The Red Sea and the Israelite Crossing

Something that has been discussed, and probably cussed, for centuries is where the Israelites crossed the Red Sea. The subject in question raises questions about many other subjects. After all, the Exodus from Egypt was over 3,000 years ago. Unfortunately, places no longer exist, sands have shifted, locations are uncertain, and more. Historical records are extremely important, but Egyptian chronologies are misleading. Despite the rantings of atheopaths, the Bible is not "fairy tales," and it contains detailed historical information. 

Dust blowing over the Red Sea, NASA GSFC, Jesse Allen

To complicate matters, some folks try to take this clearly miraculous event and try to make it into a naturalistic coincidence. Yes, the wind blew. The Bible said so. But that does not take away the power and presence of God. (The idea of the wind blowing so hard that all those Israelites crossed over, then the waters drowned Pharaoh's army in a shallow area is ridiculous.) There are several possible crossing points, but some can be rejected rather easily while others have points in their favor.

During their sojourn in Egypt, the Israelites built and lived around Pithom and Raamses (Exodus 1:11). These were cities in Goshen, in the eastern Delta region (figure 1) of Lower Egypt (Genesis 47:6, 11). We can be fairly certain of where they lived. However, the timing of the events immediately after they left Egypt is somewhat murky.

Besides the timing of events, there are questions about what we should see left behind as evidence at any of the proposed crossing points. This was a very long time ago, so the land may have changed, archaeological evidence may be buried, wind-blown sand could have filled in shallow bodies of water or altered the landscape in general (which is very common in Egypt), and siltation and marsh growth may have moved shorelines.

You can read the rest at "Where did the Israelites cross the 'Red Sea'?" To read about another controversial area, see "In Search of Mount Sinai."