The Dead Sea was mentioned by Bishop Eusebius (Eus.On 100:4-5) (3rd century AD) and is clearly much larger on the Madaba map than it is today (2024 AD). Even the tongue of the Dead Sea mentioned in the Book of Joshua (c. 5th century BC) is not visible on the Madaba map Which means that the water level at the time of making this map (the sixth century AD) was higher than its levels in the fifth century BC, and from (the sixth century AD) until the present day, water levels have been constantly decreasing

The map also shows boats carrying people and commercial goods such as salt, bitumen, etc. The image of people in boats was destroyed in the Dead Sea, and this may have been by iconoclasts (circa the 8th century AD).