Signs on the way to the Dead Sea

At 400 meters below sea level, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. Two spectacular roads descend to the Dead Sea from Jerusalem and Arad, from approximately 650 meters above sea level to 400 meters under sea level. The Ministry of Tourism wanted to make this dramatic descent apparent to visitors as part of a larger park development called The Lowest Park on Earth. A series of “contour lines” set into the bare desert hills by the highway, similar to contour lines drawn on a topographical map, mark the changes of elevation. Long, level walls of local stone with a single horizontal strip of blue ceramic tiles mark the elevation, which is written in large aluminum numbers set slightly away from the wall. The numbers are very clear, even seen from the highway in a fast-moving car; the blue tile line flashes like a signal in the monochrome desert landscape.