It is a key moment in the story of both Christianity and Judaism and one of the Bible’s most impressive miracles.
Now, scientists have revealed how Moses really could have parted the Red Sea 3,500 years ago.
And they say that this feat might not have needed any divine intervention after all.
Rather than calling on God to part the waves, research shows that a combination of wild weather and fortunate geology can explain every detail of the biblical account.
In the biblical account, and in film adaptations such as The Ten Commandments or The Prince of Egypt, Moses commands the waters of the Red Sea to open long enough to flee Egypt.
In reality, computer modelling shows 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 to swallow the pursuing Egyptians.
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.’
Scientists have revealed how Moses could have really parted the Red Sea to escape Egypt, and they say it might not be a miracle after all (stock image)
Where did Moses cross the Red Sea?
In the biblical account, after the seven plagues of Egypt, Moses led the Israelites out into the wilderness in search of the promised land.
However, the fleeing Israelites soon found themselves trapped between the advancing troops of the Pharaoh on one side and the expanse of the Red Sea on the other.
After waiting overnight, Moses supposedly stretched out his hand and the sea parted to make a dry channel with walls of water on both sides.
Traditionally, this crossing is supposed to have occurred at the Gulf of Aqaba, one of the widest and deepest sections of the Red Sea.
This body of water is 25 km (15 miles) across at its widest point, 900 metres deep on average and has a maximum depth of nearly 1,850 metres.
With its deep, irregular bottom, crossing this region on foot would be almost impossible even with a helping hand from divine power.
Luckily, while parting such a large body of water would be miraculous, modern archaeological research suggests a different location.
While it is traditionally believed that the Red Sea crossing took place at the Gulf of Aqaba, modern archaeological research suggests it was more likely to have occurred near the Northern end of the Gulf of Suez (pictured), near the site of the modern-day Suez Canal
If Moses really did cross part of the modern Red Sea, then it is generally considered more likely that the crossing would have happened at the Gulf of Suez.
This long, narrow body of water makes up the northwestern arm of the Red Sea separating the main part of Egypt in the West from the Sinai Peninsula to the East.
More importantly, the Gulf of Suez is only 20 to 30 metres deep on average and is relatively flat on the bottom – making a crossing far more plausible.
In fact, crossing the Gulf of Suez with dry feet is not only plausible but has happened before in recorded history.
Near the northern end of the Red Sea, strong tides regularly leave sections of the seabed completely exposed.
In 1789 Napoleon Bonaparte led a small group of soldiers on horseback across a section of the Gulf of Suez at low tide.
Louis-Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Napoleon’s private secretary wrote: ‘On the morning of the 28th we crossed the Red Sea dry shod.’
However, just like the Pharaoh’s troops, Napoleon’s men were almost swept away when tides reaching 10ft above the ground suddenly swept back up the channel.
In 1789 Napoleon Bonaparte led a small group of soldiers on horseback across a section of the Gulf of Suez at low tide. Some researchers suggest that Moses might have exploited his knowledge of the tides to make a similar crossing
According to Dr Bruce Parker, former chief scientist of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Moses could have used his knowledge of these tides to flee the Pharaoh.
Dr Parker wrote in an article for the Wall Street Journal: ‘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.’
The Pharaoh’s men meanwhile lived on the tideless Nile River and would have been unaware of the dangers, leading them to be caught out when the tide came rushing back in.
How can science explain the Bible’s account?
However, an explanation looking only at the tides misses a crucial detail of the biblical account.
The Bible 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.’
According to some scientists, the mention of a strong wind is key to understanding how Moses really crossed the Red Sea.
However, a key detail of the account in the Bible which is featured in films such as The Ten Commandments (pictured) is that there was a strong wind which blew overnight to open the waters
Scientists have calculated that a strong wind blowing from the north could have pushed the waters of the Gulf of Suez back towards the sea. If there were an underwater ridge (illustrated) this would have allowed the Israelites to pass with water on both sides of them
Just like blowing on a cup of coffee moves the liquid near the surface to the far side of the cup, strong winds have the power to move large bodies of water.
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.’
Professor Paldor’s calculations suggest that a wind blowing between 65 and 70 kilometres per hour (40-45 mph) from the northwest could have made a path for the Israelites.
Such a wind blowing for an entire night could push the waters back by up to a mile, dropping the sea level by about three metres and allowing the Israelites to cross on an underwater ridge.
Did the Israelites really cross the Red Sea?
However, one major criticism of this theory is that the Bible specifies that the wind comes from the east while these calculations specify a wind from the northwest.
In his original research paper, Professor Paldor maintains that the original Hebrew description is ‘Rauch kadim’ which can mean either northeasterly or southeasterly.
But if we want to match the details of the biblical account exactly and maintain that the wind did come from the east, a different theory will be needed.
However, the Bible states that the wind came from the East, which means that a gale could not have pushed any of the waters around the Red Sea (pictured) which all run from northwest to southeast
According to Mr Drews, the only plausible explanation is that the crossing actually took place in the Nile Delta, at a place called the Lake of Tannis.
This lagoon was located near modern-day Lake Manzala where the Pelusiac branch of the Nile opened out into the sea.
One of the best reasons to think this is the real crossing place is that it matches what many see as the correct translation of the Hebrew Bible.
In Hebrew, the Israelites are described as crossing ‘yam suf’ which, although traditionally translated as ‘Red’ Sea, should really be translated as the ‘Reed’ Sea.
This is seen as a reference to the reeds which grow densely in the brackish waters of the Nile Delta.
And, critically, Mr Drew’s modelling shows that the Lake of Tannis could have been blown dry by a strong wind from the East.
In a process called ‘wind setdown’, particularly strong and persistent winds over a shallow body of water can expose dry land by piling up water upwind.
‘Ocean modelling, and a report from 1882, shows that strong winds over the eastern Nile delta will blow away two meters of water, exposing temporarily dry land,’ says Mr Drews.
Instead, researchers propose that Moses could have crossed the Nile Delta in the Lake of Tannis while a strong wind from the east exposed a wide mudflat (illustrated in brown) from Sethrum to Kedua
In a paper, published in PLOS One, Mr Drews used historical records and geological evidence to recreate what the Lake of Tannis would have been like in biblical times.
Then, using computer simulations, he showed that a 62-mile-per-hour (100 kmph) gale blowing for eight hours would be enough to push the waters of the Lake of Tannis back up the Pelusiac Nile.
Mr Drews also points out that the structure of the Lake of Tannis provides a ‘hydraulic mechanism for the waters to divide’ allowing the Israelites to walk with waters ‘as a wall’ on their left and right as the Bible describes.
As the water pushed back up the Nile it would split around the peninsula, creating a 3-mile-wide (5km) land bridge that would remain open for four hours.
That would allow the Israelites to make the 1.8-2.5 mile (3-4km) journey from the Sethrum peninsula in Egypt to an area known as Kedua on the other side.
Although Mr Drews says that walking for four hours through a 62-mile-per-hour (100km/h) gale would be ‘no fun’ he says that this is within the maximum speed that a group of adults and children could walk in.
Mr Drews says: ‘When Boulder experiences strong Chinook winds during the winter, I go out into the parking lot of my lab, raise my jacket above my head, and try to walk directly into the wind. I can lean forward and get across the parking lot!’
Could there be another explanation?
This theory would explain how the Israelites were able to cross from Egypt into what is now modern-day Israel. Although it would have been hard to walk through the wind, scientists insist that this is not impossible
Another popular theory which keeps the crossing site at the Red Sea proper is that the waters could have receded due to a tsunami.
When an earthquake triggers a tsunami, the trough of the approaching wave pulls the water away from the shore, making the tide appear to go out many hundreds of metres further than usual.
In theory, a tsunami in the Red Sea could create a brief dry patch of land in the Red Sea which would then rush in as a vast wave to sweep away the Pharaoh’s troops.
Ridley Scott used this as the scientific basis for his presentation of crossing in his film ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’.
However, Mr Drews maintains that this explanation doesn’t fit with the biblical account.
Mr Drews says: ‘Modern reports of tsunamis indicate that the in-and-out period of the surge is less than one hour.
‘This wave period would not match the narrative in Exodus 14, which indicates that Moses and the Israelites had several hours in which to complete their crossing.’
Additionally, the tsunami wouldn’t produce a channel through the sea with water on both sides.
In Ridley Scott’s film, ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ (pictured), the director supported the theory that the Red Sea crossing could have been made possible thanks to a Tsunami drawing back the waters of the Red Sea before crashing back on the Pharaoh’s troops
A tsunami drawback (illustrated) would expose part of the seabed, but it wouldn’t do so for long enough for the Israelites to make the crossing
So, if we want to explain the biblical account of natural phenomena a tsunami doesn’t fit.
The best explanation for the biblical account is therefore that Moses led the Israelites across the Nile Delta during a gale after wind setdown cleared a land bridge.
However, although this provides a natural explanation for the Bible story, Mr Drews doesn’t think it is any less miraculous.
He says: ‘Personally, I am a Lutheran who has always understood that faith and science can and should be in harmony.
‘According to Exodus 14, Moses received advance notice from God to stand at a certain place at a certain time, stretch out his hand, and wait for deliverance at just the right time.
‘It is fitting and proper for a scientist to study the natural components of this narrative.’
WHO WAS RAMSES II?
The sun’s rays illuminate statues (pictured) inside the Great Temple at Abu Simbel in Egypt twice a year
Ramses II lived from 1279 BC to 1213 BC.
The pharaoh was known to Egyptians as Userma’atre’setepenre, meaning ‘keeper of Harmony and Balance, Strong in Right, Elect of Ra’, according to the Ancient History Encyclopedia.
Ramses II was the 19th Dynasty’s third pharaoh, who reportedly declared a decisive victory at The Battle of Kadesh over the Hittites.
Ramses II supposedly flaunted the result of this battle to elevate his reputation.
However, the battle ended in somewhat of a tie, and was not exactly a win for either party.
In fact, it resulted in the earliest known peace treaty, composed in 1258 BCE.
Ramses II is commonly linked to the pharaoh depicted in the book of Exodus in the Bible.
But there is no archaeological or historical evidence associating the two figures.
Ramses II fathered more than 100 children before his death in 1213 BC – more than any other pharaoh.
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