EVIDENCE FOR THE EXODUS

1446 BC, End of 12th Dynasty

GARDEN OF EDEN

At 1 hour 8 minutes in this video youtube.com/watch?v=22D2vlQVI2Y, David Rohl said Eden was in western or northwestern Iran, near the Caspian Sea.

EXODUS

My 2 previous posts were based on David Rohl’s findings. This one is based on 2 videos. One is (A) Moses, Exodus Route from Egypt, Red Sea Crossing, Mt. Sinai Location in Arabia, Ten Commandments youtube.com/watch?v=rsn_HqSxkDg. The other is (B) Is There Archaeological Evidence Of The Exodus youtube.com/watch?v=v0bfs6tFf-0. Following is my summary of the evidence from these 2 videos.

Forty years before the Exodus, Moses is said to have killed an Egyptian slave driver and then departed to Midian to avoid punishment.

Midian was just east of the Gulf of Aqaba, which was called Yam Suph.

I combined a small part of the map from B into a larger map from A to show probably a more accurate route that the Hebrews took out of Egypt across the Yam Suph (Sea of Reeds). A said the Hebrews could cross the Sinai peninsula in 3 days and nights walking just 3 miles an hour. The videos show that the Bible seems to describe them turning south before reaching the Reed Sea, instead of going around the north side of the sea. Presumably, this was so they could escape from the Egyptians by crossing the sea while a strong wind blew the waters apart till they crossed.

The Nuweiba beach is the apparent crossing site, since it’s broad enough to camp a few million people and the sea is shallower out from there and since numerous Egyptian-style chariot wheels and axles etc have been found near there. The sea bottom there is just sand, and coral doesn’t grow on sand, but only on solid surfaces. The chariots provided the solid surfaces. The distance across the sea is 10.5 miles. The bottom goes down on a 5% grade to a depth of 2500 feet in the middle and the same grade back up the other side.

This is what some of the Egyptian chariots looked like. Below are artifacts found on the sea floor.

The Bible says 600 chariots were used to chase after the Hebrews and they all ended up in the sea. The last item was free of coral because it was plated with electrum, on which coral can’t grow. Some of the corals were examined inside and found to contain remnants of metal. The corals in this area are greatly scattered, unlike the coral north and south of there, which form reefs.

The Hebrews camped at Marah, then moved down to Elim where there were wells and palm trees which are still there. After Elim they likely went to Magna oasis by the sea. They then went to the Wilderness of Sin (derived from Sinai) probably via Elim again. The Hebrews were soon hungry there, but manna began to fall each morning, which fed them until they reached the Jordan River 40 years later. They next camped at Rephedim, but they ran out of water.

The large split rock above supposedly shows signs of much water having come out of it near the bottom. The Amalekites attacked the Hebrews at Rephidim, but the Hebrews prevailed over them.

Moses is said to have erected an altar after the Amalekites were defeated and the above pile of rocks seems to be the remains of that altar. The split rock is visible above it.

Rephidim means place of rest and Hebrew inscriptions in the area are said to say place of rest.

This is another Hebrew inscription from the area.

Maybe these two women named above were killed in the battle.

After Rephidim, the Hebrews traveled to Mt. Sinai and camped there for about a year. This is likely the real Mt. Sinai, since it fits in with biblical descriptions. The caves of Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law) above were in Midian. Moses’ immediate family visited Jethro while the rest of the Hebrews went to Rephidim and then to Mt. Sinai, where they reunited with Moses again.

Above are the caves of Jethro and tombs inside. Nearby is a well, called Moses’ well, where Moses possibly met Jethro’s daughter.

The Bible says Mt. Sinai was on fire for 6 days and it does appear to have been burned. The rocks are only black on the surface, not inside.

The altar above fits the Biblical description of the altar Moses built after ascending Mt. Sinai.

Apparently, the Hebrews believed in the false goddess, Hathor, the cow goddess.

Above is a collection of items at Mt. Sinai that indicate the presence of the Hebrews.

Moses supposedly ordered the murder of the worshipers of the Golden Calf, which numbered about 3,000. I DON’T CONDONE SUCH MURDER, IF TRUE. I TOTALLY DEPLORE IT AND DON’T BELIEVE GOD ORDERED ANY SUCH BRUTALITY. But there appear to be thousands of standing stones like the above that may be gravestones. Why hasn’t anyone looked for bones under them?

The Bible mentions Elija’s cave, which is possibly the one above.

These 2 videos cover the first year or two of the Exodus, showing abundant evidence for it. I previously showed evidence for the sojourn in Egypt and the prelude to the Exodus in c. 1446 BC and the beginning of the conquest of Canaan 40 years later. I haven’t seen evidence for the rest of the 40 years of the Exodus yet. If I do, I’ll try to cover it.