A key moment in Christianity, Islam and Judaism which requires a certain amount of faith to believe could have happened – now has a plausible scientific explanation
The story of Moses parting the Red Sea – ‘Yam Suph’ in Hebrew – is one of the most well known parables of the Old Testament.
It tells the tale of the prophet leading the Israelites out of slavery in the exodus from Egypt. According to the biblical narrative, Moses – led by God- raised his staff over the Red Sea, causing the waters to divide, which allowed his people to walk across on dry land.
The pharaoh and his pursuing armies then perished after following the fleeing party as the sea closed back together, drowning them.
This event is recounted in the Old Testament (Exodus 14: 19-31). According to the National Gallery in London: “When the Israelites reached the Red Sea Moses stretched out his hand and the waters divided, allowing his followers safe passage. The Egyptians followed them but God again commanded Moses to stretch out his hand and the sea engulfed the army.”
In the biblical account, after dispatching the seven plagues of Egypt, Moses led the Israelites out into the wilderness in search of the promised land, reports the Irish Star.
The fleeing group found themselves trapped between the advancing army of the Pharaoh on one side and the Red Sea on the other. Depictions in films such as ‘The Ten Commandments’ or ‘The Prince of Egypt’ show Moses commanding the waters of the Red Sea to open long enough for the Israelites to flee Egypt which paints a vivid picture on the big screen.
But now scientists have hypothesised that there may be a natural phenomenon which caused the sea to part and they argue that the real miracle would have been in the impeccable timing of the Israelites fleeing the Egyptians.
According to the Daily Mail, the theory is backed up by computer modelling which indicates that a strong wind of 62 mile per hour (100kmph) winds blowing from the right direction could open a 3-mile-wide (5km) channel through the water.
And, as those winds dipped, the waters would have rushed back with the speed of a tsunami which would have drowned the Egyptian army who were weighed down by chariots and other equipment.
Carl Drews, an oceanographer from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, told MailOnline: “The crossing of the Red Sea is a supernatural phenomenon that incorporates a natural component – the miracle is in the timing.”
According to Dr Bruce Parker, former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the prophet could have used his knowledge of the tides to flee Egypt. This is also backed up in the Bible which states: “The Lord caused the sea to go by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry and the waters were divided.”
Some scientific experts claim the mention of a strong wind is key to understanding how Moses really crossed the Red Sea.
In an article for the Wall Street Journal, Dr Parker wrote: “Moses had lived in the nearby wilderness in his early years, and he knew where caravans crossed the Red Sea at low tide. He knew the night sky and the ancient methods of predicting the tide, based on where the moon was overhead and how full it was.”
Meanwhile, the Pharaoh’s men lived on the tide-less Nile River and would have been unaware of the dangers that faced them – leading the soldiers to be ambushed by nature when the tide came rushing back in.
One issue, however is the direction of the breeze mentioned in the Bible which is that it was a easterly wind. Professor Nathan Paldor, an ocean scientist from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, told MailOnline: “When a strong wind blows southward from the head of Gulf for about one day, the water is pushed seawards, thus exposing the bottom that was previously underwater.”
The professor’s calculations theorise that a wind blowing between 65 and 70 kilometres per hour (40-45 mph) from the northwest could have made such a path for the Israelites in their escape from Egypt.
A wind in the conditions mentioned blowing for an entire night could have pushed the waters of the sea back by up to a mile. It would also drop the sea level by about three metres and allow the Israelites to move across the floor on an underwater ridge.
In his original research paper, Professor Paldor maintains that the original Hebrew description is ‘Rauch kadim’ which can mean either north-easterly or south-easterly. It may also be the case that the true direction was lost in translation at some point. There are also theories that the location of the event occurred elsewhere with others believing it could have occurred at the Lake of Tannis.