Crossing the Red Sea
Crossing the red sea
August 29, 2020 with later editions
Garold Spire
Scripture indicates that the Lord’s long term plan for Israel was to have Moses lead the Children of Israel to the “Land of Milk and Honey” and so complete his promise, to give Canaan to Abraham’s descendants. Genesis 17:8 Ex 13:5 He did not intend to have Israel face war immediately on leaving Egypt, so the children of Israel were not led on the direct, coastal, heavily militarized route from Egypt to Canaan. Ex 13:17 His immediate plans were to accomplish two things. The first was to liberate the Children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. Ex 3:8 The second was to bring His people to Mount Horeb in Midian to worship, as he had directed Moses. Ex 3:12. There, liberated from Egyptian rule, God would establish the basic laws to govern his people, laws which are valid to this day. Their arrival in Midian at mount Horeb was to be the sign that the LORD had sent him and that the LORD would be with him. Moses himself, some 40 years previous to the Exodus, had escaped from Egypt and fled to Midian, where he had learned the ways of the nomadic herdsmen of the desert from his father-in-law Jethro. To reach Midian one had to cross the Sinai Peninsula.
Egypt controlled the Sinai Peninsula to the Arava but not beyond. The Arava is a long deep valley, which is a geologic fault extending from Africa through the Gulf of Aqaba to the Dead Sea and onward to the Anatolian Fault in Turkey. It runs north and slightly east. It separates the Sinai Peninsula from the Arabian Peninsula. At that time, it was the border between the Egyptian Sinai and the land of the Midianites. And so it was that Moses, under the direction of the Lord, intended to repeat his past experience and take the children of Israel out of territory controlled by Egypt. This would necessarily mean that he must take them to where he had found refuge in Midian. The Sinai Peninsula would not be safe, since it was proximal to, and controlled by, Egypt. There in Midian, in the western wilderness, Moses had had his burning bush experience and he had received his mandate to bring the Children of Israel to that same Mount Horeb, the mountain of heat (aka volcano) Ex. 19:18 to worship. He already knew the route and the need for a prompt escape from Egyptian territory. The old trade route to Midian, directly across the Sinai Peninsula was really his only viable option. He and the Elders of Israel told Pharaoh they would go three days into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord. Succoth, the Israelites first camp, is at the western edge of the Sinai Peninsula. Campsites were to be determined by the messengers who guided them by signal fire and who Moses warned the Israelites to respect. Ex 23:20,21. These may have been the same messengers who set a fire between the Egyptian and Israeli camps during the crossing who were Moses’ in-laws, Hobab son of Raguel the Midianite who also was related to Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro was priest of Midian. The distance eastward along the old trade route from Egypt to the border with Midian at the bay of the Red Sea, on the Gulf of Aqaba is about 350 Km. Judges and Exodus state Israel walked through the wilderness of the Red Sea. There is no wilderness between Ramses and the Gulf of Suez, nor between Ramses and the Bitterlakes. The Sinai Peninsula wilderness lies between the Red Sea Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba so is rightly called the Wilderness of the Red Sea. Judges 11:16 Exodus 13;20. The next camp mentioned is Etham. It has been identified by John Shreier as Jabal Haytan where the road divides to either a northeasterly route to Kadesh Barnea or southeast to Aqaba. Pharoah no doubt knew that Moses had promised the children of Israel to take them to the Land of milk and honey. He had tried to reduce the population of Hebrews, because he feared they might join his enemies and become a threat to Egypt. Allowing the Hebrews, who were not well trained for war, to attempt to conquer Canaan, would reduce the male Hebrew population, which He had attempted through the Hebrew midwives. When the LORD commanded Moses to turn southeast at Etham and go to Ayla instead of northeast to Canaan, his worst fears would have been realized. At the minimum he would have thought they were lost wandering aimlessly through the wilderness. The route to Midian went through al-ʿaqabat Ayla which means “the pass of Ayla”. Ayla is the later name for Eloth (also written Elath). Josephus called this border “the Bay of Egypt on the Red Sea” (Yam Suf) and “Eloth” and “Ezion-geber”. So the meaning of Suf, reed or red, is not necessarily a determinant of the location. Upon leaving the Red Sea Crossing, Moses immediately entered the wilderness of Shur making the Gulf of Aqaba the only possible crossing site since Shur is the western Arabian peninsula escarpment in the current country of Jordan. Truly it is the “Wall before Egypt”, which its name implies. Exodus 15:22 Gen 25:18 It is at the limit of Egyptian territory and a serious barrier to travel.
It is certain, that at the time of the Exodus, the Red Sea extended further north, up the Arava, than it does at present. Older maps such as that of Jean Baptiste D’Anville 1765 show the gulf to be divided by a central peninsular ridge running north and south. This is substantiated by the ruins of Tell Kheleifeh, which are located in the Center of the gulf some 500 meters north of the current shoreline. To the west of this peninsula, a nitrous marsh was shown by Robinson and Smith’s map of the “Pass of ‘Akabah” of 1841. The best estimates place the sea level, at the time of Moses, at one meter below the present due to subsequent polar melting, which together with subtracting the windblown sand from the north, and the alluvial fill from the Wadi Yutim of the pass of Aqaba to the east, and the alluvial fill of the Wadi Arava, and Nahal Roded, would have made this area a tidal mud flat in Moses’ time. Boreholes on the eastern Jordanian side of the gulf studied by Alivia J Allison of the University Missouri- Kansas City, show an earlier Holocene clay mudflat. The western arm of the Red Sea would have had similar findings but somewhat later as the Yutim Wadi alluvium continued to fill the Gulf. The ruins of the Tel Kheleifeh fortress would have included a tower and since it is strategically located in the center of the Gulf, it may have been a signal tower and protection for ships coming up the Gulf to load Egyptian copper from Timna. Mary-Luise MusselI dated it to 13-12th century BCE. It could be the Migdol of the Pi Hahiroth camp by the Red Sea before the crossing. Pi Hahiroth means the “mouth of the channels” beside which the Israelites camped, would be the discharge of the Nahal Roded, the Wadi Yutim and the Wadi Arabah into the red sea. The Israelites would have had to cross the Red Sea on the tidal flats further to the south formed by the Yutim wadi between what was formerly the Eilat airport and the Tell Kheleifeh ruins a distance of 1.3 miles. Edward Hull described the tides as 6 feet in 1883. The average height of the Egyptians at that time was 5 ft. 6 in. Sir Colin Humphreys argued that Pi Hahiroth, the last campsite before the crossing, would need to be, at the location of an underwater ridge. The ridge would be exposed due to water set-down by a strong wind over a long watercourse, at this location, such as occurred the night of the crossing of the Red Sea. Current wind set down measurements at Aqaba are in the range of one meter and the tides at one meter. Sir Humphreys felt the tide had little to do with the crossing but the Israelites would have arrived on the new moon 13 days after Passover which is the time of lowest and highest tides. Neither mechanism should be discounted as they would be additive. The western half of the Gulf at Eilat was funnel shaped and would produce tidal bore, which would have made the crossing perilous sweeping the Egyptian army into the Pi Hahiroth as the tide returned. The Egyptians would have been impeded by the clay mud, through which Egyptian chariot wheels were not designed to go. Ex:14:25 The Broadening of the channel as the water flows southward would have caused the sedimentation in the tidal flat as water slowed down entering the Red Sea. Immediately North of what Josephus called “the Bay of Egypt on the Red Sea” and “Eloth” and “Ezion-geber”, is found a large area of uniform elevation, which may have been the now silted in deep water port of Ezion-geber. It is currently about 50- 70 feet above sea level. The Eastern extension of the Gulf would have since silted in from the Wadi Yutim, which drains the Aqaba Pass. The Alluvial fan formed by this wadi, would also have obstructed the Wadi Arava to form this plain. This now silted in port of Ezion-geber would place the Red Sea on both sides of the crossing and PiHahiroth between the sea and Migdol. The exodus occured in the middle of a 500 year period of increased rainfall by sediment studies at the Dead Sea. The mudflat caused by the alluvium of Yutim would be the underwater bridge on which the Israelites crossed. The Shehoret hill just west of Pi Hahiroth is dark in color. Baal Zephon means the Dark Baal. Since Baal was worshiped on every high hill it meets the description for the campsite of the Crossing. If viewed from Solomon’s Shipyards Pihahiroth is halfway between the Sea and Migdol, if Migdol is the tower at Tel Kheleifeh. The ancient palm trees at Dekel Dom are of the same species mentioned by British explorers of the 1800s as lining the gulf of Aqaba lending further credence to the Avrona extension of the Gulf.
This considerably narrows the search for the crossing site.
It would be advisable to check the salt marsh north of Eilat for Bronze artifacts and lunate microliths at a depth consistent with low tide in 1500BC. The depression, which is between Tel Kheleifeh and Aqaba, was surveyed by Jordanian archaeologist Faris Saadeh in the spring of 2020. He specifically sought lunate microliths, which were used as arrowheads by the Egyptians during the New Kingdom period as well as bronze military artifacts. Several of these arrows were removed from the tomb of Hatshepsut in the 1930s and now reside in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Faris Saadeh’s survey concluded that the construction of Hotels and Marinas in the previous 8 years had substantially altered the 1500 BCE shoreline rendering excavation impractical. The Israeli side of the Gulf is the more likely location and will doubtlessly suffer a similar fate if not surveyed in the near future. Such a study would serve to confirm this area as the crossing site or in the absence of findings support a different location.
July 2025
In April of this year a cartouche of Ramses III was discovered in the wadi Rum in Jordan. It marked the road taken by the Egyptians to get to Tayma where another such cartouche has been located. A third such marker was found in Israel on the Roded wadi at a perineal spring making the route Moses would have taken to Midian a near certainty since only 300 years passed between the Exodus and Ramses III marking the watering places along the route. Each of these indicate water sources along the trail from Egypt to Midian and now constitute the archaeologic proof of the Route Moses took in his original escape as well as his return to and Exodus from Egypt. As a result it also indicates the location of Mount Sinai since the western wilderness of Midian was where Moses had his burning bush experience. A line drawn between the Roded spring cartouche and the Rum wilderness cartouche in Jordan crosses the now silted in Red Sea crossing, where to this day the crossing from Israel to Jordan is found. The exact spot is likely to be near lake Anita so an archaeological expedition for Pharaoh’s army’s remains to the depth of sea level is warranted at that location.
The biblical Exodus occurred more than 3000 years ago and embraced two gulfs, two peninsulas, two continents and several ethnic centers. The Geography has changed somewhat in those millennia due to earthquakes and natural erosion. An Egyptian city is now under the Mediterranean Sea and what was an estuary of the Gulf of Aqaba is now the silted in Evrona salt playa.
There is little discussion regarding the location of the Land of Goshen or the location of Succoth and few would challenge the location of Midian being in the Arabic Peninsula. The route of the Exodus in the Sinai Peninsula however is still in dispute, primarily because it had not been confirmed archaeologically, until Ramese III inscriptions were found in the Roded wadi Israel, east of Ayla in Jordan, and in Tayma, Saudi Arabia.
The Sinai Peninsula connects Africa to Asia by land. There are basically two ancient trade routes by land which people used to go from Africa to Asia since ancient times. The Northern Route follows the Mediterranean shore and the southern Route goes from the northern end of the Gulf of Suez to the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. Both gulfs are extensions of the Red Sea and as such the northern end of the Red Sea or ים-סוף which can mean the end of the sea, See Ecclesiastes 3:11 or may be translated as Red Sea well as Reed Sea. The pass from Sinai to Arabia and consequently Midian is called Aqaba, which means “the Pass” of Ayla from which the Gulf of Aqaba gets its name..
Moses was raised with the Egyptian ruling class for 40 years and then spent 40 years in the wilderness of Arabia learning the ways of the Midianite Herdsmen. In his abrupt departure from Egypt he no doubt took the southern route to Midian, since the northern route was heavily guarded by Egyptian soldiers. In his return to Egypt he also would have taken this route with which he was familiar and since he could not have known the Red Sea would part would also have chosen this route to take Israel to Midian. This Ancient southern trade route was later adopted by Muslim pilgrims coming from North Africa going to Mecca on their Hajj. We can be reasonably certain that Moses would have led the Children to Midian by the same route not only because it was better known to him but also because Exodus 13:17,18 states they did not take the Mediterranean Route but rather the way of the Wilderness of the Red Sea.
The Wilderness of the Red Sea lies between the two extensions of the Red Sea namely the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba which flank it on the southwest and southeast. Wilderness’ generally are uninhabited mountainous regions, the El-Tih mountains being those of the Red Sea Wilderness.
The controversy regarding the Red Sea being the Reed sea and located east of the Nile delta is disqualified since it is neither a wilderness nor part of the ancient southern trade route.
The Red Sea Wilderness Way starts at the Gulf of Suez and goes due east 22 miles to the Mitla Pass and Jabal Heitan pass, which are important defensive military positions. These would have afforded the Israelites some measure of protection from possible pursuing Egyptian soldiers. From Jabal Heitan, the Red Sea wilderness way goes east by Southeast to Nekhel a small outpost at that time, which had permanent water. Nekhel (Nahal) means a torrent or brook. Nekhel lies at foothills of the El-Tih Mountains and therefore at the Edge of the Red Sea Wilderness. Exodus 13:20. Moses had told the Pharaoh they would go three days into the wilderness to sacrifice. He had told the Elders of Israel they would go to conquer Canaan. This could not have escaped the Pharaoh’s attention. The Road going north out of Nekhel leads to the El-Arish wadi, which The Lord declared as the border between Israel and Egypt. Numbers 34:5. It also leads to Kadesh Barnea from where Israel would twice attempt to conquer Canaan. Deuteronomy 1:46. The Lord however, had told Moses that he was to bring the children of Israel to Mount Horeb in the Midianite wilderness. It is not a surprise that here at Nekhel, which also may be identified as Etham the campsite, not the Etham associated with Shur, that the Lord instructed Moses to tell the people to turn from an immediate conquest of Canaan and go to Pi Hahiroth. another 80 miles east by the way the crow flies along the Red Sea Wilderness way. Telling the Elders of Israel they must first go to Midian would have been a tough sell unless by some miracle (the crossing of the Red Sea) they could see and believe in the Lord’s protection and in Moses’ leadership.
The Geologist Edward Hull visited Ayla in 1883 and gave a helpful description of this location. First he felt the Red Sea extended further up the Gulf in the past. This is born out by the location of Ezion-Geber, the shipyards of Solomon, which by two different accounts was located north of Ayla (Elath). Deuteronomy 2:8 Shows Moses going north up the Arabah from Elath and then Ezion-Geber. Secondly 2 Chronicles 8:17 Shows King Solomon going south first to Ezion-Geber then Eloth. Edward Hull noted the ancient Doum palms lined the shore of Ayla and these palms can be found at Dekel Dom 7 miles north of the current shoreline. He also noted the spring tides at Ayla were 6 ft between high and low tide at that time. A mud flat is formed by the discharge of three Wadi, the Yutum, the Roded, and the Arabah. It is located just downstream of a dark hill where Baal, who was worshiped on every high hill ,may have been located. Zephon means Dark. 400 meters from the current Gulf stand the ruins of Tel Kheleifeh, which Fritz Frank and Nelson Glueck originally felt were Ezion Geber but later rescinded and Mary-Luise Mussell later dated to the 12-13 century B.C.E. They are most likely the ruins of a tower (Migdol) for signaling ships coming up the Gulf to pick up copper from Timna.
Coupled with the wind set down from the east wind, which blows south at this location, the crossing of the Red Sea would have occurred on dry ground in the tidal flats formed by the aforementioned Wadi as noted by Colin Humphreys in his book entitled “the Miracles of Exodus”. Points further south, which have been claimed as crossing points by several well meaning researchers, but with liberal doses of poetic license, defy logic. All these locations require water to stand several hundred meters high. The word “wall” which they point out to be a vertical barrier was used by Abigail’s servant metaphorically to describe David’s men protecting them and their flocks in the desert. The Evrona playa and the Gulf would have been the walls, which kept Pharaoh’s army from surrounding the children of Israel during the crossing of the Red Sea. This forced the army to follow the Children of Israel and subsequently perish in the returning tide.
Archaeological evidence for the Exodus was provided by Geraldine King, who discovered an inscription by a descendant of the tribe of Hobab among the inscriptions in the wilderness east of Amman Jordan. (OCIANA Oxford) Hobab was Moses brother-in-law who scouted the trajectory of the exodus providing intelligence and tactical support to Moses. Numbers 10:29-31 Moses warned the Israelites not to interfere with his support Exodus 23:20,21 and later asked him to continue his service to Israel. The word “angel” in both Hebrew and Greek means messenger. The word Evangelical (the good message) is derived from it. Archaeological evidence for the location of Midian is also found in the numerous references to Midian’s relatives and Midian himself in the inscriptions of al Ula and Tayma.
In summary, one of the most important events in the history of the Children of Israel, the crossing of the Red Sea was in fact a miraculous and clearly historical event, which is referred to in many places in both the old and new Testaments as evidence of God’s direct intervention in the lives of his people. It will most likely be confirmed archaeologically, when better archaeological tools allow its direct identification under the 3 millennia of aluvial sedimenmt in the now silted in Gulf of Aqaba.