A Journey in Dispute
This is not only because the story is filled with striking descriptions of divine intervention - enough to make some historians uncomfortable - but also because of difficulties establishing the exact route along which the early parts of the flight took place. This uncertainty has cast doubts on the validity of the scriptural record, of course.
Many interpreters preferred to treat parts of Exodus as a purely allegorical story that exhorts man to fortitude and trusting God in the face of difficulties. That's all very well, but one can't help feeling that it's a bit of a cop-out in the face of such a detailed account of events, times and places.
From a historical perspective, archaeological research has come up with some pretty interesting findings over recent years. Needless to say, there are several conflicting opinions and no resolution yet, but I thought it was definitely worthwhile to tackle this subject. So I'm making it a Lens of its own - separate from my "Bible Archaeology" Lens.
Allright - let's have a look at what's been going on in the literature and on the ground....
Exodus Archaeology on Amazon
What they're writing about the Archaeology of Exodus
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The Differing Viewpoints
There are a number of theories, but for simplicity these can be boiled down into three different views on the early part of the wanderings, with at least two main issues - where did the Israelites cross over the Red Sea? And where is the Biblical Mt Sinai located?The differing viewpoints can be briefly summarised as follows:
1) That the Israelites crossed the Red Sea at the northern tip of the Gulf of Suez, and wandered in the Sinai Peninsula, finally reaching what is today called Mt Sinai in the south of the Sinai Peninsula.
2) That the Israelites crossed over the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aquaba via one of 2 suggested routes, and that the Biblical Mt Sinai is a mountain on the southern tip of the Saudi Arabian Gulf of Aquaba coast, most commonly identified as the volcano Jabel el Lawz.
Obviously, the problems over the crossing are partly due to its 'miraculous' quality, but there are more issues involved than that alone. I'll deal with these viewpoints in more detail below.
Photos of Sinai Peninsula
All photos are of Sinai Peninsula except the centre one on the bottom row, which is of the controversial Jabel el Lawz in Saudi Arabia.
Public Domain. Suggested credit: NASA. . For more information
Sinai desert, with some extra saturation
Dawn over the sinai desert in egypt as seen from mt sinai of
Old School Oasis like you dream about it
The sun is rising over the Sinai Mountains. Nice in
South Sinai , Egypt, 5 minutes north by plane from Sharm El Sheikh
Beni on Mount Sinai. Beni, a teddy bear on Gabal Musa. Beni is dressed as Moses...
Sunrise from Mt. Sinai. Ugh - Somehow I set it on ISO 1600 - so grainy!
Dahab, Sinai, Egypt: The Sinai is one of the most bewitching places on earth. It...
Sunset over the Sinai desert, Egypt.
Could this blackened peak be the REAL Mount Sinai of Biblical lore that the Saud...
View of Sinai Mountains from Mount Sinai
![White Canyon, Sinai, Egypt [4704] by dminton](http://static.flickr.com/2221/2338845077_2afe630641_s.jpg)
A view from the floor of the White Canyon, Sinai, Egypt. And yes, the sky really...
East of the Sinai
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