The Parting of the Waters

[astroron]

An interesting take on the parting of the waters of the Red Sea as depicted in the bible:question:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11383620
This is not to be taken as an attack on religion:rolleyes:

[Ric]

Thanks for the link Ron.

That's quite an interesting theory, I suppose that it would also depend on the depth of the water as well.

[CraigS]

Must've been some wind !!

I've read other material about the wind changing the height of seawater in the open oceans, also.

Interesting subject.

Thanks (again) Ron !

Cheers

[renormalised]

No it's not an attack on religion, just stating of the facts. The Reed Sea is precisely where they crossed. What is interesting is that the "pillar of fire" that the Israelites followed was actually the eruption plume of the Thera volcano on Santorini, as the exodus occurred at about the same time as the eruption. The mighty wind that blew all night was most likely a weather phenomenon caused by the eruption that modified the local weather patterns at the time of year it occurred. The real parting of the water was the drawback from the tsunamis...which were several hundred feet in height. They've found tsunami deposits in the sediments of the marshes in the region which date to that time. Plus, they've also found wrecked remains of villages which were destroyed by the tsunamis.

What is also in error in the Bible is the stated size of the Israelite band....600,000. Considering the population of Egypt at the time was just barely 3 million, it would be inconceivable that the Egyptians would allow such a large percentage of their population to just up and leave...and not have recorded it in any of their writings. Which they haven't. From what they can gather, the evidence points more to about 6000 people at the very most and some estimates say closer to 600.

[renormalised]

The Reed Sea (Yom Sarif) isn't all that deep....much of it is impassable because it's essentially deep mud. There are parts which need boats to cross it. Actually, part of the Suez Canal runs through it.

[Ric]

Actually Carl I was wondering about that.

Given that you have a tsunami drawback, you would have had a lot of sediment/mud to slosh your way through.

[renormalised]

That's true, Ric. I also doubt if all the Israelis got through safely themselves.

[peterl]

Thanks for this info Ron.
This is interesting.
Must have a better look at this :)

peter.