The Red Sea--the Place of the Passage.
By J. W. McGarvey
OUR object in visiting Suez, was to study the question of the crossing place of the children of Israel; and for this purpose we gave ourselves two days there. Three theories have been advanced on this subject by explorers, the careful study of which left my mind in uncertainty and confusion. Our excellent Consul at Cairo, Mr. Farman, of New York, who has been at Suez, told me that I would probably be worse confused after visiting the place than I was already; but I was resolved to fully test the matter, let the result be what it might. One of these theories is, that the Red Sea in the time of Moses, extended so far north as to connect with the Bitter Lakes, a series of shallow lakes north-west of the present head of the sea, distant at their south-eastern end about 50 miles; and that the crossing occurred at the head of these lakes. Those who adopt this theory suppose that a heavy wind blowing off shore at low tide carried the water out, leaving a dry beach on which Israel crossed over, and that as Pharaoh and his host followed, the wind changed, the tide came in, and they were drowned. The second theory adopts the same supposition in regard to the northward extension of the sea, and assumes that the crossing occurred a short distance above the present head of the sea, where there is a depression a mile or so wide in which the miracle and disaster might have taken place. Dr. Robinson, whose judgment I have learned to regard with the highest respect, adopted this view when he visited the place in 1838. The third theory, and the one which was universal until the former two almost entirely supplanted it among Europeans and Americans, is, that the crossing occurred several miles south of the present head of the sea, where the water is deep, and its width from 8 to 10 miles. I came to the place determined that on this question, as on all others pertaining to sacred geography, the Bible should be my guide-book, and that I would accept no place as the one at which Moses crossed which fails to meet the requirements of the Scriptures. These requirements are as follows:— 1. The place was so situated as to require Israel to turn from the direct route toward Canaan, in order to reach it (Ex. 14: 2). 2. It was such, that when Israel reached it they were "entangled in the land," so that Pharaoh was encouraged to pursue them (14: 3). 3. It was such, that when Pharaoh overtook them, there was no way of escape for them except by going through the sea (14: 10, 13, 16). 4. It was such, that in opening a passage the waters were divided, not driven away to one side, and that they were "a wall on the right hand and on the left" (14: 16, 21, 22, 29). 5. The distance across was sufficient to allow all the six hundred chariots, and the horsemen of Pharaoh, to be within it at one time, and the water was deep enough to prevent the escape of a single person when they rushed together (14: 7, 9, 28). 6. The place was near enough to Marah, now Huwarah, 33 miles below Suez, to allow Israel to march thither in three days (15: 22, 23). 7. It was where Israel, after crossing, could find an immediate supply of drinking water, so that they did not suffer for water until they came to Marah (15: 22, 23). With these requirements before us we may dismiss the first theory mentioned above at once; for although in a slight degree it meets the first three requirements, it is utterly inconsistent with the other four. Indeed, it denies entirely the miraculous character of the crossing, and if this event was not miraculous it was nothing. It required only my observations from the train in approaching Suez, and a few minutes spent on the flat roof of the hotel next morning, to satisfy me that the second theory is also untenable. I stood on the rear platform of the car (it was one built on the American model) for many miles as we approached the head of the sea, watching for the indications on this subject, and I searched for them carefully at Suez; but although the supposition of a passage at or above Suez would meet in211a good degree all the requirements of the text, had there been enough water there, the absence of water is fatal to it. If Moses had been led by this route he would have reached the head of the sea, and he would not have been required to make a detour of more than a mile to pass around it. Only on the supposition that the main body of this arm of the sea extended many miles above its present head, can this theory be accepted; and this supposition is utterly void of historic evidence. Indeed, the historic evidence is in opposition to it. In order to be safe in our conclusions we must take the sea as it is, without stretching it, and the Bible as it is, without mutilating it. Our next task at Suez was to test the third and last theory, and to this we devoted our two days there. The first day we went down to Ayun Musa, the Fountains of Moses, about 8 miles below the head of the sea on the east side. The fountains lie about a mile from the seashore, and are about seven in number. We dismounted at the largest one, took its dimensions, and ate our lunch in a rude building by its side, intended for this use. The fountain rises in the center of an oblong inclosure which has been made around it by building a stone wall some three or four feet high to keep out the sand. This wall is even with the ground outside, and the basin inclosed is 46 feet long, 36 feet wide at one end and 27 feet at the other. The water forces itself up through soft mud in the center, and with it rises a constant succession of gas bubbles, which explode as they reach the surface. Through an opening in the wall at the north side the water flows away in a lively stream, 2 feet wide and 4 inches deep. This stream is led through a garden of three or four acres to irrigate it. The garden is filled with a luxuriant growth of date palms, acacia and pomegranate trees, and under these, beds of garden vegetables and patches of wheat. Another fountain, which sends off no stream, helps to supply the water for irrigation. There are three such gardens, standing in a line parallel to the seashore, and separated from each other only by passways like roads. They are watered by five fountains, and they constitute a most beautiful oasis in the midst of a perfectly barren desert. All these fountains rise on top of a sandstone ridge, 15 or 20 feet above the beach which spreads between them and the sea, and nearly that high above the sand immediately east of them; yet they are 30 feet below the general level of the desert which stretches away to the southeast, and along which the Israelites continued their journey after crossing the sea. We could see at a glance that this spot answers all the demands of the Scriptures as a landing place for Israel after crossing. A gently ascending beach one mile wide, and stretching about five miles up and down the sea-shore; an abundant supply of water for their immediate use, and an easy march of three days to Marah, only 25 miles distant, are the features it presents: whereas, but a short distance above, there is no sea to cross, and immediately below, there is a perpendicular shore at least fifty feet high. Looking directly across the sea, we saw plainly what appeared to be a gap in the mountains on that side, suitable for Israel's approach to the shore, and we determined to explore it the next day. A range of mountains called Jebel Atakah, presents an almost perpendicular wall on the west side of the sea, beginning at its head, and stretching along the shore about eight or nine miles. Further down the shore, there rises the high and dark wall of another range, called Jebel Abu Duraj. Between these there is a gap, and for this gap we started in our Arabian boat the next morning. As we approached the south-eastern extremity of the Atakah bluffs, we discovered that a low sand beach, stretching out like a cape two or three miles into the sea, lay in our way. Our boatmen said that they were afraid to pass around it on account of the heavy waves then rolling in the open sea beyond, and that it was only half a mile across it; so we landed and struck out afoot. Instead of half a mile, we found it two miles across the beach. We also found that though we had now come abreast of the hill which had appeared to be the last of the Atakah range, another had come into view, beyond it, and apparently about a mile way. After taking lunch, we struck out for it, but found it three miles away instead of one; and we found on reaching it, that instead of being a hill about 50 feet high, as it first appeared, it was at least 300 feet high, and its front was almost perpendicular. We had not yet learned to estimate distances and hights by the eye in this clear atmosphere. Though somewhat fatigued, we clambered to the top of this cliff, and found, that though we had not even yet reached the terminus of this mountain range, the hills beyond grew rapidly lower, and there were unmistakable evidences of a valley several miles wide between it and the mountains below. Here, then, is a valley by which Israel may have descended between two mountain ranges to the sea-shore, and the entire scene of the crossing, meeting in the minutest particular all the requirements of the Scriptures, lay in full view at our feet. About three miles to the south of us and a little west, was the mouth of the pass between the mountains, probably three miles wide. On reaching the sea through that pass, Israel could not turn to the right because of the Abu Duraj mountains in that direction; but to the left a smooth beach, almost as smooth as a floor, and gently sloping to the sea, opened a line of march two miles wide and diverging about thirty degrees from their former course. When their marching column had stretched out nine miles along this beach, its front rank found its progress checked by the body of water four miles across, over which we had sailed in the morning. Here, then, they camped beside the sea, as the Lord had commanded, with the sea on their right, and a mountain wall on their left, the sea also passing around their front and meeting the mountain wall to the left of their front rank. While thus encamped, Pharaoh's hosts came down the mountain pass behind them; the cloudy pillar stretched itself across the valley in their rear, hiding them from the Egyptians, while it spread itself over Israel and the sea, a canopy of light. The sea was opened from the Abu Duraj mountains on the southeast, to the projecting beach on which we landed in the morning on the northwest, a width of about five miles, and the entire column of the hosts of Israel marched by a flank movement directly across the dry bed of the sea. The fountains of Moses, distinctly in view from our hill-top, are nearly directly opposite the center of this line of march, and the depth of the water before us, according to the British and French soundings quoted by Boedeker in his guide-book, varies from nine to sixteen fathoms, in the midst of the sea. On both sides, the approach to this depth is gradual, as we can testify from having taken a delightful bath in the water on both sides during two hot days of our excursions; and the distance across was about 8 miles for the head of the column, and 10 or 12 for the rear. I came down from our hill-top with my mind at rest on the subject of the crossing place, and I felt well paid already for the time and money invested in my journey.—J. W. McGarvey, in Christian Standard.