An illustration based on new research shows how wind could have moved and split waters from two ancient basins.
The parting of the waters described in the book of Exodus that enabled Moses and the Israelites to escape the pharaoh's army is possible, computer simulations run by researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado at Boulder show.
To test the theory that the biblical account may have depicted actual events, the researchers studied maps of the region, archaeological records and satellite measurements to find a topographical feature where such an event might have been possible. They settled on an area south of the Mediterranean Sea where some oceanographers say a branch of the Nile River drained into what was called the Lake of Tanis, a coastal lagoon 3,000 years ago.
The computer model shows a 63 mph east wind blowing across the area and its 6-feet-deep waters for 12 hours. In the scenario, the wind pushed back the waters into both the lake and the channel of the river, exposing a mud flat 2 to 2.5 miles long and 3 miles wide for four hours. As the winds died down, the waters quickly flowed back in and in theory would have drowned anyone on the mud flat.
“The simulations match fairly closely with the account in Exodus,” said Carl Drews of NCAR, the lead author of the study published in the online journal PLoS ONE. (Read the full study)
“The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid dynamics. The wind moves the water in a way that’s in accordance with physical laws, creating a safe passage with water on two sides and then abruptly allowing the water to rush back in.”
YouTube: Parting the waters, Part 1: The physics of a land bridge
Parting the waters, Part 2: Carl Drews on wind setdown research
The biblical account of Exodus has Moses and his followers trapped by the pharaoh forces against a body of water, which has been translated to both the Red Sea and the Sea of Reeds. In the account, a strong wind comes up after night falls and parts the waters behind the Israelites. Moses leads them into the breach but when the pharaoh army pursues them at daybreak, the gap disappears and the army is lost.
Previous research has focused on areas of the Red Sea near the modern-day Suez Canal where the biblical miracle may have been possible. The NCAR/CU team said their research shows those scenarios unlikely. They ran a series of 14 computer simulations to pinpoint the area where the parting of the waters was most likely.
“People have always been fascinated by this Exodus story, wondering if it comes from historical facts,” Drews says. “What this study shows is that the description of the waters parting indeed has a basis in physical laws."
Drews conducted the Exodus research as part of a larger project on how winds can affect water depths.
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So, GOD used the natural forces of wind that HE created to part the red sea? Whudathunkit? Just because it can be explained by science, doesn't DISPROVE it's occurrence. Hence, it is impossible to please GOD without FAITH.
Ah, so the parting of the sea could have been a natural occurrence?
Hmm... then where's the miracle?
Timing. What brought Moses and the Israelites there when the wind blew and Pharaoh and his army when it stopped?
In the timing
The miracle comes from the fact that Moses didn't have to wait with millions of israelites until a gigantic wind came up. It happened miraculously and at a most fortunate point in time.
'The miracle comes from the fact that Moses didn't have to wait with millions of israelites until a gigantic wind came up. It happened miraculously and at a most fortunate point in time.'
The miracle is that people believe this nonsense.
a man hears what he wants to hear, and disregards the rest.
simon & garfunkel
The lyrics you quote say "the man", not "a man".
Ayyyymen!!!!!
The scientists also discovered that the 63 mph wind indicates that even God is not immune to periodic bouts of Irritable Bowel Syndrome...
Mosses didn't part the red sea. If you really believe that happened then you are a tool.
If you can't even spell Moses correctly, then you are a tool . . . or just dumber than dirt.
I think he is talking about moss now. We have proof that God did smite the Vegetarians.
ADONAI ALLOWS ALL OF US TO CHOOSE WHAT WE WANT TO BELIEVE. YOUR BEING TESTED. WHEN YOU DIE AND YOU WILL , YOU WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDINGLY.
Ooooohhhhh, stop it you are scaring all of us with your millennium old fairy tales.
You're old. Turn off the caps.
That is your god of love? You have free choice but if you don't choose me I will torture you for all eternity? If there was a god we would already be in a paradise. If there was a god and he treated his creation the way things are he would be such a psyco that he would make DeSade look like a girl scout!
You sound like a mad man in a horror flick..yikes.
I hope the tax payer did not fund this BS.
What's the difference? We fund all manner of other BS.
Amazing conversation but really scary. Faith is what it is - belief without proof.(Miriam-Webster). Those who believe, believe. Those who don't, won't.
But I would conjecture that lots of those on here who dismiss God's existance somehow find credence in Obama being a Muslim, a socialist, or a Kenyan despite proof to the contrary.
A mind is a dreadful thing to waste, my conservative friends.
I'm an Atheist, and I dismiss a belief in gods or religions, especially a belief based on faith becuase faith makes a virtue out of not-thinking. However, your blanket statement regarding Obama is incorrect , from my experience most of the supposed "birthers" who suspect Obama's citizenship, or claim he is a "Muslim" or "Marxist" mainly come from those of the religous right. Rember, "The world holds two classes of men – intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence." Where do you fall?
lol
i agree with you
@Bruce If there is a "religious right" then there must be a "religious left". I am a Christian and believe in God as well as in His Son Jesus. I also believe that science and religion are NOT mutually exclusive, but also that our understanding of things (in any scientific discipline) is limited by our ability to understand. As an example, we can intellectually reason that there can be (or must be) multiple dimensions in space-time in order to support our current model of the Big Bang and string theory.. We can do the math. Some can even really comprehend the idea. But not a single one of us can truly know what multiple dimensions or parallel universes are in reality. If you remember ever reading Flatland, it is the same kind of thing. As for intelligence and religion, perhaps you should read a bit of C.S. Lewis beginning with Mere Christianity. You may not agree with his arguments, but he does apply reason and intellect to them.
Oooooooooooooooooo! I LOVE you! Are you married?
Hey Dale- You're right, there is a Christion Left, which tends to embrace policies of social justice, this is in cotrast to the Christion Right which tend to support conservative social and political values.
i am familiar with the writings of Lewis, you may be referring to his "Lewis Trilemma" argument, and although he appears to apply reason to his argument, and he certainly does so in an eloquent manner, his argument is as easy to refute as Aquinas' Five Proofs of gods existence. Refute one, and they all fall, basic logical fallacies.
P.S. As a child I simply loved the Narnia series, have re-read the entire series to both of my children.
Boy are you ever mixed up! The more educated you are, either through school or by self learning, the more likely you are to understand the roots of religious belief and the fact that man created gods , not the other way around, and the less likely you are to believe anything you hear from a Republican or a tea partyer or especially the religious right. We are you ones that you think you are insulting by calling us humanists. We are who this country was founded by and for.
In the Bible, they went across on DRY land and it CLEARLY says the waters were congealed! This article proves nothing! It was a MIRACLE of God-and they can't be proven by science! If these people would put just half the effort into FAITH as they do into trying to disprove what man WILL NEVER disprove, this world would be a much better place!
There was a time when most of the Western World put most of its effort into FAITH. This was called the dark ages.
the ancient romans considered christianity a cult. when does a cult like christianity become a mainstream religion ? when theres enough followers/believers ? if so is then a religions acceptance as truth is based on numbers ? is then the most popular religion is considered truth ? does that means the less popular religions are false ? if the koran and bible are infallible what about earlier versions that are different ? are they wrong or are they just books written by men ? are not men fallible ? could not these books be written by religious men with limited scientific knowlede trying to explain life and the universe around them ? is this not more likely than the earth being 6000 yrs old. if you disagree could it be that your mind is restrained by religious dogma and religions cult like influence ? think carefully ?
Roger unfortunately using Logic to discern such facts is not a concept which people who chose their truth by faith alone understand. It really is a mental illness we should be sensitive to.
Both Christianity and Islam really are the world's most successful cults.
I always questioned all those "miraculous" events, even when I was a child. Why didn't these happen in our time? I questioned the validity of the bible....only stories that were passed down from the seekers who couldn't
explain those scientific events like lightning and thunder,, the burning bush...earthquakes......etc
I suppose if they occurred on a regular basis, they would not be very miraculous. Get it yet?
Hey IMHO..did u know that despite how ”peaceful” Ghandi was...he still used to beat his wife...
Man wrote it and man atempts to prove it
These people you speak of are only trying to prove and disprove these things to themselves. What is, is and what isn't, isn't. What happened did so or not regardless of our consensus or belief. God does not need you to believe as much as I do not need you to believe in me to exist. Mankind is just the blind leading the blind, no matter religion or science or govt. I will grasp what little truth I have discovered and try to shed and repel the lies. I do not get to chose what truth is, till I figured that out I was even more messed up than I am now. Truth does not emanate from us, we are merely vessels of it, if we choose to be.
I thought like you, but when i read it, i realized it is indeed supernatural . . . man could have not have written it
this crap is stupid im suprised this is on cnn and not on fox.
we dont even know most of the bible considering the catholic church burned a lot of the stuff they did not want people to know. ( I wonder why? hmmmmmmmmmmm)
Why, on God's green Earth, would THIS be on a conservative venue like Fox? Fox would NEVER publish science that even partially refutes something in Christian mythology! That's borderline liberalizm for them!! However I DO agree with you about the Catholic Church eliminating parts of the original text in the bible. I have faith!
Everyone has a right to their own beliefs. I choose to love the Lord. With that comes faith. Faith doesn't need science. It is interesting but, "seeing isn't believing.. believing is seeing". Faith is the belief He is there...period. It is my right to live this way. I don't make fun of those who choose not to believe. It is their choice. I will pray for them!