View source for Parting of the Red Sea

{{Short description|Part of the biblical narrative of the Exodus}}
{{pp|small=yes}}
{{about|the biblical event|the prehistoric migration|Southern Dispersal||The Crossing of the Red Sea (disambiguation){{!}}The Crossing of the Red Sea}}
[[File:The Crossing of The Red Sea.jpg|thumb|300px |''[[The Crossing of the Red Sea (Poussin)|The Crossing of the Red Sea]]'', by [[Nicolas Poussin]] (1633–34)]]
The '''Parting of the Red Sea''' or '''Crossing of the Red Sea''' ({{langx|he| קריעת ים סוף|Kriat [[Yam Suph]]}}, lit. "parting of the sea of reeds")<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-bible-and-archaeology-the-red-sea-or-the-reed-sea|title= The Bible and Archaeology: The Red Sea or the Reed Sea?|last= Seiglie|first= Mario|date= 3 June 1997|website= [[Beyond Today (magazine)|The Good News]]|publisher= [[United Church of God]]|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170815021007/https://www.ucg.org/the-good-news/the-bible-and-archaeology-the-red-sea-or-the-reed-sea|archive-date= 15 August 2017|url-status= live}}</ref> is an episode in [[The Exodus]], a [[foundational story]] in the [[Hebrew Bible]].

It tells of the escape of the [[Israelites]], led by [[Moses]], from the pursuing [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]], as recounted in the [[Book of Exodus]].<ref>{{Bibleref2-nb|Exodus| 13:17–14:29}}</ref> Moses holds out [[Staff of Moses|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.

== Biblical narrative ==
[[File:National Library of Israel, Rothschild Haggadah 2862037 486117 tif1.jpg|alt=Crossing the Red Sea, Rothschild Haggadah, ca. 1450|thumb|''Crossing the Red Sea'', Rothschild Haggadah, ca. 1450]]
After the [[Plagues of Egypt]], the [[Pharaohs_in_the_Bible#In_the_Book_of_Exodus|Pharaoh]] agrees to let the Israelites go, and they travel from [[Pi-Ramesses|Ramesses]] to [[Sukkot (place)|Succoth]]. Ramesses is generally identified with modern [[Qantir]], the site of the [[19th dynasty]] capital [[Pi-Ramesses]], and Succoth with [[Tell el-Maskhuta]] in [[Wadi Tumilat]], the biblical [[Land of Goshen]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzQe_4Waz34C&q=The+Land+That+I+Will+Show+You:+Essays+in+History+and+Archaeology+of+the+Ancient+Near+East|title=The Land that I Will Show You|last=Van Seters|first=John|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|year=1997|isbn=978-1-85075-650-7|editor-last=Silberman|editor-first=Neil Ash|pages=270|chapter=The Geography of Exodus|via=Google Books}}</ref> From Succoth, the Israelites travel to [[Etham]] "on the edge of the desert", led by a [[pillar of cloud]] by day and a [[Pillar of Fire (theophany)|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]]. None of these latter locations have been identified with certainty.

[[File:Aivazovsky Passage of the Jews through the Red Sea.jpg|thumb|''Passage of the Jews through the Red Sea'' (1891), by [[Ivan Aivazovsky]]]]
God causes the Pharaoh to pursue the Israelites with [[chariot]]s, 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.<ref>{{bibleverse||Psalm|136:15|31}}</ref> 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 {{bibleverse|Exodus|15}}, is called the [[Song of the Sea]]).

According to Soggin's [[documentary hypothesis]], 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 into 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 ''[[tehom]]ot'', the oceanic depths or mythical [[abyss (religion)|abyss]].<ref>Alberto Soggin, ''An Introduction to the History of Israel and Judah'', SCM Press, 1999, pp.136-7</ref>

=== In Islam ===
[[File:Bridgman Pharaoh's Army Engulfed by the Red Sea.jpg|thumb|''Pharaoh's army engulfed by the Red Sea'', by [[Frederick Arthur Bridgman]] (1900)]]
The incident of the Egyptian tyrant Pharaoh chasing down [[Moses in Islam|Moses]] and the Israelites, followed by the drowning in the sea, is mentioned in several places in the Quran. As per [[God in Islam|God]]'s command, Moses came to the court of [[Pharaoh in Islam|Pharaoh]] to warn him for his transgressions. Mūsā clearly manifested the proof of prophethood and claimed to let Israelites go with him.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah Ash-Shu'ara - 10-33|url=https://quran.com/26/10-33|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-11|website=quran.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711164718/https://quran.com/26/10-33 |archive-date=2021-07-11 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah Ash-Shu'ara - 34-51|url=https://quran.com/26/34-51|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-11|website=quran.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711164502/https://quran.com/26/34-51 |archive-date=2021-07-11 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah Taha - 70-73|url=https://quran.com/20/70-73|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-05|website=quran.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414104537/https://www.quran.com/20/70-73 |archive-date=2021-04-14 }}</ref> 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 [[Quran]]ic account about the moment:
{{Blockquote|text=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.|author=Quran 26:61-63}}

Miraculously, God divided the waters of the sea leaving a dry path in the middle,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah Taha - 77|url=https://quran.com/20/77|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-05|website=quran.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427054610/http://www.quran.com:80/20/77 |archive-date=2009-04-27 }}</ref> 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<ref>{{Cite web|title=Surah An-Nazi'at - 24|url=https://quran.com/79/24|url-status=live|access-date=2021-08-05|website=quran.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090519041052/http://www.quran.com:80/79/24 |archive-date=2009-05-19 }}</ref> (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<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jibreel put mud in Pharaohs mouth at command of Allah |url=https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/337408/jibreel-put-mud-in-pharaohs-mouth-at-command-of-allah |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418084822/https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/337408/jibreel-put-mud-in-pharaohs-mouth-at-command-of-allah |archive-date=18 April 2023 |access-date=18 April 2023}}</ref> and his repentance was not accepted:

{{Blockquote|text=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.|author=Quran 10:90-92}}

===Legacy===
[[File:Red sea passage.jpg|thumb|''The Passage of the Red Sea'' [[Armenian illuminated manuscripts|Manuscript]] by [[Toros Roslin]], 1266]]
[[File:Чермное.jpg|thumb|''Crossing the Red Sea'', a wall painting from the 1640s in [[Yaroslavl]], Russia]]
The theme of Moses crossing the Red Sea was taken up by the [[Panegyric|panegyrists]] of [[Constantine the Great]] and applied to the [[battle of the Milvian Bridge]] (312).{{citation needed|date=September 2020}} The theme enjoyed a vogue during the fourth century on carved [[Sarcophagus|sarcophagi]]: at least twenty-nine have survived in full or in fragments.<ref>Paul Stephenson, ''Constantine, Roman Emperor, Christian victor'', 2010:209f.</ref> [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] cast [[Maxentius]], drowned in the [[Tiber]], in the role of Pharaoh, both in his ''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'' and in his eulogistic ''Life of Constantine''.<ref>Eusebius, ''HE'' ix.9, ''Vita Constantini'' i.38.</ref>

Every year, Muslims fast two days in the month of [[Muharram]] commemorating the event.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Significance of 'Ashura Throughout Human History {{!}} Muslim Hands UK|url=https://muslimhands.org.uk/latest/2020/08/the-significance-of-ashura-throughout-human-history|access-date=2021-08-28|website=muslimhands.org.uk|date=27 August 2020 }}</ref>

== Theories and historicity ==

No clear archaeological evidence has been found that directly supports the story of Exodus, other than the biblical account.{{sfn|Moore|Kelle|2011|p=88}} [[Zahi Hawass]], an Egyptian archaeologist and formerly Egypt's Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs, says: "Really, it's a myth... Sometimes as archaeologists we have to say that never happened because there is no historical evidence."<ref name="Slackman">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/world/africa/03exodus.html|title=Did the Red Sea Part? No Evidence, Archaeologists Say|last=Slackman|first=Michael|date=3 April 2007|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref> Despite the lack of evidence, some have created theories as to what may have inspired the biblical authors' narrative, providing natural explanations.

=== Crossing location ===
[[File:ISS035-E-007148 Nile - Sinai - Dead Sea - Wide Angle View (cropped).jpg|thumb|Satellite overview of the relevant bodies of water]]
{{Further|Yam Suph}}

The Hebrew term for the body of water that the Israelites crossed is ''[[Yam Suph]]''. In Exodus 2:3-5, Isaiah 19:6-7, and Jonah 2:5, ''suph'' is translated as reeds, rushes, [[marsh]]es, or weeds.{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=200}}{{sfn|Fritz|2016|p=xx}} A fair rendering of the Hebrew would therefore be "sea/lake of reeds".<ref name="Kitchen">{{Cite book|title=[[On the Reliability of the Old Testament]]|last=Kitchen|first=Kenneth A.|publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8028-4960-1|pages=261–63|author-link=Kenneth Kitchen}}</ref> This literal translation is attested by Coptic Bohairic translations, Aramaic Targums, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and C. F. Keil,{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=204}} although it has been challenged by Bernard Batto.{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=200}} In the [[Septuagint]], Jews who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, during the 3rd century BC, translated ''Yam Suph'' in Exodus as the Greek  Ἐρυθρὰ θάλασσα (''Eruthra Thalassa'' or [[Erythraean Sea]]), where ''Eruthra'' literally means "Red". This is a historicized translation,{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=205}} not a direct translation, as ''suph''  in Hebrew does not mean "red".<ref name="Kitchen"/> The Septuagint mainly translates ''yam suph'' as the Erythraean Sea, but exceptions include I Kings 9:26 (''ἐσχάτης θαλάσσης'', ''eschátis thalássis'' or "the end of the sea"),{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=205}} Jeremiah 49:21 (''thalassi'''), and Judges 11:16 (''thalasses siph'').{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=200}} The Erythraean Sea is translated in the Latin Vulgate and modern English translations as the [[Red Sea]],{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|p=200}} but in classical sources the Erythraean Sea often referred to the northwestern part of the [[Indian Ocean]] in general, including the modern Red Sea, the [[Gulf of Aden]], the [[Gulf of Aqaba]], the [[Arabian Sea]], and sometimes the [[Persian Gulf]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Casson |first1=Lionel |title=The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary |date=5 May 2012 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-4320-6 |page=5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qQWYkSs51rEC&dq=erythraean%20sea&pg=PA5 |language=en}}</ref> Most maps depicted these bodies of water with grossly distorted proportions, omitting gulfs and other features altogether, and Greco-Roman writers used only imprecise allusions.{{sfn|Fritz|2016|pp=xvii}} The salt-water reeds suggested by ''yam suf'' flourished in many shallow lakes and marshes around these areas.<ref name="Kitchen"/>{{sfn|Hoffmeier|2005|pp=81-85}} Snaith suggests that these are vague terms and Hoffmeier concludes one should be cautious in relying on them to settle the crossing location.{{sfn|Hoffmeier|1999|pp=206-207}} The modern [[Red Sea]] as crossing site of the Israelites is especially popular among believers in the miraculous nature of the Exodus. [[Biblical literalism|Biblical literalist]] [[Ken Ham]] states "there is no need to come up with a naturalistic explanation of a supernatural event. The Bible gives us a record from the ultimate Eyewitness, the God of Creation. [...] We must be careful to avoid limiting our faith to only those acts of God that we can explain according to the laws of the physical world. He miraculously created those physical laws, and He can miraculously use them or override them as He chooses."<ref name="DrewsPost"/><ref>{{cite web |title=Red Sea Parted "Naturally"? |url=https://answersingenesis.org/bible-history/red-sea-parted-naturally/ |website=Answers in Genesis |language=en}}</ref>

Many sites have been proposed.<ref name="Rudd"/> In 1896, Haynes proposed that the body of water crossed was [[Lake Timsah]], a [[salt lake]] north of the [[Gulf of Suez]], and the nearest large body of water after Wadi Tumilat.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YzQe_4Waz34C&q=The+Land+That+I+Will+Show+You:+Essays+in+History+and+Archaeology+of+the+Ancient+Near+East|title=The Land that I Will Show You|last=Van Seters|first=John|publisher=Sheffield Academic Press|year=1997|isbn=978-1-85075-650-7|editor-last=Silberman|editor-first=Neil Ash|pages=273|chapter=The Geography of Exodus|via=Google Books}}</ref>{{sfn|Fritz|2016}} 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.<ref name="auto">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9_7lSWFMCX4C&q=Russell%20E.%20Gmirkin,%20%22Berossus%20and%20Genesis|title=Berossus and Genesis, Manetho and Exodus: Hellenistic Histories and the Date of the Pentateuch|last=Gmirkin|first=Russell|date=15 May 2006|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-0-567-02592-0|access-date=27 October 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref> Schleiden and Brugsch proposed Sirbonis Lake.<ref name="Rudd">{{cite web |last1=Rudd |first1=Steven |title=Nuweiba Beach Red Sea crossing: Rejected, debunked, refuted |url=https://www.bible.ca/archeology/bible-archeology-exodus-route-ruling-out-candiates-excluding-red-sea-crossing-points-kadesh-barnea.htm |website=www.bible.ca}}</ref> [[Kenneth Kitchen]] and James Hoffmeier support the isthmus of [[Suez]] north to the [[Mediterranean 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]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Archaeology of the Bible|last=Hoffmeier|first=James K.|publisher=Lion Hudson|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8254-6199-6|pages=54|author-link=James K. Hoffmeier}}</ref> He also describes references to ''p3 twfy'' in the context of the Island of Amun, thought to be modern [[Tell el-Balamun]],{{sfn|Hoffmeier|2005|p=86}} the most northerly city of Pharaonic Egypt, located about 29&nbsp;km southwest of [[Damietta]].<ref>AJ Spencer (2009), ''Excavations at Tell el-Balamun 2003-2008'', British Museum.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/projects/excavation_in_egypt/introduction_tell_el-balamun.aspx|title=Tell el-Balamun: A City of the Nile Delta of Egypt|publisher=[[The British Museum]]|access-date=22 October 2012}}</ref> Drews objects that the isthmus is oriented primarily north-south, and consequently, a wind setdown effect with an east wind is not possible.<ref name="Drews"/> Naum Volzinger and Alexei Androsov believe that a reef running from Egypt to the north side of the Red Sea used to be much closer to the surface at approximately 1500 BC  and therefore a crossing in the northern part of the Gulf of Suez is plausible.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Voltzinger |first1=N. E. |last2=Androsov |first2=A. A. |title=Modeling the Hydrodynamic Situation of the Exodus |journal=Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics |date=11 June 2002 |url=https://www.pleiades.online/cgi-perl/search.pl?type=abstract&name=physatm&number=4&year=3&page=482}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Viegas |first1=Jennifer |title=Study: Red Sea Parting Possible |url=http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040202/redsea.html |work=Discovery Channel |date=2 February 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050706080033/http://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040202/redsea.html |archive-date=2005-07-06 }}</ref>

Alan Gardiner proposes the northeast Nile Delta, in the "marshy and watery region that now comprises the southern extremity of [Lake] Menzaleh". Carl Drews propose that the Israelites crossed a 3-4 km land bridge along the Lake of [[Tanis]], in the Nile delta.<ref name="Rudd"/> Circa 1250 BC, this lake would have been a shallow, reed-filled brackish lagoon.<ref name="Drews"/> Ron Wyatt, Lennart Mueller, Bob Cornuke, and Glen Fritz propose Nuweiba Beach in the [[Gulf of Aqaba]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://jabalmaqla.com/israelites-red-sea-crossing-location/|title=Egypt-to-Saudi Arabia Red Sea Crossing Candidates|date=July 22, 2019|website=Jabal Maqla|access-date=July 22, 2019}}</ref> Sir Colin Humphries proposes Elat. Steven Rudd proposes the Straits of Tiran.<ref name="Rudd"/>

=== Volcanic eruption ===
[[File:Pinatubo 1991-06-12 (USGS).jpg|thumb|The June 12, 1991 eruption column from Mount Pinatubo]]
[[File:Eruzione Etna 13-01-2011 B.jpg|thumb|Etna eruption on January 13th 2011 at night.]]
{{See also|Pillars of fire and cloud}}

The [[Minoan eruption]] was a catastrophic volcanic eruption known to have devastated the [[Santorini]] island circa 1600 BC.  There was likely another eruption in the [[South Aegean Volcanic Arc]] sometime around 1450 BC. Geologist Barbara J. Sivertsen has proposed a link between these eruptions and the Exodus. The pillar of fire and cloud described in Exodus could easily be a volcanic [[eruption column]], smoky by day and fiery by night.<ref name="Sivertsen">{{cite book |title=The Parting of the Sea: How Volcanoes, Earthquakes, and Plagues Shaped the Story of the Exodus |last=Sivertsen |first=Barbara J. |year=2009 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |chapter=The Minoan Eruption |isbn=978-0-691-13770-4 |pages=59–60}}</ref> A BBC documentary, ''Moses'', suggested that the Minoan eruption could have triggered a 600ft-high tsunami, travelling at about 400 miles an hour, which would have been 6ft high and a hundred miles long when it reached the Egyptian delta.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1412815/Biblical-plagues-and-parting-of-Red-Sea-caused-by-volcano.html|title=Biblical plagues and parting of Red Sea 'caused by volcano'|first=Jonathan|last=Petre|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2002-11-11|access-date=2018-08-18|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

=== Wind setdown ===

The Biblical narrative describes a strong east wind. Several researchers have proposed that the land path the Israelites walked on was created by a [[wave setup|wind setdown]].<ref name="DrewsPost">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/12/08/no-really-there-is-a-scientific-explanation-for-the-parting-of-the-red-sea-in-exodus/|title=No, really: There is a scientific explanation for the parting of the Red Sea in Exodus|date=3 April 2007|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|first1=Carl|last1=Drews|first2=Weiqing|last2=Han|access-date=21 May 2017}}</ref><ref name="Drews">{{cite journal |last1=Drews |first1=Carl |last2=Han |first2=Weiqing |title=Dynamics of Wind Setdown at Suez and the Eastern Nile Delta |url=http://opensky.ucar.edu/islandora/object/articles%3A10312/datastream/PDF/view |journal=PLOS ONE |year=2010 |volume=5 |issue=8 |article-number=e12481 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0012481 |pmid=20827299 |pmc=2932978 |bibcode=2010PLoSO...512481D |access-date=25 March 2019|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Rawlinson|first=George|title=Ancient Egypt|date=1886|publisher=T. Fisher Unwin|page=264-265}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective: Text, Archaeology, Culture, and Geoscience |last1=Schulze |first1=Jürgen P. |publisher=Springer |year=2015 |isbn=978-3-319-04768-3 |pages=161–172 |last2=Block |first2=Jessica |last3=Weber |first3=Philip |last4=Levy |first4=Thomas E. |last5=Dawe |first5=Gregory L. |last6=Sparks |first6=Brad C. |last7=DeFanti |first7=Thomas A. |editor-last=Levy |editor-first=Thomas E. |chapter=The WAVE and 3D: How the Waters Might Have Parted |editor-last2=Schneider |editor-first2=Thomas |editor-last3=Propp |editor-first3=William H. C. |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xpe1BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA161}}</ref>

=== Mirage effects ===
Fraser has proposed that the waters that "were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left" could have been a [[Fata Morgana (mirage)|fata morgana]] mirage,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Fraser |first1=Alistair B. |title=Theological Optics |journal=Applied Optics |date=1 April 1975 |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=A92-3 |doi=10.1364/AO.14.000A92|pmid=20134969 }}</ref> magnifying and blurring the water on either side of a narrow strip of land and causing it to appear as a solid wall projected in the air. The occurrence of a fata morgana is dependent on a precise combination of winds and temperatures, but could have lasted for the duration of the Israelites' journey through a body of water.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilford |first1=John Noble |title=New Explanation Offered For Mirage Phenomenon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1975/10/22/archives/new-explanation-offered-for-mirage-phenomenon.html |work=The New York Times |date=22 October 1975}}</ref><ref name="Information1976">{{cite book|last=Fraser|first=A. B.|title=Was the parting of the Red Sea a mirage?|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hoE2e3e-jIYC&pg=PA130|date=15 April 1976|publisher=New Scientist|page=130}}</ref> Katzper objects that the Egyptians drowned "upon the sea-shore in the sight of Israel", and therefore the crossing cannot be explained solely by optics. McKeighen objects that the crossing occurred during the night, and therefore a mirage would have been difficult to observe. Also, a strong east wind could be incompatible with the exact temperature profile needed.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Katzper |first1=Meyer |last2=McKeighen |first2=Ronald E. |title=Theological optics |journal=Applied Optics |date=1 February 1976 |volume=15 |issue=2 |page=323 |doi=10.1364/ao.15.000323|pmid=20164970 }}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[The Prince of Egypt]]''
* [[The Crossing of the Red Sea (Sistine Chapel)|''The Crossing of the Red Sea'' (Sistine Chapel)]]
* [[Crossing of the Red Sea (Bronzino)|''The Crossing of the Red Sea'' (Bronzino)]]
*[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|''The Ten Commandments'' (1956 film)]]
*[[Pi-HaHiroth]]
* [[Mount Sinai]]
* [[Passover]]
* [[Ashura]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
* {{cite book|title=Israel in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition|last=Hoffmeier|first=James Karl|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-19-513088-1|location=Oxford|page=214|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CT_lHTEcL6gC&pg=PA214|oclc=47007891}}
* {{Cite book|title=Ancient Israel in Sinai: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Wilderness Tradition|last=Hoffmeier|first=James K.|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2005|isbn=978-0-19-515546-4|author-link=James K. Hoffmeier}}
* {{cite book|title=The Lost Sea of the Exodus: A Modern Geographical Analysis|last=Fritz|first=Glen A.|date=2016|isbn=978-0-692-63830-9|publisher=GeoTech|chapter=Overview|chapter-url=https://ancientexodus.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/THE-LOST-SEA-OF-THE-EXODUS-ed2-Overview-2016_Glen-Fritz.pdf}}
* {{cite book|last1=Moore|first1=Megan Bishop|last2=Kelle|first2=Brad E.|title=Biblical History and Israel's Past|year         =2011|publisher=Eerdmans|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qjkz_8EMoaUC&pg=PA81|isbn=978-0-8028-6260-0}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Crossing of Red Sea}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20040113013247/http://www.etana.org/abzu/ ABZU]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060502185851/http://archnet.asu.edu/regions/neareast/general.php ARCHNet Near East Resources List]
* [http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/er/index.html Fitzwilliam Museum Egyptology Resources] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210424155100/http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/er/index.html |date=2021-04-24 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090228161626/http://kv5.com/ Theban Mapping Project]
* [http://www.chabad.org/k1352 A collection of articles on the splitting of the Red Sea from a Jewish viewpoint]

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[[Category:Crossing the Red Sea| ]]
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