Dead Sea towns around the lake. These towns had drinking water from the Ein Feshcha springs and other sweetwater springs in the vicinity. Intimately connected with the Judean wilderness to its northwest and west, the Dead Sea was a place of escape and refuge. The remoteness of the region attracted Greek Orthodox monks since the Byzantine era. Their monasteries, such as Saint George in Wadi Kelt and Mar Saba in the Judaean Desert, are places of pilgrimage. In the 19th century the River Jordan and the Dead Sea were explored by boat primarily by Christopher Costigan in 1835, Thomas Howard Molyneux in
Dead Sea products consumers and human rights groups have endorsed boycotts of Dead Sea products and other materials made in or along the West Bank of the Dead Sea, citing concerns such as blatant violation of human rights in Israel or of certain companies being "economically linked to Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.” Dead Sea products Dead Sea products refers to cosmetic products based on materials extracted from the Dead Sea, such as salt, mud, and potash. Ziva Gilad, a spa technician, came up with the idea of marketing Dead Sea mud after watching women tourists scooping up the mud to