Crossing of the Red Sea - New Theory

[rgfein]

HYPOTHESIS #1:  What if:  The actual numbers of Israelites leaving Egypt was overstated by a factor of 10 or even 100.
HYPOTHESIS #2:  What if:  Instead of children, women, sheep and goats, the Israelites were primarily young men escaping from slavery—a classic slave revolt.
HYPOTHESIS #3:  What if:  The "crossing" of the Red Sea was simply a crossing between the western shoreline of the Red Sea and Pharoah's Island, a small coral island about 250 yards offshore, and the East wind described in Exodus was necessary to expose the coral and allow the Israelites to mount a surprise nighttime attack on the island, which was occupied by Pharoah's army, which shortly thereafter mounted a counterattack using chariots which, not surprisingly, had great difficulty navigating the coral bed (thus the wheels came off and the attack was a disaster).

It is believed that much of Exodus analysis has been skewed by assuming the accuracy of the figures provided in the Torah’s text.  There are many reasons to suspect this.  If we look at Exodus, it mentions 600 chariots, all with captains on them.  600 chariots are unlikely to be much of a threat to millions of people, if we are to believe some of the estimates found on this site.  If there were only 500 to 1000 escapees, this would be a real threat.  Moreover, there was likely a battle, because why would it even matter that the chariots had "captains" on them if they were all drowned.  More likely, there was a battle scene, and the fact that Exodus mentions the "Lord fighteth" for the Israelites makes it logical to assume there was a battle instead of simply a drowning scene.

As far as the number of escapees, if we assume that the text was expanded and expounded upon to project a much more momentous and stupendous occasion than that which actually occurred, a new hypothesis can be created in which Moses could be said to be the leader of a classic “slave revolt” involving 500 to 5000 people--mostly men, who looted, plundered, and (some) killed the “first born” Egyptians prior to leaving, fully armed-- in the dead of night by the light of a full moon, Nissan 15 by the Jewish calendar.  There were no children, and certainly no sheep or cows.  The night prior to the escape, the Hebrews (a.k.a. Jews or Israelites), sacrificed lambs and the lambs’ blood was mixed with other ingredients and placed on the doorposts to identify the Hebrews, so they would not become victims of the revolt.  This was necessary because the Israelites most likely lived in and amongst the Egyptians themselves, in a city known then as Rameses (although there were other nearby cities as well including Pithom, that may have participated).  Today, Rameses is an excavation site known as Qantir.   The escaping slaves first stopped at Succoth, and Etham, which according to the Torah was on the “edge of the wilderness.” This was the final stop before entering the wilderness (a.k.a. Sinai desert) on their way to the Red Sea.

2.  The rush to produce some food for the journey/escape led to the matzah we now eat to celebrate this occasion.  It is likely that most escapees did not inform their families or others, to prevent the plan from being known, thus the rush to produce anything edible.  The outrage expressed in Exodus by the Egyptians was most likely outrage at the looting and slaying, not so much the escape itself.  The audacity of the plan led Pharaoh to send out all available troops to capture the escapees.  The number 600,000 Israelites is grossly exaggerated and is most likely an attempt to create a more magnificent and momentous scenario for the escape from Egypt.  It is speculated that---much like the Underground Railroad—the initial escape paved the way for further waves of Hebrews to escape, and the end result may have been many thousands of Israelites escaping, but the initial number (as shall be derived from the scenarios to be described) was much less than 600,000, and perhaps as few as 500 to 1000.

3.  Moses was from Midian, a town in the Sinai Peninsula, and Midian was close by to Mt. Horeb.  Mt. Horeb is NOT the same mountain as Mt. Sinai.  Mt. Horeb is the Mountain where Moses taught, he saw the burning bush, and was walking distance to Midian.  On the top of Mt. Horeb is the amphitheater where Moses spoke, a well (that is calcified—this is important in identifying this because Exodus tells us Moses “struck” the well and water came out).  It was also the subject of a documentary that claimed it was Mt. Sinai, but in fact, it is Mt. Horeb, which is the mountain to which the local inhabitants prayed to the Sun God.  At the time, there were two main mountains towards which prayer was directed—Horeb (Sun) and Sinai (Moon).  At the top of Mt. Horeb, there are columns which line up directly to point to Mt. Sinai, as well as another important location (sacrificial area) where the Hebrews sacrificed lambs on the full moon of every month. 

4.  The cloud towards which the escapees aimed for was a pillar of cloud formed by an active volcano, and the pillar of fire was this same cloud illuminated by lava eruptions at night.  This volcano is located in Western Saudi Arabia, and by following it, this would lead the escapees towards a location about 77 miles south of Eilat, at a location called Dahab on the Red Sea coast, but it is believed that Moses may have not exactly followed it directly.  It is theorized that Moses expected to cross the Red Sea by boat or ship, but this plan was foiled—perhaps by the Egyptian army reaching the coastal area beforehand, a lack of sufficient ships in the area, or a fear on behalf of local shippers to transport escaped slaves in an area frequented by Egyptians.

5.  Because of the failure to cross by ship, Moses and his group would have to make their way up the western coast of the Red Sea to try to cross around by land.  This was very dangerous, because the western Red Sea road was heavily traveled by Egyptians.  Thus, it is speculated that the travel must have occurred by trails to the west of the road itself (i.e. “Wilderness” trails).  This travel took longer, and thus, when Moses and his group finally reached Pi-Hahiroth, near Taba, the Egyptians in the area were already well aware of the escape, and the area was likely swarming with Egyptian soldiers.  At Pi-Hahiroth, Moses could send observers to nearby mountaintops to observe the Egyptians and see if/when an opportunity arose to cross over to Taba/Eilat/Aqaba, and down towards Sinai.  Unfortunately, Moses’ group was spotted, and thus, Exodus reports that the Israelites “lifted up their eyes” Exodus 14:10 (i.e. it was at night, while sleeping), and Pharaoh’s army attacked them.  The Israelites lost several men (Ex. 14:11. 14:12) thus the complaining about how they could have just as easily died in Egypt, and Moses or “The Lord” (Ex. 14:1) told everyone to turn back and reconnoiter at Migdol (meaning “tower”).  This made sense because Migdol could be reached via the back way (i.e. via wilderness trails), and the tower could be used to spot the Egyptians and their locations.  Also, by going the back routes, it says in Exodus that the Israelites hoped Pharaoh would think they had been “lost” in the wilderness, but Pharaoh was not so easily dissuaded (Ex. 14:3).
When Moses and his group arrived at Migdol, they spent a part of the day, but must have spotted Pharaoh and knew their time was limited.  With Pharaoh attacking down the western Red Sea road, and probably also coming in via the wilderness roads, Moses had limited time to mount a counterattack.  This is the Red Sea Crossing miracle.

6.  It says in Exodus that the Israelites turned and the cloud became to their back (thus, they turned North, with Mt. Sinai to their rear (Ex. 14:19).  It appears that they took a location just to the north of Migdol, in a small fortress visible on Google Earth.  Then, the East Winds blew (Ex. 14:21), and exposed the coral path between the shoreline and Pharaoh’s Island (a distance of about 250 yards).  It is a well-known phenomena, even today, that this particular coral gets exposed by East winds that come down from the higher mountains down to the shoreline because of the difference in temperatures.  By exposing this pathway, this allowed the Israelites to mount a surprise early morning attack without splashing around and getting noticed by the Egyptians stationed on the Island.  Moreover, Exodus states that the cloud made Moses’ camp invisible, while the Egyptian camp on the Island was visible (Ex. 14:20). 
After defeating the Egyptians on the island, the rest of Pharaoh’s army came in from the north, with their chariots, and tried crossing the coral bed, but, as Exodus notes, their wheels came off (Ex. 14:25), and their attack was a disaster.  The Israelites – their backs to the wall—mounted a strong offense and pushed the attacking Egyptians into the deeper section of water towards the northwest corner of the Island, drowning many of them.  The tide rolled in and, perhaps, a wave might have been part of the final drowning scene.  (It is speculated that the lava flows from Mt. Sinai itself might have created a mini tsunami-type wave that could have slain some of the Egyptians, although this is pure speculation and wouldn’t explain how the Israelites did not similarly drown).

7.  The Israelites re-crossed back to the shoreline, triumphant over their Egyptian oppressors (Ex. 14:29).  Their victory was short lived, because they most likely did not completely defeat the Egyptians and the remaining ones likely mounted another attack.  Thus, it is likely that the Israelites literally “headed for the hills” back across where Migdol meets the sea, into the wilderness area behind Migdol, towards Midian.

8.  The Egyptians buried their dead nearby in a small burial site still visible today, in the shape of an Egyptian helmet.

9.  The site of Migdol is directly across from an outcropping of land which would make an ideal site for a fortress, and there appears to be the remnants of a fortress at this location.  In addition, the Egyptians used to build their fortresses across the sea from each other so they could communicate with each other.  This location, across the Red Sea from Migdol, is most likely Baal Zephon.

I have the actual locations identified in Google Earth for those interested in this theory.