Assal

Ketherabba, and descends along a narrow valley into the Ghor, which it reaches near the ruined place called Assal, from which it takes the name of Wady Assal.

Travels in Syria and the Holy Land 1822

Ketherabba, and descends along a narrow valley into the Ghor, which it reaches near the ruined place called Assal, from which it takes the name of Wady Assal.

Travels in Syria and the Holy Land 1822

The rivulet which takes its rise here joins that of Ketherabba, and descends along a narrow valley into the Ghor, which it reaches near the ruined place called Assal, from which it takes the name of Wady

Travels in Syria and the Holy Land John Lewis Burckhardt 1800

A year and a half ago, Mark Bitterman—author of "Salted: A Manifesto on the World's Most Essential Mineral"—received some mysterious specimens from travelers who had been to Djibouti's Lake Assal.

Bits & Bites: News You Can Eat 2011

The Meadow, with boutiques in Portland, Ore., and Manhattan, sells more than 100 varieties of salt, from bamboo-leaf sea salt from Molokai to golf-ball-sized crystals from Lake Assal in Djibouti that the store's website suggests one can wrap with "ground lamb, egg, breadcrumbs and herbs, and do meat-encrusted salt balls."

The Salt of the Earth Craig Winneker 2011

Amr Mohammed Assal, who headed the Industrial Development Authority, "would never sign a document unless there were six legal advisers," he said.

A Mubarak ally in exile 2011

The Meadow, with boutiques in Portland, Ore., and Manhattan, sells more than 100 varieties of salt, from bamboo-leaf sea salt from Molokai to golf-ball-sized crystals from Lake Assal in Djibouti that the store's website suggests one can wrap with "ground lamb, egg, breadcrumbs and herbs, and do meat-encrusted salt balls."

The Salt of the Earth Craig Winneker 2011

Amr Mohammed Assal, who headed the Industrial Development Authority, "would never sign a document unless there were six legal advisers," he said.

A Mubarak ally in exile 2011

Amr Mohammed Assal, who headed the Industrial Development Authority, "would never sign a document unless there were six legal advisers," he said.

A Mubarak ally in exile 2011

Geography—note: strategic location near world's busiest shipping lanes and close to Arabian oilfields; terminus of rail traffic into Ethiopia; mostly wasteland; Lac Assal (Lake Assal) is the lowest point in Africa

Djibouti 2008