5. The Exodus

The difficulty of the work of liberation. – The starting point of the movement out of Egypt and the plan of the exodus itself. – The encampment by the Red Sea. – The pursuit. – Terror among the Israelites. – The self-possession and courage of Moses. – Between the raging sea and the deadly chariots. – The tides of the Red Sea. – The crossing of the Israelites. – The destruction of Pharaoh’s host. – The exultation of the people. – Brugsch’s theory. – The identity of the Pharaoh who perished in the sea.

A gigantic task lay before the liberator of the people of Israel, one with which only a man of extraordinary genius and gigantic will could have coped. First of all, it was necessary to organize, more or less in good order, the movement of this two-million-strong mass of people; to single out the most able-bodied men and arm them in case of a hostile attack; to organize the commissariat for such an enormous number of people; to inspire this whole mass with a single thought of freedom; and finally, to choose such a route of march as would present the best chances of penetrating beyond the frontier fortifications and would ensure a more rapid attainment of the goal.

The starting point of the movement was Rameses, one of the fortified cities built by the forced labor of the Israelites. The people, scenting freedom, set off briskly on their way. They still had abundance of everything; they had no conception of the privations and wants that lay before them, and they were animated by a single thought of that promised land flowing with milk and honey, and would have wished to be led straight thither. This last wish seemed to be fulfilled when, after a short rest at the place of assembly, the leaders led the people straight onto the Palestinian road and, having gone about twenty-five versts in a north-easterly direction, along the line of the fresh-water canal running toward one of the Bitter Lakes, halted and encamped at Succoth, that is, “tents,” where there had surely once been the station of some pastoral tribe. There was water enough along the whole way, but many of the women must already have been lagging behind, the children growing exhausted and falling ill, the cattle worn out and dropping—an inevitable phenomenon in a mass and, moreover, a hurried march. Besides this, timidity surely crept into the souls of many of the less hardy men when they involuntarily recalled that before them stretched an unbroken fortified wall, and that before they could penetrate beyond it into the free wilderness they would have to encounter the well-armed and disciplined troops that guarded this fortified wall. On the following day they had to halt already within sight of the forts of Etham, one of the strongholds of this wall, in the eastern corner of the wilderness of the same name. At the sight of the menacing bastions of the fortress the fear grew still greater, and although the Israelites were yet on Egyptian soil, there were already heard among them voices expressing regret at having left Egypt: better to have remained in bondage there than to die in the wilderness[1].

The great leader, however, knew not only the character of his people, but also the relations in which Egypt stood with the princes of Canaan, and therefore he had foreseen everything—how and whither to lead them. He knew that he would first of all be exposed to attack from the garrisons of the Egyptian frontier wall; but that, if he should succeed in breaking through this wall, then from the other side the princes of Canaan would not be slow to fall upon him, for they would not fail to profit at the expense of so great a prize. It was necessary to avoid all this. Moses therefore turned sharply from Etham toward the south and led his people parallel with the wall, at a distance of several versts from it. This movement was extremely hurried, since the garrisons of the fortresses might make an attack at any convenient moment, and therefore during the march there was less rest than there should have been. At length, near the Red Sea, they reached a place called Pi-hahiroth—“the place where the reed grows”—before Baal-zephon, as the Phoenician mariners called the mountain ridge lying beyond the present-day town of Suez[2]. There they could pitch their tents and refresh their strength with rest, amid abundant springs of fresh water and excellent pastures. Thus all the Egyptian frontier fortresses were skirted, and for a time the people were in safety, finding themselves upon the unguarded spit of the Red Sea, on the site of present-day Suez. By this was avoided the danger of a collision with the disciplined troops of the frontier wall.

In such a movement one cannot but see a deeply considered plan, designed to deceive the vigilance of the Egyptian frontier garrisons. The approach to the fortress of Etham, and then the swift withdrawal from it and disappearance into the wilderness, might lead the fortress garrisons to suppose that Moses had abandoned his intention of breaking through the wall, had lost his way, and had wandered astray in the wilderness. But the first approach had, nevertheless, alarmed them. The fortress watches were reinforced, and the troops surely made ready either to repel the advancing mass of people or to attack it directly, should such an order be received. Not knowing where the attempt to cross the frontier would be made, the garrisons surely stood ready under arms, sending messengers to Pharaoh at Tanis, demanding reinforcements and reporting that the advancing horde had vanished into the wilderness in a south-westerly direction; naturally, in consequence of this, Pharaoh might have formed the supposition that the slaves who had fled from him “are entangled in the land, the wilderness hath shut them in”[3].

The tidings from the frontier fortresses must have shown Pharaoh that Moses had indeed the intention of leading his people finally out of Egypt, and not merely of a temporary sojourn in the wilderness for the purpose of performing religious rites and festivals, as Pharaoh might have supposed even after all that had passed between himself and Moses, in his contemptuous view of the incapacity of a slave race for the lofty ideas of freedom.

“What is this that we have done?” he now said wrathfully to the ministers about him. “Why have we let Israel go, that they should not serve us?”[4]. With the utmost reluctance had he let them go even into the wilderness for a religious festival—he had let them go only because he could not but let them go. But now, when it had become known that these slaves had resolved to flee from the land altogether, they must be stopped, they must be hindered at all costs. True, they were already far enough away; but he had cavalry, which could overtake them. Swiftly, therefore, he ordered a pursuit to be made ready. As an advance detachment he sent forth six hundred of his best chariots, behind which the main forces also set out. Burning with vengeance against the despised fugitives, and savoring in advance the pleasure of a fearsome onslaught of his lightning cavalry upon the terror-stricken Israelites, Pharaoh himself set out at the head of the advance detachment. The Egyptian Pharaohs were passionate lovers of cavalry, which was their pride and glory. Enormous expenditures went upon it, since each soldier had a separate chariot, drawn by a pair of beautiful, strong, and swift horses.

Between the departure of the Israelites and the pursuit after them, however, a considerable time must of necessity have passed. So great was the reverence of the Egyptians for the dead that the most important political circumstances could not interrupt the whole ceremonial etiquette which Pharaoh performed in honor of his deceased son and heir. Besides this, similar rites were performed over the deceased firstborn in the families of the warriors as well. According to the court ceremonial, up to seventy-two days[5] were required for the mourning of Pharaoh’s son, and during this time all other affairs were laid aside. Only after ten weeks following the death was the mummy of the deceased placed in the burial vault, with the rites requisite on such an occasion, set forth in detail in the “Book of the Dead.”

But if Pharaoh was compelled to defer the pursuit so long, then now all the more swiftly was he obliged to set out after the fugitives. He swiftly made ready his magnificent squadrons, and the war-chariots swept on like a whirlwind with their splendid steeds, which, in the words of an ancient papyrus, “were swift as jackals, with eyes of fire, and with a fury like a hurricane destroying all things.” The disastrous lot of the Israelites seemed inevitable. They, meanwhile, having struck camp, were advancing slowly toward the Red Sea, desiring to reach it by the afternoon at the time of the ebb tide[6]. The beating of the waves upon the seashore was already audible, when suddenly behind them clouds of dust appeared upon the horizon, which gave notice of the pursuit. Terror seized them all, and again there began a desperate murmuring of the faint-hearted against their leader. In view of the inevitable destruction the murmuring turned into accusations, in which there sounded the bitter sneer of despair. “Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness?[7]” murmured the people. “What is this thou hast done unto us, in bringing us forth out of Egypt? Did we not tell thee in Egypt, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it had been better for us to be in bondage to the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness”[8]. In this murmuring there sounded the malicious faint-heartedness of slaves, for whom the chains of bondage are dearer than freedom attained by daring and courage. One may imagine how grievous was the position of Moses. But the great leader, calm even in the presence of fearful danger, knew how to allay the alarm in good time, before it had yet passed into a ruinous panic. “Fear ye not, stand still!” he said in a thunderous voice. “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace”[9]. These words had a calming effect upon the multitude, and it began to await its fate, which was undoubtedly soon to be decided. The sea heaved tempestuously in front, while behind already appeared the foremost ranks of the pursuers. The danger was fearful, but Jehovah heard the cry of Moses and commanded the people to go forward, notwithstanding the raging waves, promising that the sea would part before them and present a broad path for their passage[10].

At the place where Suez lies, the western shore juts so far into the sea that the gulf narrows and is only about one verst in width; whereas to the south of this town the water reaches far into the interior of the mainland to the westward, and here the gulf is from five to seven versts in width. The bottom of this gulf is sandy and rocky, firm and even, here and there covered with seaweed. Sandbanks from the eastern shore run far into the gulf, and during the ebb tide, with the exception of a small space, they are either wholly laid bare or are only barely covered by the water. Such especially is the southern shoal, by which even now men commonly cross on foot at low tide, though even here the depth reaches five feet[11]. This very ford was probably the place which Moses made use of in order to lead across to the other side the people whom he had taken into his charge and under his responsibility. The flood and ebb, especially in the narrow northern ford, are for the most part caused by the wind customary in these parts. When a strong north-easterly wind blows, it drives the water southward, into the gulf by the western shore, in consequence of which four islands are formed at Suez, separated one from another and from the mainland by narrow but fairly deep channels. Not far off is the northern ford, by which at low tide one may likewise cross on foot—especially those well acquainted with the bottom. The water in the times of the Exodus seems to have reached somewhat farther than now, and one may think that one of these sandbanks served as the place of the crossing of the Israelites, under the miraculous leadership of Moses. “It would be a great error to imagine,” justly says so profound a writer as Niebuhr, “that the crossing of such an enormous mass here could have been accomplished by purely natural means. By this route the caravans do not now travel from Cairo to Sinai, although it would considerably shorten the distance. But still less was it possible for the Israelites to cross here without any higher aid, because the sea was then evidently far deeper and broader. Not only has the water since that time retreated farther to the south, but the very bottom has risen considerably from the sands borne for ages out of the wilderness”[12].

Night came on—dark and stormy; a strong north-easterly wind whipped the sea into foam and drove the water during the ebb toward the south-western gulf, so that the sandy ridge of the ford was completely laid bare. The water remaining on the left side of the ford, and the open sea on the right, formed as it were two walls of water, guarding the flanking approaches to the crossing. The storm prolonged the ebb and delayed the coming of the flood for time enough that the Israelites managed to cross over to the other side with all their flocks, naturally hastening under the influence of fear of the pursuit that was bearing down upon them and that had perhaps halted only for the night. Doubtless it was a fearful night, as one may judge from the description of the sacred poet who sang of this memorable moment in the history of his people centuries afterward: “The clouds poured out water, the skies sent out a sound, and thine arrows went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven; the lightnings lightened the world; the earth trembled and shook”[13].

No sooner had the Israelites managed to cross over to the eastern shore than the Egyptians too appeared at the western shore. What were they to do? Should they at once plunge into the ford, or seek a roundabout way to intercept the fugitives by a dry route? Men and horses were wearied by the forced march, and the night was fearfully dark. The way was shown to the people of Israel during the day by a pillar of cloud, and during the night by a pillar of fire—as may often be seen even now in the East, where lights are commonly kept burning before the troops, as well-known guiding signals[14]. Catching sight of such a light, which might appear to be precisely such a signal, Pharaoh resolved to pursue his prey at once. Thinking that the storm would yet long hold back the flood, and seeing his prey so near, he gave no heed to prudence and rushed with his squadrons into the ford, directing his course by the guiding fire, which must have marked the place where the very leader of the fugitives was to be found. Meanwhile, according to the description of Josephus Flavius, a fearful and stormy downpour burst forth, with thunder and lightning, and together with the gusty wind it threw the pursuers involuntarily into confusion; they, at the same time, seeing the fires kindled in various places among the Israelites to point out the way to the several companies, lost their direct course and in their confusion groped their way somehow along the ford. But now, when the whole host was already in the midst of the crossing, the wind instantly changed its direction and blew with its former fury from the side of the sea. The flood, long held back by it, now all the more furiously rushed toward the shore, and the foaming waves began to inundate the ford. To go forward was therefore impossible; but so too was it to go back, because the wheels stuck fast and sank in the sand; from the violent plunging of the maddened horses the axles broke and the warriors fell into the water. At the sight of the advancing flood terror seized the Egyptians. But escape was already impossible. The south-westerly wind blew with savage force out of the ravines of the neighboring mountains and furiously drove the water, which more and more inundated the ford. Upon it the Egyptians struggled desperately. The desperate cries of the perishing men and the snorting of the frightened horses, struggling helplessly in the harness of the chariots that had sunk in the sand, presented a fearful picture, heightened by the impenetrable darkness of the night and the roar of the maddened element. But the struggle was not long. The element prevailed, and in the morning the shores were strewn with the corpses of the Egyptians who had perished in that night, among whom was Pharaoh himself, Thothmes IV.

Near the place where the Israelites came out upon the eastern shore, a plain runs from the sea, leading to a fertile oasis known even now by the name of Ayun Musa—“the Springs of Moses”—at a distance of a quarter of an hour’s journey from the shore. The springs that gush forth here water the soil and produce luxuriant vegetation. Tall and spreading palms, leafy acacias, and tamarisks make of this oasis a paradisal islet amid the wilderness, and three thousand years ago its vegetation was by all indications still richer, and the oasis itself was incomparably larger. Here, surely, the Israelites encamped after the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea. Their miraculous deliverance from the fearful danger filled them with indescribable rapture. An almost helpless throng, burdened with women, children, and cattle, they had been between two deadly foes: in front raged the furious sea, and behind bore down the deadly chariots of Pharaoh—and suddenly the sea parted before them, they passed through it, and the pursuers who had rushed after them were overwhelmed by the foaming waves. Understandably, they could in no wise ascribe this salvation to themselves; it was in the proper sense miraculous, and now the people exultantly rejoiced, glorifying Jehovah and their valiant leader Moses. Jehovah, evidently, is God above and mightier than all gods. All hearts were filled with the highest gratitude. In such great historic moments the soul of a people expresses itself in marvelously poetic creations, and the soul of the people of Israel expressed itself with inspiration in that song of praise which became the historic covenant of the people and served as the foundation of its religious and civil poetry in all succeeding ages. “Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord”:

I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously,

The horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.

The Lord is my strength and glory:

He is become my salvation,

He is my God, and I will glorify Him,

My father’s God, and I will exalt Him![15].

Uttered in all probability by a single voice from some lofty rock adjoining the oasis, this song was, in its refrains, exultantly taken up by the people, by the women and maidens of Israel. After the great historic song there began a simple popular rejoicing and festival. Miriam, the worthy sister of the great brother-liberators, formed the choral dances, and with a timbrel in her hand inspired the women and maidens to dances, songs, and games. This was the happiest day in the history of the chosen people.

So extraordinary an event could not, of course, pass unremarked in the world of that time, and traditions of it were long preserved among the neighboring peoples. The tribes to the east of the Red Sea, says Diodorus Siculus, who was in Egypt not long before the Nativity of Christ, “have a tradition, handed down through the ages, that once the whole gulf, during a strong ebb tide, was laid bare of water, which stood as walls on either side, making the bottom visible.” The Greek Artapanus, who also lived not long before the Nativity of Christ and wrote a book about the Jews, fragments of which have been preserved by Eusebius, says that “the priests of Memphis were wont to relate that Moses had carefully studied the time of the ebb and flow of the Red Sea, and led his people across it when the shoals were completely laid bare. But the priests of Heliopolis tell this story otherwise. They say that when the king of Egypt was pursuing the Jews, Moses smote the waters with his rod, and they parted, so that the Israelites could pass as upon dry land. But when the Egyptians too resolved to set out upon this perilous way, they were blinded by fire from heaven, the sea rushed upon them, and they all perished, partly by the lightning, partly by the waves”[16].

The famous Egyptologist Brugsch put forward a new theory concerning the place of the exodus, which has aroused considerable interest in the learned world[17]. He supposes that the Israelites went not at all by the southern road to Suez, as described above, but to the north-east, in the direction of Pelusium. Baal-zephon, in his opinion, was a temple on Mount Casius, already beyond the Egyptian frontier wall, in the direction of Canaan. Since this road does not lead across the Red Sea, but far to the north of it, Brugsch thinks that instead of the biblical “Red Sea” one should read “Sea of Reeds,” a name commonly given not only to the inlets of the Red Sea filled with seaweed, but chiefly to the broad and fearful marshes known under the name of the Serbonian lakes, between Pelusium and Goshen, by the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Between these lakes and the Mediterranean Sea there still passes even now a narrow coastal strip, which may serve as a route of communication between Egypt and Palestine, but during storms is inundated by the waves of the sea. By this very route, according to his supposition, the Israelites were led, while during the passage of Pharaoh’s host a storm arose which began to inundate this coastal strip, in consequence of which the host fell into confusion and terror, lost its true direction, and perished in the waves. However ingenious this theory may be in itself, it is impossible to accept it—and not only because it departs far from the biblical text, but also because the latest investigations not only fail to confirm it, but on the contrary compel its complete abandonment, notwithstanding the learned authority of its famous author. The fact is that the latest investigations have proved the utter impossibility of passage along this coastal line, since in some places it is completely interrupted. Perhaps the coast has changed since that time; but even in that case it seems improbable that Moses would have led his people by precisely this route, since here he would have been compelled to break through the fortifications of Pelusium, which barred this very road.

As for the identity of the Pharaoh who perished in the waves together with his picked cavalry, then, notwithstanding the obscurity that prevails in this respect, one may think that he was none other than the grandson of the chief oppressor of the people, Thothmes IV. From the monuments it is evident that his reign was short and inglorious, which fully accords with the biblical data. The tablet between the paws of the great Sphinx at Gizeh and the obelisk now standing in Rome—these are almost the only monuments preserved from this Pharaoh. One inscription, discovered upon a granite rock opposite the island of Philae on the Nile, contains a peculiar feature characterizing this Pharaoh. After the customary grandiloquent appellations and titles given to him, it suddenly breaks off, ending with the significant particle but… evidently pointing to the calamities and misfortunes that marked his reign[18]. The opinion that Thothmes IV was precisely the Pharaoh who perished in the Red Sea is further confirmed by the fact that, notwithstanding the most careful searches, not even a trace of the tomb of this Pharaoh has hitherto been found in the royal sepulcher near Thebes, where all the Pharaohs of the eighteenth dynasty lie; although, however, the tomb of his successor Amenophis III was discovered in a valley adjoining the burial place of the other Pharaohs[19]. In general the history of this period is exceedingly dark and confused, which is fully natural in view of the fearful calamities that befell the country. In the very succession to the throne some enigmatic changes took place, and the Pharaoh who perished was succeeded not by his son, but by some interloper, not even of pure Egyptian blood. In this, again, one cannot but see a striking confirmation of the biblical narrative, that during the last plague the firstborn of Pharaoh also perished, the lawful heir to his throne[20].