The Riddle of the Exodus

Approbation from Professor Eli Mertzbach, BaDaD Editor, Dept. of Mathematics, Bar Ilan University I have read Alexander Hool’s book on the path taken by the Israelites in the first year from the Exodus towards Sinai and the onward travel towards the Land of Canaan. The thesis presented by the author is interesting, novel and firmly self-supporting, in-line with the straightforward meaning of the verses and the interpretations of our Rabbinic Sages. The content is rational and worthy of serious and in- depth study. I am not an expert in archaeology or ancient history, however, nonetheless, I enjoyed reading the book and found within very good reasoning. With blessing, Professor Eli Mertzbach Table of Contents Preface . .IX Acknowledgments . .XI Section One: Popular Identifications Chapter One: Crossing the Red Sea. 3 Chapter Two: Contradictions . 5 Chapter Three: Seeking Sinai . 9 Chapter Four: Erroneous Assumptions. 12 Chapter Five: Is Sinai in Sinai?. 15 Chapter Six: The Saudi Arabian Sites. 26 Section Two: In the Footsteps of the Israelites Chapter Seven: Ramesses . 33 Chapter Eight: Sukkot . 35 Chapter Nine: Etham. 38 Chapter Ten: The Red Sea . 41 Chapter Eleven: The Red Sea Crossing . 45 Chapter Twelve: Marah . 47 Chapter Thirteen: Eilim. 50 Chapter Fourteen: The Red Sea (Second Time) . 53 Chapter Fifteen: The Wilderness of Sin. 55 Chapter Sixteen: Dofka . 57 Chapter Seventeen: Olush. 59 Chapter Eighteen: Refidim . 61 Chapter Nineteen: Horeb (Method One) . 64 Chapter Twenty: Horeb (Method Two). 68 Chapter Twenty-one: Horeb (Method Three). 71 Table of Contents • VII Chapter Twenty-two: Mount Sinai . 73 Chapter Twenty-three: Biblical Characteristics. 75 Chapter Twenty-four: Matching Dimensions . 79 Chapter Twenty-five: Mathematical Synchronization . 82 Chapter Twenty-six: Summary and Conclusion. 86 Appendices Appendix A: The Pharaoh of Joseph . 91 Appendix B: The Instigator of the Oppression. 97 Appendix C: The Mysterious Ninety-Four-Year Reign . 99 Appendix D: The Revised Chronology of the Sixth Dynasty. 102 Appendix E: Midian . 106 Appendix F: The Formation of the Dead Sea . 108 Appendix G: The Diamond Mine . 112 VIII • Searching for Sinai CHAPTER ONE Crossing the Red Sea n 1924, Professor Bo Hellstrom, a Swedish oceanogra- pher, published a paper concerning his research of the Ibiblical crossing of the Red Sea.1 Hellstrom claims that prior to the building of the Suez Canal, the Red Sea extended much further north, fifty or so miles, to the present-day Lake Timsah. He brings support for this from a study of the region’s geology by Theodor Fuchs, who writes that Lake Timsah contains recent marine fossil deposits from the Gulf of Suez.2 He also identifies the biblical Pi-HaChirot with the ruin called Pa-qaheret near the modern town Sarabium and claims that the crossing took place there.3 1 The paper was entitled Israel Tag Genom Roda Havet, and was translated into English in 1950 (Riddle of the Exodus, pg. 121). 2 Ibid., pg. 13. 3 Ibid. Crossing the Red Sea • 3 In more recent times, Ron Wyatt (an American explorer and Seventh Day Adventist) propounded that the crossing did not take place at the western arm of the Red Sea, but at the eastern arm at the present day Nuweiba. To consolidate his claim, in 1978, Wyatt commissioned divers to search the coast of Nuweiba for archaeological evidence, and indeed found an ancient chariot wheel dated to the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egyptian Pharaohs. Later, a granite pillar was found on both sides of the coast,4 with the words “Egypt,” “Pharaoh,” and “Moses,” inscribed in ancient Hebrew.5 In 1998, Howard Blum published his book, The Gold of Exodus, which follows the exploits of Larry Williams and Bob Cornuke in Saudi Arabia. They also claim that the crossing took place at the eastern arm — only much further south, at the Straits of Tiran.6 4 See Alan Smith, The Red Sea Crossing (Elibooks, 2015). 5 See Nimtza Mekomo Ha-Amiti Shel Har Sinai, Ayalla Avital, www. ayalla.net. 6 See James D. Long, At the very least, research like this helps us realize that Riddle of the Exodus (Arkansas: Lightcatcher the commonly held identification of Mount Sinai as lying in Books, 2006), pg. 172 the present-day Sinai Peninsula is much less certain than is (henceforth referred often believed. to by the abbreviation R.O.E.). 4 • Searching for Sinai CHAPTER TWO Contradictions he construction of the Suez Canal began in 1859 and took ten years to build. Its purpose was to con- Tnect the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. It is the longest canal in the world, stretching 162 kilometers from Port Said until the Gulf of Suez. The canal is sixty meters wide. However, the history before then is fascinating: • Already in 1859, in Berlin, Richard Lepsius, in his Denkmaeler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien,7 produced a map of Egypt showing the Red Sea ending just as far north as the Gulf of Suez! • Over a hundred years before that, Rabbi Yisrael HaLevi (an expert on geography and astronomy) in his commentary Otzar Nechmad on the Sefer HaKuzari,8 gave exact coordinates of the region, and wrote that the western arm of the Red Sea finishes just off the 30-degree mark of latitude, about fifty miles south of Lake Timsah, which is exactly as it stands today! See figure 1. • Similarly, in 1829, Rabbi Yosef Schwartz reprinted a map of the region showing the Red Sea just above 30 degrees, and in the English map printed 9 See Eileh Masei by Rabbi Dan Schwartz, first in 1819 the sea can be seen ending at Suez. In the edition, maps 4, 34, Latin map printed before 1840, the end of the sea and 47. also appears to be roughly at the same place as it 7 Reproduced in Egypt the World of the Pharaohs, 9 stands today. Konemann, 1998. 8 Maamar 2. Contradictions • 5 Figure 1 • According to the Encyclopedia Britannica,10 the town of Suez (which stands north of the Gulf) was the site of the ancient Greek town of Clysma, which became the Muslim Kolsum in the seventh century. • According to the Britannica Macropedia,11 the Ptolemies extended a canal via the Bitter Lakes (just north of Suez) as far as the Red Sea. It would seem clear from all of the above that there has been very little change, if any at all, to the parameters of the western arm of the Red Sea in hundreds and even thousands of years. There is therefore no reason to believe that at the time of the Exodus the parameters of the sea were any different. This being so, the crossing could not possibly have taken place at the region of Lake Timsah, fifty miles north of the tip of the Red Sea, 10 Under the heading of Suez. for the simple reason that there was no sea there! 12 11 Under the same Regarding the eastern arm of the Red Sea, Seder Olam heading. tells us that following the Exodus, the Israelites traveled for 12 Chapter 5. 6 • Searching for Sinai just two days and then headed back toward Egypt and encamped at the sea. From the Suez Canal, there are about 250 kilometers until the eastern arm of the Red Sea. Although it is recorded that the Israelites initially traveled fast, however, that was only on the first day. Furthermore, it was also not at such a break- neck speed that they could have gone beyond the eastern arm of the Red Sea by the end of the second day!13 Furthermore, the Israelites encamped at the sea opposite Ba’al Tzefon.14 Mechilta15 and Yalkut Shimoni16 state that in Ba’al Tzefon lay the hordes of gold and silver amassed by Joseph. The other side of the Sinai Peninsula, far away from the protection of central Egypt and open to invaders, is not exactly an ideal place to guard the treasures of Egypt! The evidence is also far from compelling. The chariot wheel found off the coast of Nuweiba may well have come from the Eighteenth Dynasty. However, it is quite impossible that the Pharaoh of Egypt came from the Eighteenth Dynasty. Mitzraim (Egypt) was only born after the Flood,17 but there were just fifteen generations18 from the Flood until Moses. That would give an average of less than one generation for each Dynasty! This is even without bearing in mind that the birth of the State of Egypt could only have emerged several generations after Mitzraim (Egypt) was born. Indeed, Ezra Rothstein, in his Review of Ancient History, comparing the biblical account and Rabbinic tradition to- gether with the ancient historical sources, identifies the Exodus as occurring at the end of the Sixth Dynasty.19 James Long, in his book The Riddle of the Exodus, reinforces this conclusion by highlighting the very striking parallels 13 See Rashi, Exodus 12:37 between the story of the Exodus and the Egyptian archaeo- and 13:20. logical record for this period. For example, it is known that 14 Exodus 14:9. the Sixth Dynasty was the heyday of ancient Egypt, but 15 Exodus 14:2. came to a mysterious, abrupt end following the reign of 16 Ibid. 17 Genesis 10:6. Neferkare the Younger (the last ruler being a woman), hurl- 18 See Genesis 11:21, 25, ing Egypt into a period of darkness and confusion for 29, and Exodus 6. hundreds of years.20 The famous Ipuwer papyrus (believed 19 See R.O.E. pp. 25–31, 76. 20 See R.O.E. pp. xx, to be referring to the period following the collapse of the 106–110.

Load more