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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For all you non-believers, if you don't believe, why do you always end up at the articles and comments about God? You must be interested, or why would you bother?
God is angry, full of wrath, jealous, and is to be feared. That doesnt make him not real, It just makes you really not like him.
As a Christian, I fully believe in the Bible. I believe that all non-believers are going to hell. Only those who have faith in Jesus can be saved and will go to heaven. All Muslims will go to hell. All Jews will go to hell. All Asians will go to hell (not only because they don't believe in God, but also because they eat human flesh). And all Atheists and Agnostics will go to hell. Personally, the fact that only the ones who believe in Jesus will go to heaven and those who don't will go straight to hell allows me to sleep soundly at night. I really hope non-believers burn for eternity in hell because they all deserve it.
I really do hate people of non-Christian "faith". Being on this Christian forum with all you believers makes me feel so welcomed. We Christians must band together and defeat those who don't believe the word of God.
okaii, i dun evun understand how a huricane can blow water. i thot they spin and ligtning.
Them scientists think there so smart. Sure, they went to college for years, but even I know that God parted the waters for Moses, and I didn't even go to college. Whose smarter now?
This is the most improbable weather study that I've ever seen. Common scence should tell you that a 63 mile per hour wind can't carve out water that's hundreds of feet deep.
It's obvious that they are trying to justify an old religious myth with junk science.
Some of these comments reflect the sad state and moral decay of our country, no wonder we are heading downhill very fast. So many people readily ridicule anything Christian or related to the bible without even considering any facts. Many studies including unbiased ones confirm that an event similar to what is described in the Bible did occur, althought attempts have been made to attach a scientific reason for it. The bible still provides the most credible explanation of man's being and nothing any fool says can change that.
It's hypocritical of you to say that those who ridicule the bible are causing the demise of our nation when you, sir, are closed-minded yourself. Your last statement, "The bible still provides the most credible explanation of man's being and nothing any fool says can change that," shows us that you are not willing to open your mind to other belief systems. This, unfortunately, reflects the way many people think and it is one of the reasons why Americans are failing and falling behind other nations. You should be ashamed of yourself. As a Christian myself, I have no trouble saying that you and your closed-minded Christian friends caused the demise of our country.
I'm sorry. I realize that you many not understand what I just said because of your low intelligence. To sum up in words you may understand, this country gettin' dumber 'cause of them Christians who think everythang in the Bible is tru.
I will say this. First of all, I hear a considerable amount of shouting concerning this study. First, for someone to believe that this gentleman has no bias is foolish. He OBVIOUSLY has a bias...but then again, who doesnt. That he has a bias or not does not disprove his findings. EVERY one who does any kind of study has a bias. Its not wrong or right, it just is what it is. Furthermore, those of you who are against his study and call yourself "scientists". Scientists dont argue with words...they argue with facts. If you want to disprove his experiment, find another experiment that soundly disproves it. Truth be told, Christians are not the only ones who live by faith. Scientist have faith also on that which cannot be seen for who has seen the creation of the world, or the evolution of living beings. Faith is not dumb, or foolish, it is something we all have subscribed to. Therefore, the question on the table is not whether you live by sight and I by faith but rather what faith you live by.
Here is what I don't understand: why all the mocking? If one chooses to believe or not, that is their choice, and not one to be mocked or ridiculed or belittled. No one person has all the answers, no one person can call the standard by which the presence (or lack of ) can be determined. God doesn't exist because Hitler didn't die of a heart attack before millions died? Please. God exists because the Giants won the World Series? Please.
For every example of a harm caused by religion there is undoubtedly an example of a good wrought by religion, and the same holds for the more secular point of view.
Hate is hate, whether it is for or against religion, for or against a believer, or for or against a non-believer. If you all are so concerned about how the world is and how it will turn out, then believers and atheists and agnostics alike should spend a little more time worrying about themselves than in pointing fingers at others.
Moses did not exist.
You know even though you can try to explain exodus the odds of the wind blowing like that on that very day at that very time when the soliders where bearing down on the isrealites seems like a miracle in the least. Has this ever happened in our current time? Will it ever happen again. I doubt it. God works in mysterious ways plain and simple. Sure u can try to prove it but when all is said and done there is still some mystery behind it.
I am constantly amazed how many people believe in aliens, bigfoot, and the lochness monster but they can't believe in God.
What about the possibility that Gos used his power and pushed back the waters. The bible does say they crossed on "dry land".
There is a scene carved in the stone wall at the Temple of Warit in now Luxor that shows what has become to be known as the Exodus flooding. This was not carried out by some guy named Moses but Ahmoses. On the El Kab inscriptions the expulsionof the invaders called Hyksos is seen clearly.
Oh Sky Cake, why are you so delicious!!