Located 405 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. The name "Dead Sea" wasn’t actually used until the 2^nd century AD traveler Pausanuis passed through the area and observed that the water could not sustain life. Like the River Jordan, the Dead Sea forms an integral part of Palestinian geography, and during biblical times the body of water was known variously as the Sea of Arabah, the Salt Sea, and the Eastern Sea. References to this body of water appear throughout the Bible. One reference that highlights the Dead Sea’s role as a central landmark occurs in the Book of Deuteronomy (3:17) "The Arabah and the Jordan serve as frontiers from Chinnereth down to the Sea of Arabah (the Salt Sea), at the foot of the slopes of Pisgah on the east."