The account now given must, as being derived immediately from the Scripture, be in the main correct. If the authority is denied, this can be done effectually by no other means than by disprov ing in general the authority of the books whence it is derived ; and it may with truth be affirmed, that no view opposed to that given can possess greater claims on our credit, while any mere sceptical opinion must rest on its own intrinsic probability, contested, so far as it opposes, the Scripture, by scriptural authority.
When, however, we descend from generals to particulars, and attempt to ascertain precise locali ties and determine details, diversity of opinion may easily arise, and varying degrees of probability only are likely to attend the investigation. For instance, the immediate spot which Moses proposed to reach, was, we know, on the Red Sea ; but the precise line which he took depended of course on the place whence he set out. With difference of opinion as to the spot where the Hebrews had their rendezvous, there cannot be agreement as to the route they followed.
The position of Goshen, where the Israelites were settled, we shall endeavour to fix in another article. It is enough here to say, that it was on the eastern side of the Nile, probably in the pro vince of Esh-Shurkiyeh. Rameses was the place of rendezvous. The direct route thence to the Red Sea was along the valley of the ancient canal. By this way the distance was about thirty-five miles. From the vicinity of Cairo, however, there runs a range of hills eastward to the Red Sca, the western extremity of which, not far from Cairo, is named Jebel-Mokattem ; the eastern extremity is termed Jebel-Attaka, which, with its promontory Ras Attaka, runs into the Red Sea. Between the two extremes, somewhere about the middle of the range, is an opening which affords a road for cara vans. Two routes offered themselves here. Sup posing that the actual starting point lay nearer Cairo, the Israelites might strike in from the north of the range of hills, at the opening just men tioned, and pursue the ordinary caravan road which leads from Cairo to Suez ; or they might go southward from Mokattem, through the Wady el Tih, that is, the Valley of Wandering, through which also a road, though less used, runs to Suez. According to Niebuhr they took the first, accord.
ing to ancient tradition, Father Sicard ((IA.:. der fVeg der Israelites, Paulus, Samoa'. v. 211, sq.), and others, they took the last. Sicard found traces of the Israelites in the valley. He held Rameses to be the starting point, and Rameses he placed about six miles from ancient Cairo, where Bezatin is now found. Here is a capacious sandy plain, on which Sicard thinks the Israelites as sembled on the morning when they began their journey. In this vicinity a plain is still found, which the Arabs call the Jews' Cemetery, and where, from an indefinite period, the Jews have buried their dead. In the Mokattem chain is a hill, a part of which is called Mejanat Musa, Moses' Station.' On another hill in the vicinity, ruins are found, which the Arabs name Meravad Musa, ' Moses' Delight.' Thus several things
seem to carry the mind back to the time of the Hebrew legislator. Through the valley which leads from Bezatin (the Valley of Wandering) to the Red Sea, Sicard travelled in three days. He reckons the length to be twenty-six hours, which, if we give two miles to each hour (Robinson), would make the distance fifty-two miles. This length is also assigned by Girard (Descrip. grap. de in Valle de l'Egarement). The valley running pretty much in a plain surface would afford a convenient passage to the mixed bands of Israelites. About eighteen miles from Bezatin you meet with Gendelhy, a plain with a fountain. The name signifies a military station, and in this Sicard finds the Succoth (tents) of Exodus, the first station of Moses. The haste with which they left (were driven out) would enable them to reach this place at nightfall of their first day's march. Sicard places their second station, Etham, in the plain Ramliyeh, eighteen miles from Gendelhy and sixteen from the sea. From this plain is a pass, four miles in length, so narrow that not more than twenty men can go abreast. To avoid this, which would have caused dangerous delay, the order was given to turn (Exod. xiv. 2). Etham is said (Exod. xiii. 20) to be on the edge of the wilderness. Jablonski says the word means ter minus mans, the termination or boundary of the sea. Now, in the plain where Sicard fixes Etham (not to be confounded with the Eastern Etham, through which afterwards the Israelites travelled three days, Num. xxxiii. S), is the spot where the waters divide which run to the Nile and to the Gulf of Suez, and Etham is therefore truly ter minus saris. Here the Israelites received com mand to turn and encamp (Exod. xiv. 2) before Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon. Pi-hahiroth (the mouth of the hiding-places), Sicard identifies with Thuarek (small caves), which is the name still given to three or four salt springs of the plain Baideah, on the south side of Mount Attaka, which last Sicard identifies with Baal-zephon, and which is the northern boundary of the plain Baideah, while Kuiabeh (Migdol) is its southern limit. The pass which leads to Suez, between Attaka and the sea, is very narrow, and could be easily stopped by the Egyptians. In this plain of Baideah, Pharaoh had the Israelites hemmed in on all sides. This then, according to all appearance, is the spot where the passage through the sea was effected. Such is the judgment of Sicard and of Raumer (Der Zug der Israelites, Leipzig, 1837; for a description of the Valley of Wandering see also Ritter, Erdkunde, 1. 855). It cannot be denied that this route satisfies all the conditions of the case. Equally does the spot correspond with the miraculous narrative furnished by holy writ. A different route is laid down by Niebuhr (Arab. p. 407). Other writers, who, like him, endeavour to explain the facts without the aid of miracle, imitate his example.