Surface currents in the Dead Sea, as measured by two land-based HF (high frequency) radar stations in autumn 1984, are analysed. High horizontal variability is observed, which may partly be explained by the inhomogeneous wind field. Decomposition into empirical orthogonal eigenfunctions (EOF) shows that the currents may not be represented by a small number of patterns. The forcing of currents by wind is proved through significant correlation between both. Spatially-averaged rotary spectra provide evidence of the presence of inertial oscillations. The data set allows the calculation of horizontal derivatives. Time series of divergence and curl are presented. By estimating the advective terms of the Navier-Stokes equation it is shown that nonlinear effects are important.