SoitcamethatforovereighteenhundredyearsithasbeenthoughtnaturalandrighttostudyandcomparethemythsandlegendsarisingeastandwestandsouthandnorthofPalestinewitheachother，butneverwiththoseofPalestineitself；soitcamethatoneoftheregionsmostfruitfulinmaterialsforreverentthoughtandhealthfulcomparisonwasheldexemptfromtheunbiasedsearchfortruth；soitcamethat，inthenameoftruth，truthwascrippledforages。Whileobservation，andthoughtuponobservation，andtheorganizedknowledgeorsciencewhichresultsfromthese，progressedasregardedthemythsandlegendsofothercountries，andanatmospherewasthusproducedgivingpurerconceptionsoftheworldanditsgovernment，mythsofthatlittlegeographicalregionattheeasternendoftheMediterraneanretainedpossessionofthecivilizedworldintheiroriginalcrudeform，andhaveattimesdonemuchtothwartthenoblesteffortsofreligion，morality，andcivilization。
II。MEDIAEVALGROWTHOFTHEDEADSEALEGENDS。
Thehistoryofmyths，oftheirgrowthundertheearlierphasesofhumanthoughtandoftheirdeclineundermodernthinking，isoneofthemostinterestingandsuggestiveofhumanstudies；but，sincetotreatitasawholewouldrequirevolumes，Ishallselectonlyonesmallgroup，andoutofthismainlyasinglemyth——oneaboutwhichtherecannolongerbeanydispute——thegroupofmythsandlegendswhichgrewupontheshoreoftheDeadSea，andespeciallythatonewhichgrewuptoaccountforthesuccessivesaltcolumnswashedoutbytherainsatitssouthwesternextremity。
TheDeadSeaisaboutfiftymilesinlengthandtenmilesinwidth；itliesinaverydeepfissureextendingnorthandsouth，anditssurfaceisaboutthirteenhundredfeetbelowthatoftheMediterranean。Ithas，therefore，nooutlet，andisthereceptacleforthewatersofthewholesystemtowhichitbelongs，includingthosecollectedbytheSeaofGalileeandbroughtdownthencebytheriverJordan。
Itcertainly——oratleastthelargerpartofit——ranksgeologicallyamongtheoldestlakesonearth。Inabroadsensetheregionisvolcanic：Onitsshoreareevidencesofvolcanicaction，whichmustfromtheearliestperiodhavearousedwonderandfear，andstimulatedthemyth-makingtendencytoaccountforthem。Ontheeasternsideareimpressivemountainmasseswhichhavebeenthrownupfromoldvolcanicvents；mineralandhotspringsabound，someofthemspreadingsulphurousodours；