City Of Salt

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

 Joshua 15:62. A city near Engedi and the Dead Sea, in the wilderness. Van de Velde mentions finding a Nahr Μaleh ("salt"), one of four ravines which together form the Wady El Bedim ; another is the Wady 'Αmreh . ("Gomorrha"?).

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

Salt, City Of . A city of Judah (  Joshua 15:61-62 ). It may be inferred to have occupied some position on the western shore of the Dead Sea, between En-gedi and Khashm Usdum (the salt mountain).

Morrish Bible Dictionary

One of the six cities in the wilderness that fell to the lot of Judah.  Joshua 15:62 . Identified by some with Tell el Milh, 'salt hill,' 31 13' N, 35 1' E .

Holman Bible Dictionary

City Of Salt

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Heb. Ir ham-Me'lach, עיראּהִמֶּלִח ; Sept. Αἱ Πόλεις Σαδῶν , v.r. Ἡ Πόλις Τῶν Ἁλῶν ; Vulg. Civitas Salis ), the fifth of the six cities of Judah which lay in the "wilderness" ( Joshua 15:62). Its proximity to Engedi, and the name itself, seem to point to its being situated close to. or at any rate in the neighborhood of the Salt Sea. Dr. Robinson ( Bib. Res. 2 , 109) expresses his belief that it lay somewhere near the plain at the south end of that lake, which he would identify with the Valley of Salt (q.v.). This, though possibly supported by the reading of the Vatican Sept., "the cities of Sodom," is at present a mere conjecture, since no trace of the name or the city has yet been discovered in that position. On the other hand, Van de Velde (Syr. and Pal. 2, 99; Memoir, p. 111, and Map) mentions a Nahr Maleh which he passed in his route from Wady el-Rmail to Sebbeh, the name of which (though the orthography is not certain) may be found to contain a trace of the Hebrew. It is one of four ravines which unite to form the Wady el-Bedun. Another of the four, Wady ‘ Amreh (ibid.), recalls the name of Gomorrah, to the Hebrew of which it is very similar. It seems most probable that it took its name from salt works or mines. At the southwestern extremity of the Dead Sea stands a remarkable range of hills of pure salt, and near them "the City of Salt" was perhaps situated. There are ancient ruins at the mouth of Wady Zuweireh, at the northern end of the range; and others at Um-Baghek, five miles farther north. One or other of these places may mark the site of "the City of Salt" (Van de Velde, Meemoir, p. 345; Tristram, Land of Israel, p. 318 sq.). (See Judah).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

( המּלח עיר , ‛ı̄r ha - melaḥ  ; Codex Alexandrinus αί πόλ ( ρ Ο2 επ ) ις ἁλῶν , hai pól ( e ) is halṓn ): One of the six cities in the wilderness of Judah mentioned between Nibshan and Engedi (  Joshua 15:62 ). The site is very uncertain. The large and important Tell el - Milḥ (i.e. "the salt hill"), on the route from Hebron to Akaba, is possible.