Crossing the Red Sea

There are many different theories of where the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea. These basically divide into a northern route, a central route, a southern route and the lunatic fringe. The northern route claims that the Israelites did not go anywhere near the Red Sea but crossed one of the narrow sand bridges near Port Said. The dividing of the waters, therefore, was nothing more than the sea retreating to expose the remainder of the bridge. The Biblical statement that God did not guide the Israelites by the way of the Philistines because they were not ready for war (Exodus 13:17) seems to rule out this theory.

The central route theory relies on Yam Suph (the Hebrew words translated as "Red Sea") actually meaning "Reed Sea". The crossing took place over some part of the Bitter Lakes, which are shallow enough that a strong wind might expose a pathway through the water. The whole area from the Gulf of Suez to the Mediterranean was guarded by a wall known as the "Walls of the Ruler" and while a single individual such as Sinuhe might sneak across under cover of darkness, it would be impossible for the large number of Israelites, plus their livestock, to cross unseen and without being attacked. In addition, there are very few wells across the middle of the Sinai desert, whereas the Biblical account speaks of several wells and springs used by the Children of Israel.

The "lunatic fringe" is represented by people such as the late Ron Wyatt, who claimed to have found pharaoh's chariot wheels in the Gulf of Aqaba near Nuweiba. Not only are his claims demonstrably false, but the Gulf of Aqaba at this point is over 2,000' deep. A wind strong enough to blow a channel through such a depth of water would have carried off pharaoh, his chariots and all the Israelites as well!

Of course Ron Wyatt was not the first to make spectacular assertions regarding the Red Sea crossing. Bishop Gregory of Tours (AD 538-594) records the claim that the ruts left by pharaoh's chariot wheels were still to be seen on the shore of the Red Sea, miraculously renewed whenever a storm washed them away!

The southern route crosses the Gulf of Suez and then follows the coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Traditionally it turns inland along the Wadi Feiran to reach Mount Sinai, but we need not concern ourselves with that in this article.

The problem of where the crossing might have taken place has vexed scholars for many years, as the Gulf of Suez rapidly deepens as you proceed south. Too near the northern end and you would be too close to the Walls of the Ruler and the Egyptian garrison there, too far south and you encounter the same difficulty as the Nuweiba crossing.

Naval charts (and Google Earth if you care to look) show a wide sand bar running in a north-easterly direction from Adabiya Point. Apart from a dredged channel to accommodate ships using the Suez Canal, the water over this sand bar is nowhere more than 27' deep. Furthermore it is wide enough that if the Israelites used the whole width, the entire host could have crossed in just over an hour (allow another half hour for the livestock).

In addition there is a wide wadi running from near Cairo to Adabiya, which would have provided a convenient route for the Israelites as they left Egypt. At Adabiya they found themselves with the sea in front, the desert (and pharaoh) behind, a range of hills and Egyptian troops to the north and a near impassable range of mountains to the south. No wonder that pharaoh heard that they were "entangled in the land" (Exodus 14:3).

It would seem that Adabiya Point is the most likely location for the Crossing of the Red Sea.