The Human Condition

Dead Sea

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Atop a bluff overlooking the Dead Sea Works stands this modern sculpture, a rusted-steel column with old steel railway ties striving to climb it like desperate worms.

Next to the sculpture, a viewpoint looks out over a crazy juxtaposition of smoke-spewing heavy industry, electric-blue evaporation pools, green farm fields (over in Jordan) and the wild, tawny beauty of the desert. Views are best in the late afternoon, when the setting sun turns Jordan's Moab Mountains a reddish gold.

The 600m-long access road intersects Rte 90 250m north of the main entrance to the Dead Sea Works. Turn off at the white-on-brown sign reading 'Plant Viewing Point' (ignore the yellow ‘no trespassing’ sign, which refers to off-road areas) and follow the green signs marked (in Hebrew) 'LaMitzpeh' ('to the scenic lookout'). Beyond the sculpture, a 4WD road continues to the Amiaz Plateau.

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