Huaxia Jingwei Net 2011-06-2014: 04: 20
Font size: small and large
Located between North Africa and Arabian Peninsula, the Red Sea is a subsidiary sea of the Indian Ocean. It is about 2,000 kilometers long, with a maximum width of 306 kilometers and an area of about 450,000 square kilometers. The northern end is connected with the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, and the Mande Strait at the southern end is connected with the Gulf of Aden.
There are many magical legends about the Red Sea. It is recorded in the Bible Exodus that when Moses, the servant of God, led the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt to escape from Egypt and reach the Red Sea, he saw that he would be overtaken by the pursuers in Egypt. At a critical juncture, Moses pointed the rod of the Lord at the turbulent Red Sea, separating the sea water and exposing an underwater avenue to help the Israelis escape. When the Egyptian pursuers arrived, the sea merged and drowned the Egyptian army. Under the leadership of Moses, the Israelites finally fled Egypt and gained their freedom.
The Bible is called "the book of ten thousand volumes" by westerners, which has a far-reaching influence on western culture and history. However, are the mysterious stories in the Bible true and credible? For a long time, these problems have attracted the attention of biblical researchers.
Recently, two oceanographers from the Institute of Marine Resources in Petersburg, Russia, said that this mythical record can be completely explained by oceanography. They believe that at that time, the Israelis escaped the pursuit of the Egyptian army by relying on a sea reef corridor running through the northern part of the Red Sea from Egypt. Compared with today's marine environment, when the Bible was written (about 1500 BC), the reef corridors in the Red Sea were much closer to the sea surface. Considering the climatic conditions and tidal movements at that time, in some cases, this reef corridor will be exposed to the sea for several hours. If the sea breeze blows at a speed of 30 meters per second all night, this reef corridor will be exposed to the sea. In this way, the Israelis will have four hours to cross this 7-kilometer-long reef corridor. Within half an hour after the Israelis have completely crossed the reef corridor, the reef corridor will be submerged by seawater again.
This is the first time that the scientific community has used oceanography, climatic conditions and mathematical calculation models to scientifically demonstrate the record of seawater separation in the Red Sea.
Some biblical experts disagree with the latest explanation. Robert Cooter, an American Old Testament expert, said that the original Exodus was written in Hebrew, and the "Red Sea" described in it could not actually determine the specific location. Cooter believes that this "red sea" may be on the Mediterranean coast, perhaps on a lagoon in Suez Bay, or even near Aqaba Bay. Other biblical experts believe that the inference of two Russian scientists is so accurate that even the kilometers and wind speed of the reef corridor are calculated one by one, which is a ridiculous thing in itself.
As early as 1978, John Ron, an American amateur biblical archaeologist, sneaked into the waters of the Gulf of Aqaba on the east side of the Sinai Peninsula in the Red Sea, found some ancient chariot parts wrapped in coral and took photos. Since then, he has dived many times and obtained more evidence, including 1 8-spoke chariot wheel. Upon inspection, it was found that these chariot wheels belonged to the antiquities of the 18 dynasty (BC 1446, when the Israelites left Egypt). The most surprising thing is that there is still a passage in the water. Ron believes that this passage is probably the passage for Egyptians to cross the Red Sea.
Some researchers believe that the average depth of the long Gulf of Aqaba can reach 1 mile, and the coastline of Egypt is extremely steep, with a slope of about 45 degrees in the water. If the Israelis try to cross the sea in the Gulf of Aqaba, the difficulty they face is to descend from an extremely steep slope to the seabed 1 mile deep. In fact, it is impossible to cross the deep sea with their livestock and vehicles. On the west coast of the Gulf of Aqaba, there is a passage with a slope of about 4 degrees and a depth of 850 meters. On the other side of the Strait, the slope is only about 5.7 degrees, the distance between Newebba Bay and Arabian Peninsula is about 8 miles, and the width of the underwater passage is about 900 meters. Therefore, they think this is the route for the Israelis to cross the Red Sea.
Archaeologists also found a circular stone pillar standing on the seashore of Newweiba facing the seashore, and another identical stone pillar engraved with ancient Arabic Hebrew. Researchers believe that the stone pillar was erected by King Solomon to commemorate the Red Sea.
(Excerpted from Marine Culture)