This detailed watercolour was designed for publication as part of a series of twenty eight plates of The Holy Land commissioned by the engravers, Edward and William Finden.  Other artists involved in the series included David Roberts, James Duffield Harding and William Clarkson Stanfield. Turner had not visited the site himself and he based his watercolour on a drawing executed by the Rev. R. Master, which is at present untraced. The panoramic scene shows the Dead Sea, Jericho and the mouth of the river Jordan where it flows into the Dead Sea. Visible in the distance are the Mountains of Moab and the Mountains of Eden. The painting also illustrates Turner’s complex technique, which is especially effective in such watercolours executed in the studio.  The artist has used the addition of gum arabic to give the colour an extra density. Some of it is then scratched out to reveal the white paper underneath, thus creating delicate highlights.

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