The Route of the Exodus as Envisioned by the 562 BCE Exilic Narrator
(Augmented by Archaeological Investigations)
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17 October 2003
05 Jan 2004 Revised and Updated
09 Feb.2004 Warning: I NO LONGER understand that the crossing of the Red Sea is at Clysma/Suez as preserved in early Christian traditions- its at Lake Timsah. Please cf. or "click on" the following url for the NEW research on the identitites of Etham,Yam Suph, Wilderness of Shur/Etham, Marah (Bir el Murr), and Elim (Ayun Musa)
Note: By clicking on the blue underlined urls in this text, one is taken to maps or other related articles at this website. Please note, If you have downloaded this article to read "off-line" the blue-underlined urls embedded with the text will NOT appear and you will NOT be able to access the maps and related articles- this applies to ALL my articles posted at this website.
This is NOT simply a "re-hash" of previous scholarly identifications. It is not my intent to cover every proposal ever made on the sites, such an undertaking is beyond the scope of this brief article. My "major purpose" in this article is to make a number of NEW PROPOSALS for the various sites. Please click on the following url for "my" map showing the sites of the Exodus : "Route of the Exodus Map Sites"
For a selection of various "Route of the Exodus Maps" by other scholars like Yohanan Aharoni, Magnus Magnusson, William H. Stiebing Jr., Colin J. Humphreys, Menashe Har-El, etc. please click here.
Advisory :This is a "work-in-progress," and I would reccomend monthly "future visits" for more updates as more maps are prepared to accompany this article.
Introduction :
I understand that the Exodus account was written in the Exile ca. 562 BCE. Although a late composition, it probably does preserve Pre-Exilic traditions going back to the Early Iron I period (ca. 1220-1100 BCE). Many scholars understand that the sudden appearance of over 200+ small agrarian villages in the Hill Country of Canaan in Iron I is the settling of the land as described in the bible under Joshua and I am in agreement with this assessment.
I also understand that two differing origins traditions are fused together and are behind the Exodus traditions. The notion of Israel wandering in the Sinai I suspect to be a Canaanite tradition, recalling Late Bronze Age and Early Iron I Ramesside Era Egyptian Asiatic Miners working the mines of Serabit el Khadim and Har Timna and Wadi Amran in the southern Arabah, periodically returning to the Negev and Kadesh Barnea (Tel Masos) at the end of the mining season. The notion of a conquest from the east, that is, from Transjordan, is recalling invasions from Aram (Syria north of Damascus) by Arameans in Iron IA (1220-1100 BCE).
Having established via archaeology, that "most" of the places mentioned in the Pentateuchal narratives were in existence and contemporary with each other, ONLY in Late Iron II, ca. 640-587 BCE, as noted by Professors Israel Finkelstein, William Stiebing, and Burton MacDonald, one would think that ONLY Late Iron II sites should be sought for in identifying "The Route of the Exodus."
First, let me say, that the Late Iron Late II Israelites or Judaeans (ca. the 9th-6th centuries BCE) did NOT possess the "sophisticated pottery chronologies" developed by Sir Flinders Petrie and his successors. So, these Late Iron II peoples would have NO WAY OF KNOWING if a site or encampment in the Sinai, Negev or Arabah was Stone Age, Early Bronze II, Middle Bronze IV, Middle Bronze I, Late Bronze, Iron I or II.
I am suggesting here that sites from ALL these periods may be conflated and fused together, so, in my frame of reference, it is "unproductive" for scholars to INSIST that the encampments of Israel, as enumerated in the bible, in the Wilderness MUST BE Late Bronze or early Iron I. It just may be that the Iron II Israelites identified Stone Age sites as well as Iron Age as Israel's encampments. I cannot say if "all" 40+ sites were actual sites, some may have been "made up" from the narrator's imagination. Undoubtedly some sites were real.
Israel is understood to have wandered the wilderness for 40 years, and to have herds of cattle, sheep and goats. Thousands are portrayed as dying in the wilderness, struck down by plague by their outraged God. I suspect that these notions arose from observed physical phenomena, that is, the primitive seasonal dwellings of stone with their associated herd pens and burial tumuli from Stone Age to Iron Age times "became" Israel's encampments. Because these seasonal sites or encampments exist in the hundreds and perhaps even thousands all over the Sinai, Negev and Arabah, the Iron II Israelites may have "imagined" that these phenomena had to be evidence of a great horde of people wandering the wilderness for a long period of time, building all these sites. Hence the reason Israel was said to have been in the hundred-thousands when she left Egypt. Hence, also, the reason Israel needed to be portrayed wandering these wilderness areas for an extended period of time -How else to account for all these dwellings, herd pens, and burial tumuli, which were EVERYWHERE ?
Professor Yohanan Aharoni (The Land of the Bible, A Historical Geography. Philadelphia. Westminster Press.1967, 1979) has noted that not all sites mentioned the Hebrew Bible have been identified by scholars. Some sites have "lost" their names. Some names are recoverable in nearby land marks like a Sheikh's tomb, or a wadi, or a land-form. Some site names were transferred to nearby newer settlements in the Hellenistic era when many ancient tells were abandoned, the abandoned original site or ancient Tell taking on a different name.
Professor Aharoni also observed that site names appearing as Arabic Toponymns, might be preserving a rendering from either Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Latin. My research has substantiated his observation. That is, a number of "new" proposals on my part, have identified the sites as being preserved in Arabic from the Greek form found in the Septuaginta bible and the Latin form found in the Latin Vulgate bible.
I have NOT attempted to "document" all the following proposals as to what archaeological time period is attested, what follows is based primarily on similar word forms "perhaps" preserved in Arabic toponyms. But, IN GENERAL, the sites should NOT BE LATER than ca. 562-560 BCE, when I understand the Primary History, Genesis-2 Kings, was written.
Professor Peet (1923), a prominent Egyptologist in his day, noted that one needed "to distinguish" between the route of the REAL Exodus and the IMAGINED Exodus, noting that the biblical account was written down many centuries after the event had occurred.
Peet :
"The question of the route of the Exodus has proved a happy playing-field for the amateur. The reason is, as always in such cases, that it is a field where it is extremely difficult either to prove or disprove anything at all, so that the sage and fool may work in it almost on level terms. Even in the more scholarly discussions of the subject one point of vital importance is almost always overlooked. The whole geography of the sojourn in Egypt is, as has been demonstrated in the last chapter, anachronistic, having been imposed on the original tradition long after the events themselves. Thus we are not in a position to discover what route the Israelites really followed, except in so far as we may conjecture it by the application of common sense to the problem. All we can hope to recover is the route which the compilers of the 9th century BC and onward thought that they followed, which is a very different thing." (pp.125-126. "The Exodus." T. Eric Peet. Egypt and the Old Testament. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1924. England: The University Press of Liverpool Ltd. 1923)
For those readers who would like to "take a stab" for themselves at identifying sites mentioned in the Exodus, be advised that you will need maps made before the modern State of Israel came into being. Maps of the Sinai, and of Palestine made under the British Mandate are the best for conducting research. Special care should be made to obtain highly detailed maps whenever possible, ideally 1:25,000 or 1:40,000 or 1:50,000 or, less satisfactorily, 1:100,000. Scales of 1:250,000 or larger just don't have the detail to pick up sites with. The problem in post 1948 maps is that the modern Israelis have changed the names of many sites, wadies and landforms. Sometimes the site's name is merely a Hebrew rendering of an Arabic name. On other occasions where scholars "thought" a biblical site "ought to be" they gave it a biblical name, which is not reflected in Arabic. Still other sites bear names not related to Arabic or biblical sites. As regards a site's name, as noted by Professor Aharoni, the name could have been preserved in Arabic from either its original Hebrew form, or a later Aramaic, Greek or Latin rendering. His chapter on "Toponyms" is excellent on the problems one faces and is a "MUST" read for anyone undertaking this interesting and challenging adventure ("The Study of Toponymy." pp.105-124. Yohanan Aharoni. The Land of the Bible. A Historical Geography. Philadelphia. Westminster Press. 1979)
Another problem is that placenames in the Sinai may not have been originally Hebrew. Its just possible that what we have in the bible is a "Hebraized rendering" of foreign names. The Hebrew may approximate the sound, but have a different spelling (or different prefixes and suffixes tagged on to the site name to make the name conform to a Hebrew word meaning). For example Moshe (Moses) is supposed to be Hebrew according to the bible, but Egyptologists assure us it's a perfectly good Egyptian name, Mose (Mes).
For research within the boundaries of ancient Israel, that is, from Dan to Beersheba, the finest map is the 1878 1:63,000, 25 sheets, highly detailed map created by the Palestine Exploration Fund still headquartered in London. The British Museum's Cartography Department is an excellent source for photocopies of maps of Egypt, the Sinai, Negev, Palestine and Trans-Jordan. Another source for photocopies of maps, but not as comprehensive as the British Museum, is the Cartography Department of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. One should first request a copy of the "map sheet index" for a given area and then request maps from this index. For up-to-date archaeological maps of the Sinai, Negev, Arabah and Israel, the publications by the Survey of Israel in Jerusalem are outstanding, identifying sites by archaeological periods. The problem ? These highly detailed maps tend to be written in Hebrew. There are any number of so-called Bible Atlases, but their maps are NOT useful for site identifications from the original Arabic. Tubingen University in Germany also produces outstanding and detailed maps of ancient sites based on the latest archaeological research, under a series commonly referred to as TAVO, or Tubinger Atlas der Vorderer Orient. The problem: They are written in German and are very expensive.
I have noted that a number of scholars have observed that, at times, the geographical locations mentioned in the narratives are confusing, that is they don't always line up correctly as they should (cf. Redford, Kraeling, MacDonald, etc.). If I am right in assuming the Primary History was written ca. 562-560 BCE in the Exile, it may just be, that the narrator had only "vague, foggy ideas at times," just exactly where these places where. That is to say, that although he could place the site within a general context like Egypt, the Sinai, Trans-Jordan and Canaan, the specific parameters of one site's juxtaposition to another doesn't always "fit." If I am correct in my suspicions, then one will have to be careful about expecting all the sites to align correctly with each other. Scholars have also noted "geographical errors" in the New Testament as well.
The reader is advised that there are a number of CONFLICTING PROPOSALS by scholars for sites in the Exodus' itinerary. It is NOT my intent to discuss ALL these proposals here. I highly recommend Professor Burton MacDonald's "East of the Jordan" Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures (Boston. American Schools of Oriental Research. 2000) for an in depth coverage of the various proposals for Transjordan. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman, et.al., has many fine articles as well (6 vols. 1992. Doubleday Publishers. New York). Perhaps one of the "most detailed" investigations into Exodus itineraries is G. I. Davies. The Way of the Wilderness, A Geographical Study of the Wilderness Itineraries in the Old Testament (London. Cambridge University Press. 1979). He discusses identification attempts by early Christians, Jews and Moslems, followed by recent scholarship. I highly recommend his work, he provides an extensive and comprehensive bibliography on the subject arranged by Author. Another useful work on site identifications is Zecharia Kallai, Historical Geography of the Bible, The Tribal Territories of Israel (Jerusalem & Leiden. The Magness Press, The Hebrew University. E. J. Brill. 1986. 543 pages). J. Simons, The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament : A Concise Commentary in XXXII Chapters. (Leiden. Brill. 1959), is another useful work. A recently released work which should also be consulted is G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville, et. al., The Onomasticon By Eusebius of Caesarea (Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.). Jerusalem. Carta. 2003. ISBN 965-220-500-1). Eusebius was Christian who attempted to identify various places of his day, the 4th century CE, with locations appearing in the bible.
The Exodus, Myth or Fact ?
Weinstein noted that there is NO evidence in the archaeological record for a massive migration of thousands of Hyksos from the Delta to Canaan, which challenges Manetho's claims. Manetho was an Egyptian historian who wrote a history of Egypt in the 3rd century BCE, in Greek for his Ptolemaic king. He claimed that the Hyksos were allowed to leave Egypt and return to Canaan.
Weinstein (Emphasis mine) :
"One explanation offered by historians and archaeologists for the biblical exodus is an Israelite folk memory of the Hyksos expulsion from the eastern Delta in the third quarter of the 16th century BC...As it turns out, one looks in vain for a substantial influx of Egyptian cultural features into late-16th-century BC Palestine. In fact, just the opposite situation seems to be true in most areas of the country...In summary, there is NO EVIDENCE for the influx of a large population from Egypt into Canaan at the transition from the Middle Bronze Age to the Late Bronze Age...These data raise the question of whether the bulk of of the Egyptianized Asiatic population of Avaris ever left Egypt or simply abandoned Tell el-Daba and other Hyksos sites and moved elsewhere in the delta and farther south." (pp.94-96. James Weinstein. "Exodus and Archaeological Reality." pp.87-103. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard H. Lesko. Editors. Exodus, The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana. 1997)
Weinstein also noted there was NO evidence for an Exodus of thousands of Asiatics from Egypt in the Ramesside era (Emphasis mine) :
"In summary, the meager Egyptian finds at early Israelite sites [Iron I, ca. 1220-1000 BCE] as well as the Karnak reliefs and the Merenptah stela provide no data that would bolster the historical validity of the biblical account of an exodus from Egypt...The only question that really matters is whether any (non-biblical) textual or archaeological materials indicate a major outflow of Asiatics from Egypt to Canaan at any point in the 19th or even early 20th Dynasty. And so far the answer to that question is NO." (pp.92-93. James Weinstein. "Exodus and Archaeological Reality." pp.87-103. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard H. Lesko. Editors. Exodus, The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana. 1997)
Weinstein concludes that if there is any historical underpinings of an Exodus from Egypt, it had to have been of small group of peoples :
"If there was an historical exodus, it probably consisted of a small number of Semites migrating out of Egypt in the late 13th or early 12th century BC, ultimately settling in southwestern Canaan, where their Egyptian heritage would allow them to melt into the populace without leaving us anything to permit us to identify them as a distinctive group. But even if such an event did take place, the impact of these immigrants on the material culture of the Israelite settlements in the hill country in the 12th and 11th centuries BC would have been minimal. Were it not for the Bible, anyone looking at the Palestinian archaeological data today would conclude that whatever the origin of the Israelites, it was not Egypt." (p. 98. James Weinstein. "Exodus and Archaeological Reality." pp.87-103. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard H. Lesko. Editors. Exodus, The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana. 1997)
Ward in his summary noted that traditions do not arise out of thin air, there must have been some kind of event that is being recalled :
"Now folk memories do not come into existence out of nothing. Folk memories, the oral tradition of a family, a tribe, or a people, arise out of something. There is a historical kernel of historic fact buried there somewhere. It may be totally obscured by later elaboration, additions, explanations, or whole episodes grafted on just because they make a good story; or as has been proposed, a faint rememberance that at one time in the past a few of those who would later become Israelites were in Egypt and migrated to Canaan, and this was associated in later tradition with some other historical age, such as the Hyksos period." (p.108. William A. Ward. "Summary and Conclusions." pp. 105-112. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard H. Lesko. Editors. Exodus, The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana. 1997)
It must be pointed out here, that while it is true not one single Late Bronze-Iron I encampment has ever been found of the "thousands" of Israel in the Sinai, NEITHER have "any" encampments been found of the "thousands" of Asiatic prisoners of war marched to Egypt by the warrior pharaohs of the Late Bronze Age. To be sure, Egyptian way-stations in the northern Sinai along the "way of Horus" (the biblical "way of the Philistines") have been found by the Israeli archaeologist Oren and his colleagues, but to my knowledge, NO encampments about these stations with campfires attesting to thousands on their way into an Egyptian captivity. Yet the annals of these pharaohs mention the "thousands" they herded to Egypt. Archaeologists have documented the destroyed cities of Syria-Palestine mentioned in Egyptian annals, but as to finding an actual Egyptian encampment for the thousands of troops near the destroyed sites - not one encampment has ever been found.
Another problem in regards to an Exodus of hundreds of thousands, with their herds of cattle, sheep and goats, is that the "puny" wells of the Sinai could not support such a huge host, a few hundred people, at most, can only be supported. Investigations into the ancient climate of the Sinai reveal that it has not changed appreciably since Stone Age times. Repeated archaeological surveys of the Sinai by the Israelies in the late 1960's and into the 1970's failed to find any encampments left by Israel. The only encampments for the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age (eras asociated with the Exodus) were of Egyptian miners.
The Route of the Exodus :
Goshen, the land of :
Most scholars understand Goshen to refer to the eastern Delta of Egypt and I concur. Naville (Edouard Naville. The Store-city of Pithom and the Route of the Exodus. London. Egypt Exploration Fund. 1885) localized Goshen near Bubastis and Saft el Henneh, including the west end of Wadi Tumilat, as the "land of Kes" appearing in Egyptian inscriptions at Saft el Henneh, noting that the 3rd century BCE Greek translation of the bible called the Septuaginta renders Goshen as Gesem. However, the mention of Moses confronting Pharaoh and his court at Zoan (Greek: Tanis, Arabic: San el-Hagar) suggests the biblical narrator had in mind a region to the north of Saft el Henneh, near Tell ed-Daba (Avaris ?), Khatana-Qantir (Pir-Ramesse ?) and San el-Hagar. Perhaps Goshen has been preserved at the site called Faqus, north of az-Zaqaziq, and south of San al-Hagar ?
The descent into Egypt under Joseph and Jacob/Israel is usually placed in the Hyksos period, the 15th Dynasty, ca. 1663-1555 BCE. The Egyptian "oppression" of Israel is usually correlated with the defeat of the Hyksos by Pharaoh Ahmose I ca. 1555/1530 BCE and the rise of the 18th Dynasty. Israel's settling in Goshen or the "land of Ramesses" suggests an anachronism for some scholars as this area would have been called the "land of Ramesses" only after the reign of Ramessess II, ca. 1279-1212 BCE.
The bible portrays Israel "dwelling unto herself" in the land of Goshen. The Egyptian practice was usually to disperse slaves the length and breadth of Egypt, not keep them concentrated in only the eastern Delta. The only time Asiatics as a large community dwelt in the eastern Delta "unto themselves" was under the Hyksos, so apparently the biblical traditions may be recollecting events as far back as Hyksos times.
The late famous American bible scholar William Foxwell Albright, proposed that Israel settled in Egypt in Hyksos times and that Israel's "Egyptian oppression" began under Ahmose I and the defeat of the Hyksos. Various dates exist for this latter event, 1580-1530 BCE. According to biblical traditions, Israel was to endure a 400 year oppression in Egypt and then obtain her freedom (Ge 15:13; Ex 12:40-41). If one subtracts 400 years from Ahmose I's defeat of the Hyksos ca. 1580-1530 BCE, an Exodus date of ca. 1180-1130 BCE is obtained in the Ramesside Era, or the 20th Dynasty. Many scholars have identified Israel's settlement of the Hill Country of Canaan with the 200+ small agarian Iron I settlements of ca. 1220-1100 BCE. Israel's "Egyptian Captivity" then, more or less co-incides with the rise and fall of the Egyptian Empire under Dyasties 18-20.
Finkelstein, an Israeli scholar, has sounded a note of caution about attempts to "precisely" date the Iron I settlements. He understands that the settlements could have been made at "any time" between the late 13th through the 11th century BCE.
Finkelstein :
"Based on the testimony of the Merneptah stele, Dever dates the foundation of the Iron I highlands to the late 13th century BCE. But, from a pure archaeological point of view, it is extremely difficult to provide a precise date for the beginning of the Iron I settlement in the highlands. Moreover, most of the sites were probably established in the late 12th, if not in the 11th century BCE." (p. 209. Note 1. Israel Finkelstein. "Ethnicity and Origin of the Iron I Settlers in the Highlands of Canaan, Can the Real Israel Stand Up ?" pp. 198-209. Biblical Archaeologist. 59:4. 1996)
I suspect what Finkelstein is alluding to is that excavations have suggested an Egyptian presence of some kind in Canaan as late as Pharaoh Ramesses VI, ca. 1141-1133 BCE. This Pharaoh's statue was found at Megiddo, and Egyptian style houses exist at Beth-Shean, Lachish and Tel Masos of this era. To the degree that the bible's narrator is UNAWARE of Israel contending with Egypt in Canaan for the land, this suggests a possible settlement of AFTER 1133 BCE when Egypt had withdrawn from Canaan. Others disagree, arguing that the reason the bible is "unaware" of direct confrontations with Egypt by Israel (contra the Merneptah Stele of 1208 BCE, in which the Pharaoh claims to have defeated Israel in or near Canaan), is that the Egyptians concentrated themselves along the trade route from Egypt to Mesopotamia, via Gaza, Megiddo, and Damascus. The book of Judges does state that Megiddo and Beth-Shean were NOT conquered by Israel, and if this is correct, then perhaps the conquest began while Egypt was still in control of these two sites, suggesting a Conquest begun before 1133 BCE.
Zoan and Ramesses, anomalies noted :
The biblical narratives suggest that Moses confronted Pharaoh and his court in the "fields of Zo`an," today associated with Tanis (a Greek rendering of Egyptian dn't). The problem though, is that Egyptologists and archaeologists have determined that Tanis was NOT a Pharaonic residence until Pharaoh Smendes established a new Dynasty, the 21st, there ca. 1069 BCE. So, Moses ca. 1540 BCE or 1446 BCE or 1250 BCE or 1174 BCE, would, most probably, NOT have encountered Pharaoh and his court "at or near" this place. Evidently Rameses was thought to be near by, and it is probably to be equated with Per-Ramesse, the Khatana-Qantir area, as noted by Wente :
"The biblical city of Rameses/Raamses should be equated with Egyptian Piramesse, the great delta residence of pharaohs of the 19th and 20th Dynasties. It is only recently that the location of Piramesses has been clearly established at Khatana-Qantir in the NE delta on the E bank of the Pelusaic arm of the Nile. Earlier attempts to locate Piramesse at Tanis or in the region of Bubastis must be rejected, despite apparent support from biblical evidence." (p. 617. Vol. 5. Edward F. Wente. "Rameses." Noel David Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)
Finkelstein, as noted earlier, above, stated that the exact date of the settlement of Canaan in Iron I cannot be determined, and could extend into the 11th century BCE. If he is correct, then an 11th century BCE settlement would align somewhat with Moses' confrontation with Pharaoh's court at Tanis/Zoan after 1069 BCE ?
According to Numbers 13:22 Hebron was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt. This is stated in the context of events taking place in the course of the Exodus, while sending up spies from Kadesh-barnea. We are informed by 1 Kings 6:1 that the Exodus occurred approximately 1446 BCE, providing a "historical marker" that the narrator understands that Zo`an and Hebron predate the Exodus of the 15th century BCE. The Genesis narratives give further information about Hebron being in existence in the 3rd millennium when Abraham dwelt in its vicinity (Ge. 13:18). Evidently the Pentateuch's narrator understands that Zo`an and Hebron were in existence in the 3rd millennium and certainly no later than the 2nd millennium when the Exodus is stated to have occurred.
Psalms 78:12 & 43 suggest to some commentators that God's miracles wrought on Egypt via Moses, who apparently personally confronted Pharaoh, occurred in "the fields of Zo`an" :
"In the sight of their fathers he wrought marvels in the land of Egypt, in the fields of Zo`an...They did not keep in mind his power, or the day he redeemed them from the foe; when he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his miracles in the fields of Zo`an. He turned their rivers to blood..."
Scholars have determined that the earliest mention of Zoan in Egyptian records is of the 13th century BCE, and that it appears again as a minor provincial town in the 12th century. But with the establishment of the 21st Dynasty under Smendes, the town is transformed into Egypt's capital, and its "renown" is established in succeeding centuries as the country's capital, from ca. 1069 to 725 BCE, when Sais replaces it. The Canadian Egyptologist, Donald B. Redford, makes the following observations:
"Although the district 'field of the storm' (D`, whence D`nt) is known from the middle of the 13th century BC, Zo`an the town is first mentioned in the 23rd year of Ramesses XI of the 20th dynasty. It is the residence of Smendes, the officer assigned to the administration of Lower Egypt. When Ramesses died (childless ?) and Smendes succeeded him as founder of the 21st dynasty, Zo`an became the official residence, replacing the old Ramesside capital, Pi-Ramesses, 30 km. to the south...The first great builder to turn the small provincial town into a monumental city was Psusennes I , son and successor of Smendes. He laid out the enclosure and built the temple of Amun, which was enlarged by Siamun...The Hebrews became familiar with Zo`an during the period of the monarchy, when it was the Egyptian capital (Isa. 19:11,13; 30:4; Ezek. 30:14); one tradition localized the confrontation between Moses and Pharaoh in the 'field of Zo`an' (Ps. 78:12,43)." (p.1106. Vol. 6. Donald B. Redford. "Zoan," The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)
Hoffmeier (another Egyptologist) made similar observations about Zoan:
"Psalm 78:12 an 13 locates the events of the Exodus 'in the fields of Zo`an (Tanis),' which reflects the time when Tanis was the dominant city of the northeastern Delta (ca. 1180 BC onwards), after Pi-Ramesses was abandoned." (p.210, James K. Hoffmeier. Israel in Egypt, the Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. New York, Oxford University Press, 1996)
From the above facts about Zoan I draw the following observations about the historicity of the Pentateuchal accounts:
If the Exodus really was ca. 1446 BCE as suggested by 1 Kings 6:1, it is difficult to understand Zo`an being portrayed as an "important city" like Hebron in Numbers 13:22. Zo`an's rise to "fame and renown" occurred when it became the capital of Egypt from ca. 1069 to 725 BCE.
It is equally impossible to see "the fields of Zo`an" (Ps 78:12, 43) as the place where Moses confronted Pharaoh, in the 15th century BCE, as it was not a "residence of Pharoah" until after ca. 1069 BCE.
Evidently whoever wrote the account about Zoan being founded 7 years before Zoan, it wasn't Moses in the 15th century BCE (nor a narrator in the days of the Hyksos Exodus of 1540 BCE, or ca. 1250 BCE).
It appears obvious to me that whoever wrote the accounts about Zo`an, they certainly had no knowledge as to just WHEN Zoan's rise to "renown" had occurred as a capital of Egypt, warranting its favorable comparison to Hebron, a prominent town of the Judean Hill Country.
The mention of Zoan in the Pentateuch and Psalms is then an important historical marker dating these texts' composition to a period probably several hundred years after the 12th century BCE and the founding of Zoan as a capital, when the national memory had forgotten just when that city had rose to fame and world renown.
The Way of the Philistines :
We are informed that although the "way of the Philistines" was near, Israel did not use this route to return to Canaan by. Scholars have determined that this route is in fact, THE FASTEST way to get to Canaan from Egypt. Using this route, which parallels the shores of the Mediterranean sea, across the wilderness of the Northern Sinai, Pharaoh Thuthmose III (ca. 1504-1450 BCE) marched an Egyptian army from the Delta to Gaza in only 10 days, traveling 15 miles a day! The reason given in the Bible for Israel not taking this direct route home, was fear of engaging in battle the Philistines, mortal enemies of the Hebrews, who in the narrator's mind (who is writing this account ca. 562 BCE), would never let Israel cross their borders to settle in the Promised land.
Scholars have noted that the Philistines are probably the Pelest, a tribe of Sea Peoples from the Aegean area who attempted to invade Egypt ca. 1174 BCE in the days of Pharaoh Ramesses III who records their defeat, and states that he then settled them in his fortresses, to serve Egyptian interests (perhaps alluding to their presence at Gaza, which had long been an Egyptian bastion for governing Canaan). So, it would appear that the biblical rationale for Israel going south to the Red Sea or Yam Suph (which I identify with the Gulf of Suez) is "questionable" as NO Philistines were in Gaza ca. 1540 or 1446 or 1250 BCE, when the Exodus is believed to have occurred (depending upon which scholar one wants to follow).
Some have proposed that the REAL reason Israel did not employ the "way of the Philistines" as the way to go home, was that the Egyptians had fortified this route since the days of Pharaoh Thuthmose III, providing stations to provision Egyptian armies which repeatedly used the road to quell Canaanite uprisings and therefore they avoided it. This reasoning is "problematic," because in the biblical narratives, Pharaoh is portrayed as ALLOWING Israel to depart, surely NO Egyptian military commander along the "way of Horus" (the Egyptian name for "the way of the Philistines") would have dared "countermand" Pharaoh's orders and attacked Israel ! But, even more importantly, the biblical narrator appears to be oblivious to Egyptian garrisons being along the "Way of the Philistines," his fear is NOT Egypt, its the Philistines !
Ramesses, Pithom and Succoth, and on to the Red Sea :
Ramesses is today believed to be the area of Khatana-Qantir, in the Northeastern Delta on the east bank of the Pelusiac arm of the Nile. Wente noted that `Apiru appear in records as hauling stones for a pylon being constructed in the city. Eventually the Pelusiac branch silted up and the city was abandoned. Many of the monuments were taken to the new capital at Tanis.
Wente:
"Of significance to biblical scholars is the statement in Papyrus Leiden 348 that `Apiru, a term some scholars equate with "Hebrew," were employed in "hauling stones to the great pylon" of one of Piramesse's temples...The demise of Piramesse at the end of the 20th Dynasty was probably associated with the silting up of the Pelusaic arm of the Nile, necessitating the transfer of the royal residence to Tanis in the 21st Dynasty..." (p.618. Vol. 5. Edward F. Wente. "Rameses." David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)
Egeria, a Pilgrimess who visited Egypt and the Sinai ca. the 4th or 5th century CE, understood from her guides that Ramesses was a site in Wadi Tumilat, and that it lay to the west of Pithom, which was identified with Heroopolis, based on statements made in the Septuagint's version of Joseph meeting his father Jacob in Egypt (see below for more details).
According to the biblical narratives Israel built not only Ramesses but Pithom. The latter site may be equated with Herodotus' Patumos of ca. 425 BCE (Egyptian Pi-Tum, "the abode of Tum," the god Tum or Atum), in wadi Tumilat (perhaps -tumos or -tum/thom is preserved in TUM-[ilat] ?).
Naville noted that Pithom might alternatley be preserved
Professor Bietak has suggested that Pithom is probably Tell er-Retabeh, in the midst of Wadi Tumilat. This tell is sited to the east of what was once, in antiquity, a great overflow lake of one the Nile branches ( cf. p.15 for a map showing this great overflow lake. Geraldine Harris. Cultural Atlas for Young People, Ancient Egypt. New York. Facts on File. 1990). Perhaps the pools of Pi-Tum or Pr-Tum ("house of Tum"), associated with a Fortress of Pharaoh Merneptah of the Ramesside 19th Dynasty, mentioned in a papyrus, suggests the site is Tell er-Retabeh, which has Ramesside era pottery. Tell el Maskhuttah, further east of Retabeh, has NO Ramesside pottery. Bietak noted that "Late Traditions", i.e., the Septuagint ( a 3rd century BCE translation made at Alexandria, Egypt) associated Pithom and Ramesses with Heroopolis, a Ptolemaic site. Excavations by Naville at Tell el-Maskhuttah ca. 1880's uncovered some inscribed stones bearing the name Hero in Latin. The Pilgrimess, Egeria, stated that Pithom was Hero in her day, the 4th or 5th century CE. I suspect Bietak is correct, Tell er-Retabeh and its Ramesside remains or pottery debris, is Pithom, and perhaps Maskhutah might be Succoth. Retabeh, being situated east of the ancient overflow lake, would be in an excellent position to guard Egypt's eastern frontier, denying access to the Delta via the corridor through Wadi Tumilat. Retabeh is also excellently sited, to the east of this overflow lake, which at times might have evaporated into various shallow pools, denying access to the fresh waters which nomads from the Sinai would be desirous of for their flocks of sheep and goats.
Bietak on Pithom :
"Concerning the situation of the biblical Pithom, of course there had been several places with this name, but not many...The most prominent Pithom was situated in Wadi Tumilat. It is mentioned several times in connection with Tjeku (Gautier 1925-1931 II: 59-61). Especially well known is the quotation in papyrus Anastasi VI (4.16) where a group of Edomites gained temporary permission to pass the boundary and advance up to the "lakes of Pithom" in the name of Tjeku (i.e., Wadi Tumilat). This would fit well with the possible situation of the biblical Pithom which was obviously also within the reach of Beduins at the eastern edge of the Delta, after they had crossed the Sinai. The "lakes of Pithom" also fit well into the environment of the western half of the wadi, which was filled originally with an overflow lake (Bietak 1975: 88-90). The position of Pithom is also in accord with the situation of Patumos mentioned by Herodotus (II.158). It lay at the Red Sea channel which passd through the wadi. From all the sites in this region, only Tell el-Retabeh has an occupation of the Ramesside period (contemporary with Ramesses-Pi-Ramesse) and this site is also situated at the eastern end of a lake in a dominant position regarding the wadi. So we have a Pithom in the right place at the right time in a parallel situation to the Ramessess-town, each blocking one of the two important entrances of the eastern Delta. From this topographical and partly functional similarity we may understand the parallel quotation of Pithom and Ramesses in Exodus 1:11." (pp.168-169. Manfred Bietak. "Comments on the Exodus." Anson F. Rainey. Editor. Archaeological and Historical Relationships in the Biblical Period. Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel Aviv University. 1987)
Bietak was aware that in "Late Tradition," i.e., the Septuagint, that Pithom had become associated with Ptolemaic Heroopolis (Tell el Maskhutah). I have noted that the 4th or 5th century Pilgrimess, Egeria stated that Pithom was the town and fortress of Hero. Naville, who excavated the site in the 1880's found two incised inscriptions bearing the word Hero, identifying the site with Egeria's Hero/Pithom.
Bietak :
"Only in Late Tradition did Pithom become confused with Heroonpolis (cf. LXX Genesis 46: 28-29, u. Bohairic version)." (p.170. Note no. 6. Bietak. "Comments on the Exodus." 1987)
Professor Pritchard on a papyrus account of nomads from "Atuma" (rendered Edom in the below text) being allowed access to the pools of Pithom (pr-Tum):
"I have carried out every commission laid upon me...I have not been lax. Another communication to my [lord], to [wit: We] have finished letting the Bedouin tribes of Edom pass the Fortress [of] Mer-ne-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat- life, prosperity, health !-which is (in) Tjeku, to the pools of Per-Atum [of] Mer-[ne]-Ptah Hotep-hir-Maat, which are (in) Tjeku, to keep them alive and to keep their cattle alive..." (p.183. "The Report of a Frontier Official." James B. Pritchard. Editor. The Ancient Near East, An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Princeton University Press. 1958)
Egeria identifying Hero (Tell el Maskhutah) with Pithom, based on the Septuagint (note: LXX meaning "70" refers to the 70 scribes who allegedly translated the Bible from Hebrew into Greek in the 3rd century BCE at Alexandria, Egypt). Her "Gessen" is a Latin form derived from the Greek Septuagint "Gesem," Hebrew Goshen -
"When we arrived back at Clysma, we had to rest there once again...I was, of course, already acquainted with the land of Gessen [Hebrew: Goshen] from the time when I first went to Egypt. It was, however, my purpose to see all the places which the children of Israel had touched on their journey, from their going forth from Ramesses until they reached the Red Sea at a place which is now called Clysma, because of the fortress which stands there. It was, therefore, our wish to go from Clysma to the land of Gessen, specifically to the city which is called Arabia. This city is in the land of Gessen, and this territory takes its name from it, that is , the "land of Arabia" is the "land of Gessen." Though this land is a part of Egypt, it is nevertheless far better than the rest of Egypt. It is a four-day journey across the desert from Clysma, that is, from the Red Sea, to the city of Arabia. Though the journey is across the desert, each resting station has a military outpost with soldiers and officers who always guided us from fortress to fortress...We were also shown along the same route the city of Pithom, which the children of Israel had built. It is here that we crossed the frontiers of Egypt, leaving behind the lands of the Saracens. Today this same Pithom is a fortress. Heroopolis, which existed at the time Joseph went forth to meet his father Jacob, who was coming to Egypt, as it written in the book of Genesis is today a village, but a large one, one which we would call a little town. This little town has a church, shrine of martyrs, and many cells sheltering holy monks...This town, which is called Hero today, is located 16 miles from the land of Gessen and is within the frontiers of Egypt. This place is quite pleasant, for a branch of the Nile flows here. We then left Hero and came to the city called Arabia which is a city in the land of Gessen. For this reason it is written that Pharaoh said to Joseph: In the best land of Egypt, gather your father and brothers, in the land of Gessen, the land of Arabia.
Ramesses lies four miles from the city of Arabia. In order to reach the resting station of Arabia, we passed straight through Ramesses. Today this city of Ramesses is a barren plain with not a single dwelling place standing there. It is clear that it was extensive in circumference and had many buildings, for its enormous ruins are visible even today, just as they fell. There is nothing there today except a single enormous Theban stone on which are two very large carved figures, which are said to be of the Holy man Moses and Aaron. It is said that the children of Israel placed them there in honor of them...for on the day which we arrived at the resting station of Arabia...At this point we sent back the soldiers, who, through the authority of Rome, had escorted us as long as we were traveling through unsafe places; now, however, it was no longer necessary for us to trouble the soldiers, since there was a public highway through Egypt, passing by the city of Arabia and running from the Thebaid to Pelusium. We set out from there, and we traveled through the whole land of Gessen..." (pp.60-64. George E. Gingras.[Translator]. Egeria: A Pilgrimage. New York. Newman Press. 1970)
My note: Perhaps Egeria's city of Arabia is modern-day el Abbasa el Gharbia at the western end of Wadi Tumilat (cf. Ismaila. United Arab Republic. 1:250,000. 1970)?
Israel then encamps at Succoth, frequently identified with Tell el Maskhutah at the eastern end of wadi Tumilat, but the above papyrus suggests that Succoth or Tjeku is also associated with the pools of Pr-Tum and Retabeh. Recent excavations in the 1980's revealed that Maskhuttah was founded by Pharaoh Necho, ca. 610 BCE, suggesting -if this is Succoth- that the Exodus narratives had to have been composed AFTER Necho's time according to some scholars (cf. p.591. Vol. 4. John S. Holladay. "Maskhutah, Tell El-." David Noel Freedman, Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Doubleday. New York. 1992). Necho had evidently brought Ramesside statuary to Tell el-Maskhutah to adorn his future port, probably utilizing the canal he was building that would eventually link up with the Red Sea near Suez. Naville who had excavated this site in the 1880's noted the Ramesside statues and thought this was evidence that the site existed in Ramesside times. He proved to be wrong by the excavations carried out a hundred years later in the 1980's which revealed NO Ramesside pottery at the site, only debris from Necho's time was found, as well as the Ptolemaic era. Holladay, who excavated Tell el Maskhuta in the 1980's understands that the Exodus account can be no earlier than Necho's days _IF_ Pithom is Tell el Maskhuttah ( I suspect he is wrong, and that Bietak is correct in identifying Tell er Retabah with its Ramesside pottery debris as Merneptah's 19th Dynasty fortress guarding the pools of Pithom).
Holladay :
"We do not know the site's name during the Egyptian Second Intermediate period (below). Based upon inscriptions found at the site by Naville (1903:5-10;14-24 and Holladay (fc.) and upon Egyptian literary refernces interpreted in the light of the site's chronology (Redford LA 4:1056, especially note 4), it is now certain that the Egyptian name of the site established by Necho II, ca. 610 BC, was Per-Atum Twku (Pr-Itm Tkw: the "Estate of Atum in Tkw"), which came into biblical Hebrew as Pitom (English "Pithom; Ex 1:11)..." (p.588. Vol. 4. John S. Holladay. "Maskhuta, Tell el-." David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)
"Exodus Traditions. The citation of Pithom and Ramesses as store cities built by the children of Israel has long been held to be an important piece of evidence both for dating the Exodus and for validating the antiquity of Israel's traditions about the Exodus (Ex 1:11). These conclusions now seem viable only if the presently secure site identification is taken to be erroneous. With the determination of the actual settlement patterns at Tell el-Maskhuta, the burden of the evidence now shifts drastically to favor the late dating of this passage, as long argued by D. B. Redford (Redford 1963: 415-18). This raises questions about the actual origin and purpose of the citation. Citing the evidence for a minor post-601/pre-568 BC Judaean presence, inferred from the presence of a characteristically Judaean lamp ( in this instance, handmade) and wine decanter, Holladay (1988) has suggested that the passage is an anachronistic gloss to the developing literature of the Passover Haggadah by Judaean refugees. These refugees sought sanctuary in the eastern delta following the murder of the Babylonian governor Gedaliah ben Ahikam in 582 BC (Jer 41:1-45:1). In this analysis, the factual basis for the attribution is posited to be an incorrect "archaeological inference" arising from the Judaean refugees' recent acquaintance with the evidence of earlier "Asiatic" remains at the site, particularly the rich and very un-Egyptian tombs, which would have been despoiled at every opportunity. If the Ramesside monuments were already in place (above), it is easy to see how the refugees' confusion could have been complete." (p.591. Vol. 4. John S. Holladay. "Maskhuta, Tell el-." David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)
From Succoth Israel heads for Etham, described as near the edge of the wilderness. She turns "back" (from Etham ?) And encamps before the Sea, called Yam Suph in Hebrew, before some landmarks, Pi-ha-hiroth (Hebrew: pee-ha-chyiroth), Baal Zephon and Migdol. Scholars are not in agreement where these places are located. Some suggest the eastern Delta near Lake Ballah, others, Lake Timsah (which has reeds) or the Bitter Lakes south of Lake Timsah, still others prefer Lake Bardawil, a lagoon abutting the Mediterranean Sea in the Northern Sinai.
Other scholars have noted that an Exodus route across the northern Sinai is suggested by the account of quail falling miraculously from the sky, by which God feeds his people (Nu 11:31,32). Peet favored an Exodus across the Northern Sinai, and notes with approval another scholar's observation about quail falling ONLY in the northern Sinai.
Peet :
"Sir William Willcocks, in his From the Garden of Eden to the Crossing of the Jordan, p. 69, has rightly pointed out that the story of the quails shows that a northerly route was in the mind of the compiler of the narrative. These birds drop in thousands on the Mediterranean shore between Egypt and Palestine, exhausted with their long flight across the sea. Similar conditions are not found anywhere on the Gulf of Suez or the Red Sea proper." (p.137. Note 1. "The Exodus." T. Eric Peet. Egypt and the Old Testament. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company. England: The University Press of Liverpool, Ltd. 1923)
Kraeling noted the exhausted quail land near el Arish, in the northern Sinai, near the sea shore, but NOT in the Spring, the event occurs in the Fall.
Kraeling :
"Definitely at home, however, in the region along this shore is the story that a divinely sent wind brought quails from the sea and let them fall by the camp (Nu 11:31). We have in these words an accurate description of what happens when the seasonal migration of quail occurs- unfortunately for verisimilitude, however, in Autumn, not in Spring. The sea meant can only be the Mediterranean. The neighborhood of El Masa`id is the best spot on the coast for quail. They arrive usually at dawn, flying low and dropping exhausted on the shore. They rest there and then fly southwards, not alighting again anywhere in the Sinai Peninsula. They are caught by the thousands in nets nowadays by the natives of el Arish and sold to European markets." (P. 107. "From the Sea Crossing to Sinai." Emil G. Kraeling. Rand McNally Bible Atlas. New York. Rand McNally & Co. 1966)
I would have to disagree with Peet (he has Israel's northern route being the whole length of the sandbar separating the Bardawil lagoon from the sea, cf. his map no. 2 at the back of his book) that the biblical narrator thought the Exodus was across the northern Sinai. The narrator stated that Israel did not leave Egypt via "the way of the Philistines," fearing war with that nation, but instead turned and went by the way of Yam Suph, translated "the Red Sea" in the Greek translation called the Septuaginta (ca. the 3rd century BCE). Peet, Kraeling and others because they understand quail alight in the Sinai ONLY in the Autumn along the Mediterranean shore from El Arish to Egypt, favor a "northern" Exodus route. However, I have determined that Quail do indeed alight in the southern Sinai during their Spring migration, which aligns with the Bible's depiction of the Exodus as occuring in the Spring. I have identified 3 sites in the southern Sinai as having Spring migration quail: 1) Ayun Musa, 2) Wadi abu Gada (a headwater of Wadi al Gharandal, and 3) Ras Mohamed the southernmost tip of the Sinai peninsula. For all the details on these three locations please click on the following article: "The Poisonous Quail of Kibroth-hatta`avah."
The Israeli archaeologist, Oren reported that surveys of the northern Sinai conducted in the late 1960's and into the 1970's, "especially the sand bar" separating Lake Bardawail from the Sea, turned up NO evidence of a presence there in Late Bronze or Early Iron I times. The Egyptians in this period stayed pretty close to "the Way of Horus", their name for the route paralleling the Mediterranean Sea to Gaza and to the SOUTH of the Lagoon, called in the Bible, "the Way of the Philistines." Most scholars have dropped the notion of Israel crossing Yam Suph at the Bardawil sandbar as a result of the negative archaeological evidence gleaned from this area. These excavations reveal that Peet (cf. Egypt and the Old Testament.1923), erred in suggesting that the biblical narrator "envisoned" the Exodus crossing this sandbar (cf. Peet's 1923 map showing Israel walking the whole length of the sandbar).
Oren (Emphasis mine) :
"To the student of biblical history, North Sinai is of special significance because it was here, as argued by many scholars, that the Exodus from Egypt took place. Indeed, some of the more prominent landmarks in the Exodus itinerary have been almost universally located in North Sinai, i.e., Migdol (Tell el-Heir), Yam Suph (Lake Bardawil), Baal Zephon (Mount Cassius), etc...It should be noted in conclusion that all New Kingdom sites were recorded south of Lake Bardawil. Not a single site has so far been found on the coastal strip or on the sandbar separating the Bardawil lagoon from the Mediterranean Sea. Furthermore, very careful exploration on and around Ras Kasroun- the tradition location of classical Mount Kasios or Egyptian and biblical Baal Zephon- have produced no New Kingdom sites. In fact, the oldest settlements in this area belong to the Persian period in the 5th century or the 6th century BC at the earliest. This evidence is of the utmost importance for the controversy over the route of the Exodus in the 13th century BC. In light of the new data there seems to be no ground for placing the route of the Exodus along the Mediterranean coastal strip of northern Sinai- a theory to which many scholars subscribe. Nor is it possible to identify Baal Zephon with Ras Kasroun or biblical Yam Suph (Red or Reed Sea) with the Bardawil lagoon." (pp.182,190. Eliezer D. Oren."Land Bridge Between Asia and Africa." Beno Rothenberg et al. Sinai, Pharaohs, Miners, Pilgrims and Soldiers. Washington & New York. Joseph J. Binns, Publisher. 1979)
The Christian Pilgrimess, Egeria, who visited the Sinai ca. the 4th or 5th century CE, noted that her guides had informed her that Israel had crossed the Sea near Clysma, a Roman Fortress in Egeria's days. Archaeologists have excavated this fortress, today called in Arabic Qom Qulzoum. They were able to determine that the Romans had built Clysma over an earlier Egyptian fortress founded in the days of Pharaoh Ramesses III, ca. 1182-1151 BCE (my thanks to Professor Gregory D. Mumford for sharing information by private communication on this Ramesside fortress). The Romans, from time to time, had cleared the canal initiated by Necho and evidently completed by the Persian King Darius ca. 540 BCE and perhaps they wanted to guard its entrance, north of Clysma, with a fort (cf. the 1799 map of this area by Napoloeon's cartographers showing the entrance of the canal above Qolzoum).
I suspect that the biblical narrator most likely envisioned the imaginary crossing of the Red Sea or Yam Suph near Clysma. It was probably the Ramesside ruined and abandoned (?) fortress which probably came to be called Migdol in the Pentateuchal account of ca. 562 BC. A Migdol is a tower-fortress, the term was borrowed by the Egyptians from the peoples of Syria-Palestine who built Migdols in their lands.
The Aramaic scholar, Lamsa, in his English translation of the Aramaic version of the Bible known as The Peshitta, noted that according to his research and the traditions of his Aramaic speaking ancestors, that Pi-ha-hiroth which he renders from the Aramaic as THE INLET OF KHERITHA was an "inlet" of the sea, whose shoals were exposed at low tides.
Lamsa (Exodus 14:2, 9) :
"Speak to the children of Israel that they turn back and encamp by the inlet of Kheritha, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; opposite it shall you encamp by the sea...And the Egyptians pursued after them, all the horse and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamping by the inlet of Kheritha, before Baal-Zephon." (p. 81, footnote 1, states that the inlet of Kheritha was "Dry at low tide." George M. Lamsa, [Translator]. The Holy Bible, From the Ancient Eastern Text, George M. Lamsa's Translation From the Aramaic of the Peshitta. San Francisco. Harper & Row. [1933, 1939], 1967, 1968).
Lamsa "understands" that Heritha/Kheriha is a Canal in another verse (Numbers 33:7-8)
"And they departed from Etham and encamped at the ENTRANCE OF HERITHA, THE CANAL, which is before Baal Sephon; and they encamped before Migdol. And they departed from the entrance of Heritha and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness..."
Numbers 33:8 RSV
"And they set out from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they went a three days journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped at Marah.
I have noted that highly detailed 1:25,000 maps made by the British in the 1930's show a shallow bay to the northeast of the port of Suez, a bay adjacent to Clysma/Qolzoum, called in Arabic Birket el Kharira (Suez. 1:25,000. Survey of Egypt. 1934). Some scholars have suggested that Hebrew Pi-ha-Chyrioth may be derived from an Akkadian word, Kharru, "a water channel." Thus pi means "mouth," ha means "of the," Kharru. I note that a Ship's "Channel" exists, hugging the shoreline Clysma sits upon. This channel extends northwards to the northeastern side of the shallow bay. I have not been able to determine if this channel is a feature of Nature and tidal actions, or man-made, and if the latter, when it was constructed. I suspect that Arabic Kharira is preserving the Akkadian Kharru, and the Pi-ha-Chyiroth is the water channel or ship's channel "before" or east of Migdol, the Ramesside fortress (the channel or Kharru having had its name transferred to the bay it lies in).
Hoffmeier notes:
"With the discovery of the canal remains in Sinai, Weissbrod and Sneh thought Pi-ha-hiroth is a Semitic term for "mouth of the canal." Just recently, Redford has come around to this position, stating: As transcribed the word resembles a Hebraized form of Akkadian origin, Pi-khiriti, "the mouth of the canal," which would be an appropriate toponym for the eastern edge of the heavily canalized eastern delta." (p.170, James K. Hoffmeier. Israel in Egypt, The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. 1996)
Baal Zephon was explained as being a high plain according to Etheria's guides. I note a high plain north of Clysma called Gebal Saifa just east of the "lower " Bitter Lake (cf. Ismaila. United Arab Republic. 1:250,000. 1970), could Gebal Saifa be Baal Zephon ? But in ancient Ugaritic texts Baal Saphon is a great mountain NEAR the seacoast, identified today with Gebel Aqra in Syria (mount Hazzi in Hittite traditions, Classical mons Cassius, cf. p. 89, "Yahweh and Baal." Mark S. Smith. The Early History of God, Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eedmans. 1990, 2002).
Some scholars have suggested that the towering Gebel Attaka, at the base of which lies Clysma, is Baal-Zephon and this is a plausible identification. A cylinder seal was found by Bietak at Tell ed Daba, believed to be the Hyksos capital called Avaris. It shows Baal standing over two mountains. Gebel Ataka is excellently situated near the sea to be Baal-Zephon. Neo-Assyrian texts invoked the god Baal of Saphon, to destroy ships at sea if their vassals broke their treaties with the Assyrians.
Maps made of the Suez area (1799-1850's) before the Suez canal was constructed, show not only the ships channel opposite Clysma, but extensive shoals or sandbars exposed at low tides. Perhaps Pharaoh's army was envisioned as being caught on these shoals in the returning morning tide ? Tides at Suez today can get as high as 5 or 6 feet, much higher than the 3-5 centimeter tides of the Mediterranean Sea, where some would place the crossing of the Red Sea near Lake Sirbonis (modern Lake Bardawil).
Exodus suggests a morning high tide, "the sea returning to its strength" (Exodus 14:23-29 RSV)
"And in the MORNING WATCH the Lord in the pillar of fire and cloud looked down upon the host of the Egyptians, and discomfitted the host of the Egyptians, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily...Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots and upon their horsemen. So Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and THE SEA RETURNED TO ITS WONTED FLOW WHEN THE MORNING APPEARED..."
Smith has a map of the Red Sea crossing near the modern port of Suez accompany his Red Sea commentary :
"But on the whole it is becoming more probable that the place where the Israelites crossed "was near the town of Suez, on extensive shoals which run toward the southeast, in the direction of Ayun Musa (the Wells of Moses). The distance is about three miles at high tide. This is the most probable theory. Near here Napoleon, deceived by the tidal wave, attempted to cross in 1799, and nearly met the fate of Pharaoh." (cf. p. 558. "Red Sea." William Smith [Revised by F.N. and M.A. Peloubet]. A Dictionary of the Bible, Comprising its Antiquities, Biography, Natural History and Literature with the latest researches and references to the Revised Version of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan Publishing House. [1884, 1948], 1976).
I personally favor Smith's identification, noting this is the site preferred by early Christian traditions of the 4th/5th century CE (cf. the pilgrimess Egeria/Etheria's comments). I note that the tides near the port of Suez can reach in the Spring, when the Exodus is said to have occured, the height of 6 to 10 feet, while in other times of the year lower tidal ranges exist.
"...spring tides and severe southerly storms. (the range of Spring tides at Suez is 8.0 feet (2.4 meters), and Neap tides is 2.9 feet (0.9 meters)..." <www.lidden.demon.co.uk/temples/exodus.htm>
Current tides at Suez from the Suez Transit Authority ( Leth Suez Transit Ltd. 2003) :
:
"There is two anchorage areas..General Info : Weather: During March and April the Khamassine wind may close the port and the Suez Canal. Tides: Raise of the tide from 1.2 meters [approximately 3 feet] to 2.7 meters [approximately 6 feet] maximum." <http://www.lethsuez.com/ports/sueznav.htm>
Wright (1915) reported tidal height differences of 10 feet or more in his day (one could just imagine a 10 foot tidal surge hitting Pharaoh's pursuing chariots !) :
"According to the report of the Suez Canal Company, the difference between the highest and the lowest water at Suez is 10 ft. 7 inches..."(George Frederick Wright. "Red Sea." James Orr. Editor. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.1915)
The difference in reported tidal heights, 1915 vs. 2003, may have to do with the extensive "dredging of the basin" since the 1930's for modern tankers, whose heaviness requires a greater depth to prevent "bottoming-out," this dredging would affect tidal heights.
Note that March and April align somewhat with the "Spring" Exodus. One recalls here Cecil B. DeMille's movie "Exodus," starring Charlton Heston as Moses, and the great wind which God caused to appear to tear assunder the Red Sea and provide a passage for Israel from her Egyptian pursuers (did this wind also rain flesh from the skies in form of Spring migrating quail, from Africa to Europe, to feed Israel ?). A "Khamassine Wind" is a powerful desert sand-storm which can achieve wind gusts in excess of 55 miles per hour, these winds tend to be northerlies, sweeping over the shallow sgoals about Clysma-Suez they could have exposed dry land in places (cf. the 1856 Suez map for the bay's land forms, heights and depths). It appears to me that the Exodus narratives are preserving archaic memories of real physical phenomena in t