Valley of Salt
Valley of Salt is a location mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Judea in modern-day Israel. Known today as Es Sebkha. It appears across 5 verses in Scripture.
Biblical History
The Valley of Salt (Hebrew: Ge-ha-Melah) appears in the Old Testament as the scene of several significant military victories. Most prominently, it is recorded in 2 Samuel 8:13 that David struck down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, a triumph that extended Israelite dominion and fulfilled the divine promise of territorial expansion. The parallel account in 1 Chronicles 18:12 attributes the victory to Abishai son of Zeruiah, suggesting a broader campaign under unified command. Psalm 60 is titled in connection with this battle, indicating the event's liturgical significance in Israel's worship. Centuries later, 2 Kings 14:7 records that Amaziah king of Judah slew ten thousand Edomites in the same valley, capturing the rock fortress of Sela. The valley thus became a symbolic threshold between Judah and Edom, a recurring battleground where God's covenant people established dominance over a persistent adversary. Its geographical position south of the Dead Sea made it both a natural boundary and a strategic corridor into Edomite territory.
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The Valley of Salt is commonly identified with Es Sebkha, a wide, flat salt-encrusted depression near the southern end of the Dead Sea. The region's extreme salinity results from mineral-laden runoff and the evaporation of Dead Sea waters. No major excavations have specifically targeted the valley floor itself, as the terrain is inhospitable and unlikely to preserve structural remains. However, the surrounding area contains Iron Age fortifications and settlement debris consistent with periods of Israelite-Edomite conflict. The topography is consistent with ancient accounts of large-scale military engagements, offering relatively open ground suitable for pitched battle. The site's identification remains widely accepted among biblical geographers.
Verse Appearances (5)
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]