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The Patterns of Evidence film did a good job in providing some detail relating to ongoing diving efforts for remains in the Gulf of Aqaba by a group of enthusiasts. In the earlier movie, Charlton Heston as Moses parted the sea into two huge walls of water, between which the children of Israel crossed on a temporarily dry seabed to the opposite shore. Borders are hard enough to establish for an ancient fixed civilization; the Midianites were (at best) a semi-nomadic one. Pauls reference to Mount Sinai in Arabia, then, would only be expected to relate to the Sinai Peninsulait by no means excludes it. Although this has traditionally been thought to refer to the salt water inlet located between Africa and the Arabian peninsula, known in English as the Red Sea, this is a mistranslation from the Greek Septuagint, and Hebrew suph never means "red" but rather sometimes means "reeds". Again, as mentioned in the above-quoted Galatians 4Jerusalem and Mount Sinai, togethera mountain that directly corresponds to the present Jerusalem (verse 25, Revised Standard Version). By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) The story of Moses parting the waters of the Red Sea so he and the Israelites could flee Egypt and travel to the Promised Land is one of the most famous stories from the Old Testament. One theory with a wide following is that they refer collectively to the region of Lake Timsah, a salt lake north of the Gulf of Suez, and the nearest large body of water after Wadi Tumilat. Located on the map (right) is the primary Israelite starting point: Avaris. Moses Parting the Red Sea Bible Story Study Guide - Learn Religions Heading south along Arabia's coast they came upon the mountain of Jabal al-Lawz which is the real Mount Sinai. Crossing the Red Sea, a wall painting from the 1640s in Yaroslavl, Russia After the Plagues of Egypt, the Pharaoh agrees to let the Israelites go, and they travel from Ramesses to Succoth and then to Etham on the edge of the desert, led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. As stated on Patterns of Evidence, archaeologists and scholars know where this ancient land is, and it is located in the northwest corner of what is known today as Saudi Arabia., But despite this assertion, the borders of the Land of Midian are very much not known. Clearly, as it does today, the biblical Yam Suph did refer to more than just the Gulf of Aqaba. This best fits the peninsulaand thus a sea crossing west of it, at the Gulf of Suez. 630, Arabia Petraea (see map above, right)a territory in large part made up of the Sinai Peninsula. (Such outposts were also located in the vicinity of Edom and up into Canaan and Syriawhere God intended to send the Israelites. But the approach to the northwestern shore of the Gulf of Suez is also rugged and mountainous. to god's punishment, which is not allowing any of the generation to Selecting this as a flipside argument is understandable, and a good choice. Any Israelites in more distant locations (potentially days-journey away from Goshen?) Jehovah then told Moses to stretch his stick out over the Red Sea. The structure of Exodus 15 is straightforward. He claims to have made numerous significant discoveries besides the chariot remains in the Gulf of Aqaba (and it was largely thanks to him that the Jabal al-Lawz site came into vogue), including: Noahs ark, the Tower of Babel, Goliaths sword, the real location of Jesuss crucifixion, the ark of the covenant, even the blood of Jesus preserved on the arkwhich, after he purportedly had it tested, came back to reveal 24 chromosomes23 from Mary, and one from God. He also claimed to have handled the Ten Commandments contained within the ark, as well as having communed with angels who were guardians over it. But over the last several decades, there has been significant debate surrounding two other options: a Bitter Lakes option (crossing one of the shallow inland lakes much further north of the Gulf of Suez); or notably a Gulf of Aqaba crossing, on the far side of the Sinai Peninsulaleading into what is today Saudi Arabia. Ramesses is generally identified with modern Qantir, the site of the 19th dynasty capital Per-Ramesses, and Succoth with Tell el-Maskhuta in Wadi Tumilat, the biblical Land of Goshen. Again, note that the Exodus population figures constitute another fiercely contested issue. Exodus 13:17 states that God did not want Israel to take this quickest, most direct Way of the Philistines route into Canaan. Panoramic image from space of the Sinai Peninsula, flanked by the Gulf of Suez (left) and the Gulf of Aqaba (right), Subscribe to receive updates and articles from the, Carl Drews | Journal of Marine Science and Engineering. But what about during the mid-second millennium b.c.e.the time of the Exodus? And this Sinai Peninsula setting would fit well with the biblical account. And that was the case in recent history, in 1967, during the Six-Day Warnot only the significant recapture of Jerusalem for the first time in two millennia, but at the very same time the reclamation of the mountain of God in Sinai, with the recapture of the Sinai Peninsula. This is due (It is also apparent that a contingent of Israelitesincluding Moses and Aaronwould have been further south, in or around the Egyptian capital Memphis; i.e. Moses: The Last Plague & Crossing the Red Sea - Bible Fun For Kids Further, Aqaba proponents argue that the Sinai Peninsula was part of Egypt: Given that Moses fled to Midian from Egypt, and that the sea crossing took place to remove the Israelites from Egypt, the Sinai Peninsula therefore could not have been the location of Mount Sinai, and the sea crossing could not have happened at the Gulf of Suezthe sea crossing must have taken place on the other side of the peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba. How Did Moses Part the Red Sea? - WSJ - The Wall Street Journal 2023 Again, in this respect, the math is the wrong way around. Names American Colony (Jerusalem). The best of Pharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea" (Exodus 15:4). As such, we wont go into them here. [2] Moses holds out his staff and God parts the waters of the Yam Suph, which is traditionally presumed to be the Red Sea, although other interpretations have arisen. One is from Nuweiba Beach, near the center of the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba. Tell the Israelites to move on. Miriam - Moses' Sister and Prophetess at the Red Sea - Learn Religions Thus, it becomes clear that the 2,300-year-old Jewish community, from which the Septuagint emerged, recognized this Gulf of Aqaba as distinct and different to the actual sea that the Israelites crossed! The supposed "Red Sea" crossing, then, would have been from the point labeled "B" to Kedua, once waters piled up in the Lake of Tanis and a three or four kilometer long land-bridge opened between . There is also the standard division of Egypt into two lands (also revealed in the Hebrew name for this country, Mizraim)Upper Egypt in the south, and Lower Egypt in the north. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, 'They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in . Besides this, though, the Bible itself nowhere says that Mount Sinai was in Midian. Why does the sky appear much bluer in some states. Nothing in between is known for certain. Again, fitting with a longer journey, a longer space of time, on the other side of the Red Sea. Edited by Paige Cowett and Patricia Willens. Once they made it to the southernmost tip they headed north along the western coast of the Sinai until cliffs blocked their way North, and West leaving the South as the only open road with the Red Sea to the East. The Nabateans took it over from the earlier Arab Qedarites (below, right). ), is always referred to in the Septuagint (as well as in the New Testament) by the name Erythran Thalassan. The region around Attaka and Ain Sokhna, at the northwest part of the gulf, would fit nicely with the biblical account of the mountains that hemmed in the Israelites. The math just does not add up. red sea Is the statement true that unlike planets a dwarf planet cannot have moons? As for the more volcanic nature of the Midian Mountains east of Aqaba, relating to the fire, smoke, quaking and sound described in Exodus 19: It is an interesting theory, but a rather naturalistic explanation for a miraculous event (especially given the Aqaba crossing theory is presented in opposition to a naturalistic Bitter Lakes crossing.) The Septuagint calls this Gulf of Aqaba sea in 1 Kings 9:26 Eschates Thalasses. Given water weighs one ton per cubic meter, if these walls crashed together, you can forget about anything being preserved.). This would fit well with a Gulf of Suez crossing, preempted by several encampments (such as apparently for the Sabbath, at Succoth) along the way. This is one of over twenty Old Testament verses dealing with the Exodus that mention the Red Sea. But on this point, a Red Sea crossing at Aqaba brings up a problem: The seabed is a veritable Grand Canyon, reaching depths of 2,000 meters (6,600 feet) below sea level (after all, it is a continuation of the Jordan Rift Valley and Dead Sea Transform plate boundary). What wasnt mentioned on the documentary, though, is how well the Gulf of Suez would fit, with its utterly smooth seabed. Pharaoh Ahmose i actually built a border of fortresses (part of which included Tjaru) along the western edge of the Sinai Peninsula in order to keep the Semites out of Egypt (below right). What is the degree of the earths tilt and what is it pointing towards? The incident of the Egyptian tyrant Pharaoh chasing down Musa and the Israelites, followed by the drowning in the sea, is mentioned in several places in the Quran. While it could be construed as a bridge compared to the immense deeps in certain parts of the gulf, it is still some 850 meters (2,800 feet) below sea level in the centera yawning chasm. Greek Septuagint Bible is differentthe name for this Gulf of Aqaba body does have a distinction from the name used in all 22 biblical references to the sea that the Israelites crossed! The description of the 10th plague and spoiling of the Egyptians speaks to this, indicating that many of the Israelites dwellings were spread around the land, in and around Egyptian houses.