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
Red Sea–Dead Sea Access In August 2013, Jordanian government announced that it would move ahead with the first phase of the project. On December 9, 2013, an agreement to build the pipeline was signed by Israel, Jordan and Palestine. Red Sea–Dead Sea Access The Red Sea–Dead Sea Access is a series of highway construction projects intended to bring easy transportation and prosperity to Jordan, Israel, Palestine and the surrounding area. An agreement was signed in Amman on October 24, 1974, between the Retired Servicemen Engineering Agency (RSEA) of Taiwan and the Jordanian government, under which a new "road to friendship" will be built in