Crossing the Red Sea
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.
The Sinai Peninsula connects Africa to Asia by land. There are basically two ancient trade routes 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.
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 which he was familiar with 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 that 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 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 so it is not a surprise that here at Nekhel which may be identified as Etham the campsite, not the Etham associated with Shur, 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 Location of Pi Hahiroith which means the mouth of the Channels must be by the Red Sea, by the confluence of several channels, by a place of worship of Baal called the Dark Baal, and by a Tower (Migdol). Exodus 14:2
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. 2 Chronicles 8:17 Shows King Solomon going south first to Ezion-Geber then Eloth. Secondly Edward 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. 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 BCE. They are most likely a tower (Migdol) for signaling ships coming up the Gulf to pick up copper from Timna.
Coupled with the wind setdown 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 many, defy logic, requiring water to stand several hundred meters high. The word “wall” which many 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 which forced the army to follow the Children of Israel and 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 in the petroglyphs 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.