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Moses’ parting of the Red Sea may not have been a miracle after all
Biological science study argues ‘meteorological phenomena’ may have caused a large resurgence of water enabling the Israelites to cross
Meteorological phenomena could be behind the parting of the Red Sea, which allowed Moses to help the Israelites escape the Egyptians, a study suggests.
Rebekah Garratt and Rikesh Kunverji, students from the University of Leicester’s School of Biological Sciences, argue there were four natural occurrences which could account for the drying of the area.
Negative surges, eastern winds, tidal surges and Rossby Waves, may have caused a resurgence of water large enough to enable a crossing on foot.
Writing in the Journal of Interdisciplinary Topics, the pair conclude: “Investigating into the methods in which the waters may have receded, allowing Moses to cross safely, may be dependent on having ‘perfect’ conditions, but are still physically feasible events.
“Meteorological phenomena are known to be notoriously unpredictable and can lead to chaotic chains of events leading to extreme phenomena, which may have been viewed by bystanders as the ‘parting of the sea’.
“Whether a miraculous act of God or due to some of the unlikely, coincidental phenomena discussed in this paper, the chance of ‘parting’ is not zero.”
How it may have happened
The parting of the Red Sea appears in the Book of Exodus, which describes how Moses: “...stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided”.
The Leicester team said that a phenomenon called “wind setdown” in which a particularly strong and persistent wind can lower water levels in one area while causing water to build up downwind.
Wind setdowns, which are the opposite of storm surges, have been widely documented, including in the Nile delta in the 19th century when a powerful wind pushed away about five feet of water and exposed dry land.
The team said the wind speed would need to be “considerable” to have kept the water apart for an extended period.
A second possibility is that stronger-than-normal spring tides coupled with windy conditions, could have allowed water levels to drop to such an extent that a drying area was formed, allowing the Israelites to cross.
Many believe that the Gulf of Suez would be the best location for Moses to have crossed because it is known for its large tidal fluctuations.
The team write: “Tidal resonance occurs when a sudden, unexpected external input, such as extreme wind, excites one of the resonant modes of a local region of the Red Sea, leading to a much more extreme low tide, exposing greater areas of the seabed.”
Napoleon almost caught out
The phenomenon is thought to be how Napoleon and his army crossed the Red Sea in 1789.
Louis-Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne, Napoleon’s private secretary wrote: “On the morning of the 28th we crossed the Red Sea dry shod... Near the port the Red Sea is not above 1,500 metres wide, and is always fordable at low water... at high tide the water rises five or six feet at Suez, and when the wind blows fresh it often rises nine or ten feet.”
Napoleon - like the Egyptians - was almost caught out by the rising tide and drowned.
Negative surges, in which coastal waters fall to lower levels during an extreme weather event, may also have dried out the Gulf of Suez, the paper suggests, while a natural occurrence called Rossby Waves could also be to blame.
Rossby Waves naturally occur in rotating fluids and appear in oceans and seas because of the rotation of the Earth.
“They make the tide higher than usual,” the paper surmises. “The waves move vast amounts of water meaning an occurrence at the Red Sea could have moved vast amounts of water, causing the tide to recede by an unusual amount, leaving shallow or no water for the Israelites to walk through.”
The Journal of Interdisciplinary Science Topics is designed to help undergraduates understand scientific paper writing, peer review and publishing and while the topics can be fun, the science must be accurate.
Previous research topics have included, “The number of lies Pinocchio could tell before the weight of his nose would cause his neck to break” and “Would it be possible for every Canadian to own a polar bear?”
The students concluded that Pinocchio could tell only 13 lies and Canada could not sustain such a population of polar bears.
注释：
meteorological: adj
表示"气象的"，如：An instrument carried aloft, chiefly by balloon, to gather and transmit meteorological data. 无线电高空测候器一种被带到高空(主要由气球)进行气象数据收集和传送的仪器
resurgence: n
表示" 再起；复活；再现"，means "bringing again into activity and prominence"，如：A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim. 悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。Mr McCain's resurgence is extraordinary. 麦凯恩先生的东山再起令人惊叹。
Interdisciplinary: adj
表示"跨学科的"，means "drawing from or characterized by participation of two or more fields of study;"，如：This textbook is an introduction to environmental science ,an interdisciplinary study of humanity's relationships with the earth's living and nonliving things. 这本教科书是介绍环境科学的，跨学科的探讨研究人类与地球上生命体与非生命体之间的关系。
setdown: n
表示" 下沉；叱责；"，means "drop off"，如：wave setdown波浪下沉; 波降
fordable: adj
表示" 可涉水而过的"，means "shallow enough to be crossed by walking "，如：The river wasn't fordable because of all the recent rainfall. 因为最近的降雨，那条河无法涉水而过。
recede: v
表示"后退；减弱"，means "pull back or move away or backward"，如：As the tide receded we were able to look for shells.潮水退去，我们就能寻找贝壳了。
中文简要说明：
圣经上著名的「摩西分红海」故事，描述摩西带领犹太人逃离埃及，一杖将红海划成两半，让众人通过，追兵赶到时再令海水闭合的神迹。3千多年来，许多人认为这不过是虚构故事，但最近有研究指出，自然气候现象确实可能导致红海一分为二，神迹或许有几分可信。
《电讯报》、《每日邮报》报导，就读英国列斯特大学（ Leicester University）生物科学院的加勒特（Rebekah Garratt）和昆维尔吉（Rikesh Kunverji）指出，风降（wind setdown）、暴潮（tidal surge）、负涌浪（negative surge）与罗斯贝波（Rossby wave）4种天气效应，可能让红海出现分裂现象。
首先，在持续的强风吹拂下，该地的水位会降低，并导致顺风处的水位上升，称为「风降」效应。19世纪在尼罗河三角洲就曾发生过强风卷走5英尺高（相当于1.5公尺）的水，露出干涸的陆地。
第2种可能的情况是「暴潮」效应，指当时出现了特别高的春季潮汐，伴随着多风气候，使水位下降到一定程度，形成一个干燥区，让犹太人得以穿越。不少专家认为，现在的苏伊士湾常见大潮现象，很有可能就是当初摩西分红海之处。
事实上，拿破仑也曾在1789年率领部队，用相同的方式通过红海。他的私人秘书布列纳（Louis-Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne）记载：「28日上午，我们穿着干鞋通过红海...在港口附近，红海的宽度不超过1500公尺，低潮时总是可以驶过...涨潮时，苏伊士湾的海水会上涨5、6英尺，刮大风时甚至高达9到10英尺。」
该研究也指出，在极端气候下可能出现「负涌浪」现象，使沿海海域的水位降低，造成苏伊士湾干涸。另外，地球自转会导致海洋出现「罗斯贝波」，这种旋转流体会把潮水推得比平常更高，大量退去的潮水意味着犹太人可以在浅水或无水的红海中行走。
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