The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea, in Hebrew "Yam Ha-Melah" (Sea of Salt), in Arabic "Al-Bahr al-Mayyit" (Dead Sea), is a salt lake between Israel and the West Bank to the west, and Jordan to the east. North of the Dead Sea is Jericho. The Dead Sea is approximately 67km long and 18km wide at its widest point. Other than inflow from Jordan River, not much fresh water enters the lake. Compare the oceans' salinity of 35% to the Dead Sea average salinity of 290%. The Dead Sea is almost nine times saltier than the oceans.  Salinity refers to the amount of salt present in the water. The high salinity of water allows you to float upon them without effort. The number of life forms that can survive in hyper saline water is limited.
The local climate of the Dead Sea is hot and arid. The Judean Hills are said to block the rain. The average annual rainfall is about 70 millimetres per year.
Sodom and Gomorrah are believed to be beneath the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is divided into two basins, the northern basin is the larger. Sodom and Gomorrah are believed to be beneath the southern basin, known as the El Lisan peninsula ("El Lisan" means "the tongue" in Arabic). It is estimated that the Dead Sea is approximately 1299 feet below sea level, making it the lowest point on earth.
When God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the immorality of the inhabitants, the only people to escape was Lot, his wife (whose name is probably Idis) and his two daughters . Genesis 18:26 cites Abraham asking God to spare Sodom if it has 50 righteous people in it. Abraham then lowered the number to 10, and there was no holding back the inevitable when there was not even 10 righteous people on the land. Lot's wife who looked back with longing and was consumed by the destruction.


 

Genesis 19:24-26 (The Holy Bible, King James Version)
Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,
and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

A pillar of salt near Deir Ain Abata

Besides literally turning into a pillar of salt, some viewed this straightforward statement as possibly being overtaken by the salty waters of the Dead Sea or coated with salt by the heat of the flames releasing salt fumes from the soil.

 

Luke 17:32 (The Holy Bible, King James Version)
Remember Lot's wife.

Al-Hijr 15:59-60 (The Holy Quran)
As for Lot's family, we will save them all.
But not his wife; she is destined to be with the doomed.