Crossing the Red Sea

The Crossing of the Red Sea or Parting of the Red Sea (Hebrew: קריעת ים סוף, romanized: Kriat Yam Suph, lit. "parting of the sea of reeds" or "parting of the sea at the end of the world")[1] is an episode in the origin myth of The Exodus in the Hebrew Bible.

This article is about the biblical event. For the prehistoric migration, see Southern Dispersal. For other uses, see The Crossing of the Red Sea.
The Crossing of the Red Sea, by Nicolas Poussin (1633–34)

It tells of the escape of the Israelites, led by Moses, from the pursuing Egyptians, as recounted in the Book of Exodus.[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. With the water dispersed, the Israelites were able to walk on dry ground and cross the sea, followed by the Egyptian army. Once the Israelites have safely crossed, Moses drops his staff, closing the sea, and drowning the pursuing Egyptians.

No archaeological, scholar-verified evidence has been found that supports a crossing of the Red Sea. Given the lack of evidence for the biblical account, some have searched for explanations as to what may have inspired the biblical authors' narrative, or to provide a natural explanation.

Biblical narrative
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. There God tells Moses to turn back and camp by the sea at Pi-HaHiroth, between Migdol and the sea, directly opposite Baal-zephon.

God causes the Pharaoh to pursue the Israelites with chariots, and the pharaoh overtakes them at Pi-hahiroth. When the Israelites see the Egyptian army they are afraid, but the pillar of fire and the cloud separates the Israelites and the Egyptians. At God's command, Moses held his Staff out over the water, water parted, and the Israelites walked through on dry land with a wall of water on either side (Exodus 14:21&22). The Egyptians pursued them, but at daybreak God clogged their chariot-wheels and threw them into a panic, and with the return of the water, the pharaoh and his entire army are destroyed.[3] When the Israelites saw the power of God, they put their faith in God and in Moses, and sang a song of praise to the Lord for the crossing of the sea and the destruction of their enemies. (This song, at Exodus 15, is called the Song of the Sea).

The narrative contains at least three and possibly four layers. In the first layer (the oldest), God blows the sea back with a strong east wind, allowing the Israelites to cross on dry land; in the second, Moses stretches out his hand and the waters part in two walls; in the third, God clogs the chariot wheels of the Egyptians and they flee (in this version the Egyptians do not even enter the water); and in the fourth, the Song of the Sea, God casts the Egyptians into tehomot, the oceanic depths or mythical abyss.[4]

Location
See also: Yam Suph and Red Sea
Pharaoh's army engulfed by the Red Sea, by Frederick Arthur Bridgman (1900)

The Israelites' first journey is from Ramesses to Succoth. 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.[5] From Succoth, the Israelites travel to Etham "on the edge of the desert", then turn back to Pi-HaHiroth, located between Migdol and the sea and directly opposite Baal-zephon. None of these have been identified with certainty. 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.[6] Lake Timsah was connected to Pithom in Gesem at various times by a canal, and a late 1st millennium text refers to Migdol Baal Zephon as a fort on the canal.[7]

The Hebrew term for the place of the crossing is Yam Suph. 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".[8] (While it is not relevant to the identification of the body of water, suph also puns on the Hebrew suphah ("storm") and soph ("end"), referring to the events of the Exodus).[9]

It is unknown for certain why the Septuagint scholars translated Yam Suph Eruthra Thalassa or Red Sea. One theory is that these scholars, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, during the 3rd century BC, specifically identified the Red Sea as we know it today because they believed this is where the crossing took place.[10]

General scholarly opinion is that the Exodus story combines a number of traditions, one of them at the "Reed Sea" (Lake Timsah, with the Egyptians defeated when the wheels of their chariots become clogged) and another at the far deeper Red Sea, allowing the more dramatic telling of events.[7]

Reeds tolerant of salt water flourish in the shallow string of lakes extending from Suez north to the Mediterranean Sea. Kenneth Kitchen and James Hoffmeier state that these reedy lakes and marshes along the isthmus of Suez are acceptable locations for yam suf.[8][11] The ancient yam suf is not confined to the modern Red Sea. Hoffmeier equates yam suf with the Egyptian term pa-tjufy (also written p3 twfy) from the Ramesside period, which refers to lakes in the eastern Nile delta.[12] He also describes references to p3 twfy in the context of the Island of Amun, thought to be modern Tell el-Balamun.[13] Tell el-Balamun was the most northerly city of Pharaonic Egypt about 29 km southwest of Damietta, located at 31.2586 North, 31.5714 East.[14][15]

Historicity
Crossing the Red Sea, Rothschild Haggadah, ca. 1450
Crossing the Red Sea, Rothschild Haggadah, ca. 1450

No archaeological, scholar-verified evidence has been found that supports a crossing of the Red Sea. Zahi Hawass, an Egyptian archaeologist and formerly Egypt's Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, said of the Exodus story, which is the biblical account of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt and subsequent 40 years of wandering the desert in search of the Promised Land: "Really, it’s a myth... Sometimes as archaeologists we have to say that never happened because there is no historical evidence."[16]

Given the lack of evidence for the biblical account, some have searched for explanations as to what may have inspired the biblical authors' narrative, or to provide a natural explanation. One explanation is that the Israelites and Egyptians experienced a mirage, a commonly occurring natural phenomenon in deserts (and mirages themselves may have been considered supernatural). Each group may have believed the other to have been submerged in water, resulting in the Egyptians assuming the Israelites drowned and thus called off the pursuit.[17] Some have claimed that the parting of the Red Sea and the Plagues of Egypt were natural events caused by a single natural disaster, a huge volcanic eruption on the Greek island of Santorini in the 16th century BC.[18] Another proposal is that a land path through the Eastern Nile Delta was created by a wind setdown.[19][20]

As noted above, the translation of the original Hebrew phrase Yam Suph as "Red Sea" remains dubious.[8]

In Islam
Passage of the Jews through the Red Sea (1891), by Ivan Aivazovsky

The incident of the Egyptian tyrant Pharaoh chasing down Moses and the Israelites, followed by the drowning in the sea, is mentioned in several places in the Quran. As per God's command, Moses came to the court of Pharaoh to warn him for his transgressions. Mūsā clearly manifested the proof of prophethood and claimed to let Israelites go with him.[21] The Magicians of Pharaoh's cities, whom he gathered to prove to the people that the person claiming to be prophet is a magician; eventually they all believed in Moses. This enraged Pharaoh. But he couldn't frighten them in any way.[22][23] Later they were pursued by Pharaoh and his army at sunrise. But God revealed to Moses beforehand to leave with His servants at night, for they will be pursued. The Quranic account about the moment:

When the two groups came face to face, the companions of Moses cried out, “We are overtaken for sure.” [Moses] said, "No! Indeed, with me is my Lord; He will guide me." So We inspired Moses: “Strike the sea with your staff,” and the sea was split, each part was like a huge mountain.

— Quran 26:61-63

Miraculously, God divided the waters of the sea leaving a dry path in the middle,[24] which the Children of Israel immediately followed. Pharaoh and his soldiers went so audacious as to chase the Children of Israel into the sea. Nevertheless, this miracle did not suffice to convince Pharaoh. Together with his soldiers who took him as a deity[25] (by obeying him against the prophet of God), he blindly entered the path that divided the sea. However, after the Children of Israel had safely crossed to the other side, the waters suddenly began to close in on Pharaoh and his soldiers and they all drowned. Though, at the last moment Pharaoh tried to repent but Jibreel put mud in his mouth[26] and his repentance was not accepted:

We brought the tribe of Israel across the sea and Pharaoh and his troops pursued them out of tyranny and enmity. Then, when he was on the point of drowning, he (Pharaoh) said, "I believe that there is no god but Him in Whom the tribe of Israel believe. I am one of the Muslims (those who submit to God’s will)." What, now! When previously you rebelled and were one of the corrupters? Today We will preserve your body so you can be a Sign for people who come after you. Surely many people are heedless of Our Signs.

— Quran 10:90-92

Every year Muslims fast two days in the month of Muharram commemorating the event.[27]

Legacy

The theme of Moses crossing the Red Sea was taken up by the panegyrists of Constantine the Great and applied to the battle of the Milvian Bridge (312). The theme enjoyed a vogue during the fourth century on carved sarcophagi: at least twenty-nine have survived in full or in fragments.[28] Eusebius of Caesarea cast Maxentius, drowned in the Tiber, in the role of Pharaoh, both in his Ecclesiastical History and in his eulogistic Life of Constantine.[29]

See also

References
  1. Seiglie, Mario (3 June 1997). "The Bible and Archaeology: The Red Sea or the Reed Sea?". The Good News. United Church of God. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017.
  2. 13:17–14:29
  3. Psalm 136:15
  4. Alberto Soggin, An Introduction to the History of Israel and Judah, SCM Press, 1999, pp.136-7
  5. Van Seters, John (1997). "The Geography of Exodus". In Silberman, Neil Ash (ed.). The Land that I Will Show You. Sheffield Academic Press. p. 270. ISBN 978-1850756507 – via Google Books.
  6. Van Seters, John (1997). "The Geography of Exodus". In Silberman, Neil Ash (ed.). The Land that I Will Show You. Sheffield Academic Press. p. 273. ISBN 978-1850756507 – via Google Books.
  7. Gmirkin, Russell (15 May 2006). Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. ISBN 978-0567025920. Retrieved 27 October 2016 – via Google Books.
  8. Kitchen, Kenneth A. (2003). On the Reliability of the Old Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 261–63. ISBN 978-0802849601.
  9. Hoffmeier, James Karl (1999). Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-19-513088-1. OCLC 47007891.
  10. "Egypt-to-Saudi Arabia Red Sea Crossing Candidates". Jabal Maqla. July 22, 2019. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
  11. Hoffmeier, James K. (2005). Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. Oxford University Press. pp. 81–85. ISBN 978-0195155464.
  12. Hoffmeier, James K. (2008). The Archaeology of the Bible. Lion Hudson. p. 54. ISBN 978-0825461996.
  13. Hoffmeier, James K. (2005). Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition. Oxford University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0195155464.
  14. AJ Spencer (2009), Excavations at Tell el-Balamun 2003-2008, British Museum.
  15. "Tell el-Balamun: A City of the Nile Delta of Egypt". The British Museum. Retrieved 22 October 2012.
  16. Slackman, Michael (3 April 2007). "Did the Red Sea Part? No Evidence, Archaeologists Say". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  17. Fraser, A. B. (15 April 1976). Was the parting of the Red Sea a mirage?. New Scientist. p. 130.
  18. Correspondent, Jonathan Petre, Religion (2002-11-11). "Biblical plagues and parting of Red Sea 'caused by volcano'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2018-08-18.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. Drews, Carl; Han, Weiqing (3 April 2007). "No, really: There is a scientific explanation for the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus". The Washington Post. Retrieved 21 May 2017.
  20. Drews, Carl; Han, Weiqing (2010). "Dynamics of Wind Setdown at Suez and the Eastern Nile Delta". PLOS ONE. 5 (8): e12481. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...512481D. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012481. PMC 2932978. PMID 20827299. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  21. "Surah Ash-Shu'ara - 10-33". quran.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  22. "Surah Ash-Shu'ara - 34-51". quran.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-11. Retrieved 2021-07-11.
  23. "Surah Taha - 70-73". quran.com. Archived from the original on 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  24. "Surah Taha - 77". quran.com. Archived from the original on 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  25. "Surah An-Nazi'at - 24". quran.com. Archived from the original on 2009-05-19. Retrieved 2021-08-05.
  26. "Jibreel put mud in Pharaohs mouth at command of Allah". Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  27. "The Significance of 'Ashura Throughout Human History | Muslim Hands UK". muslimhands.org.uk. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 2021-08-28.
  28. Paul Stephenson, Constantine, Roman Emperor, Christian victor, 2010:209f.
  29. Eusebius, HE ix.9, Vita Constantini i.38.
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