No clear archaeological evidence has been found that directly supports the story of Exodus, other than the biblical account.
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." Despite the lack of evidence, some have created theories as to what may have inspired the biblical authors' narrative, providing natural explanations.
Crossing location 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,
marshes, or weeds. A fair rendering of the Hebrew would therefore be "sea/lake of reeds". This literal translation is attested by Coptic Bohairic translations, Aramaic Targums, Martin Luther, John Calvin, and C. F. Keil, although it has been challenged by Bernard Batto. 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, not a direct translation, as
suph in Hebrew does not mean "red". 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. The salt-water reeds suggested by
yam suf flourished in many shallow lakes and marshes around these areas. Many sites have been proposed. 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. Schleiden and Brugsch proposed Sirbonis Lake.
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. He also describes references to
p3 twfy in the context of the Island of Amun, thought to be modern
Tell el-Balamun, the most northerly city of Pharaonic Egypt, located about 29 km southwest of
Damietta. Drews objects that the isthmus is oriented primarily north-south, and consequently, a wind setdown effect with an east wind is not possible. 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. Sir Colin Humphries proposes Elat. Steven Rudd proposes the Straits of Tiran. 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.
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
wind setdown.
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, 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. 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. ==See also==