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, with what will it be salted? It is then good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under the feet of men.

Along the shore of the Dead Sea the water evaporated and crusts of salt formed on the shore and on the shallow lake bottom. Inland, far from the salty seas, salt was of great value as it is an important mineral supplement. King Herod traded salt. He had built forts on both sides of the Dead Sea.  Some Roman soldiers were paid partially in salt rations; it was their salary, taken from the Roman words sal dare, “to give salt.” Salt was used to preserve fish and meat.

While salt is a valuable commodity; excessive salt intake is linked to high blood pressure as salt makes the body retain water. Some high blood pressure is caused by a cholesterol/plaque buildup in the arteries often accompanying obesity due to bad dietary choices or as a hereditary condition. Some processed foods contain elevated amounts of sodium; more than in raw fruits and vegetables.

In ancient Mesopotamia, along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, canal and ditch irrigation methods were used to grow wheat and barley. In time evaporation of water from the flooded fields deposited enough salt to render the ground useless. The farmers had to move to cultivate new ground. Eventually the fallow salted fields were "healed" by the infrequent winter rains or times of catastrophic flooding.

Too much salt is useless whether in one's body or in a farmer's field.


Dead Sea Shore with white salt grains on bottom of lake, January 2005


Cubic crystals of salt formed on a rock, January 2005


April 2005

This is a photo of Mt. Sodom between Masada and the Dead Sea Salt Works factory at the southern end of the Dead Sea in Israel.  There are nearly vertical layers of salt rock visible between the abandoned house and the open face salt mine to the right. Salt is less dense than most rocks and over the course of millions of years rose through denser rock units to form salt domes in offshore oil fields, thus these layers have have pushed into near vertical form. Rocks bent when pressure was applied over the course of millions of years; even though they are brittle over the short term.


April 2005

Rock salt (NaCl) is the mineral halite. There is also potassium salt in this area called potash.

Parable of the Mustard Seed
     A Mustard Field Along Highway 87-North Shore of Galilee
     Mustard Seeds in the Palm of a Hand
     Mustard Flowers
     Giant Mustard
     Upper Most Seats of the Synagogue
The Fig Tree
     Mt of Olives Fig Tree, April 12-13, 2005
     Fig and Pomegranite Trees Below Siloam in Jerusalem
     Sycomore Fig Tree
The Good Shepherd
The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats
     Goat Herder
Camels
Ritual Cleansing
Shechem
     The Olive Harvest of Samaria
     Mt. Ebal
     Olive Tree
Pearl of Great Price
A First Century Synagogue at Gamala
     Overview of Gamala
Modern Galilee Fishing Boats
Kursi
     Caves and/or Tombs
     Steep Slope Near Kursi
Hippos
Feeding the 5,000
     On the Mountain
     Walking on Water
     Ramot-Tzelon area
Mt. Hermon
The Pools of Bethesda in Jerusalem
     Healing Pools
     Crusader Chapel and St. Ann Church
Pool of Siloam in Jerusalem
     Hezekiah's Tunnel
     Overlook to Siloam
Tower of Siloam
A Watch Tower in a Vineyard/Olive Grove
     Grape Vines at Beth Horan
     Towers
Mt. Precipice
     South Face
     Summit
     Over the edge
     Measuring Line
     View of Nazareth from near Megiddo
Nazareth
     The Basilica of the Annunciation
Capernaum
Healing a Paralytic in Capernaum
Bethsaida
Waterskins and Wineskins
The Fish and the Coin
     Barbel
A Denarius
Casting Out a Demon
The Road to Jericho
     Old Roman Road
     Wilderness Above Jericho
     Old Jericho
Western Wall
Gethsemane and the Cave of Gethsemane
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
Rolling Stone Tombs - Jerusalem
    Other Rolling Stone Tombs
Tiberias
Solar Power in Israel
Salt of the earth
Chorazin

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OTHER WEB SITES BY DAVID HALL:

Israel Photos VI
Israel Photos V -- Spring 2011
Israel Photos IV -- Pilgrimage

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