names

demain wherewith a scholar at home in a given field can frame a plausible argument in any direction. A fundamental objection to his theory is the fact that the Yam Suph of the Hebrew, which he would transmute into the Serbonian Bog, was definitely settled by a body of Jewish scholars at Alexandria, who wrote in Greek when the Egyptian was a living tongue, and who in the Septuagint, finished two hundred years B. C., distinctly give it as the Red Sea. And the phrase occurs not alone, as Schleiden intimates, in the Jehovistic, but in the Elohistic portion of the Pentateuch. The attempt of any modern scholar to unsettle, by his derivations and speculations, such a weight of testimony, is more daring than hopeful. Mr. Birch ("History of Egypt," p. 141) speaks of "the difficulty of allowing the coincidence of some of the Hebrew and Egyptian as laid down by Brugsch; and Mr. Poole ("Contemporary Review," March, 1879) demurs, on linguistic grounds, to the attempt to make Succoth from Thokot, and Etham from Khetam; while, moreover, Succoth is a good Hebrew word for "tents" or booths. We may mention also the extreme improbability of being able to trace after this vast interval a name (Succoth) attached to no natural object, but designating a camping-ground, or of now identifying a locality, like Etham, "in the edge of the wilderness," which could have had no intrinsic importance to transmit its name and location. This also is a sufficient answer to those who expect us to find still existing the names for these and many other of the places in the Hebrew itinerary. The expectation is unreasonable. The "Edinburgh Review," already referred to, endeavors with no little force to show that much of Brugsch's route is a recent formation or deposit of the Nile; and, with still more force, that the distances are wholly incompatible with the narrative-distances that "would have tried the endurance of a picked German army to cover in the time. In the first three days eighty geographical miles, and in the second three (or at most four) days an equal distance, are supposed to have been covered by the fugitives," consisting of men, women, children, and flocks, heavily burdened. Another instance of the confusion of his theory is found in the fact that while the Scripture speaks of Baal Zephon, which is "before (in front of) Pihahiroth," Brugsch finds the former (says this writer) in "a great newlyformed sand-dune twenty-five [geographical] miles" away. Other grave objections might be mentioned, but these are surely enough.

The alternative choice is the southern march toward the Gulf of Suez. Here, some writers (M. Ritt, M. de Lesseps, and others) have

endeavored to find a crossing of the marshes or by some narrow track (such as the heights of Serapeum or of Chaloof), assuming that the Red Sea then extended as far as the Bitter Lakes, if not to the Crocodile Lake. But, while it is not improbable that the drifting in of the sand may have somewhat lessened the northern extent of the sea or gulf, the notion that the gulf extended even to the Bitter Lakes during the present geologic period, or certainly during historic times, may be dismissed for two valid reasons: first, because the heights between are a tertiary formation; second, because the ancient canal, still to be traced not far north of the Gulf of Suez, was constructed there as early as the time of Darius—a proof that there then existed no natural connection between the Red Sea and the Bitter Lakes.* We can dismiss all theories of a crossing much north of the vicinity of Suez.

But just south of Suez are found all the requisites of the Scripture narrative-" entangling land" and a wilderness to "shut them in," a place of encampment "by the sea," wind, high and low water, a possible passage, a practicable distance, and a natural connection with the subsequent journey. The landmarks are here, and apparently one of the names, "Hahiroth," in Ajrood, and the traditional name of "Moses's Wells" on the opposite shore. That the names should not be universally or generally traceable through the journey, except in some frequented watering-place like these, is perfectly natural in a region where there has never been a settled population. Names perish, though landmarks remain.

At the northwestern side of the Gulf of Suez lies a plain ten miles long and nearly as broad. Accepting Ajrood at its northern extremity for Hahiroth (Pi-hahiroth, with the Egyptian article prefixed), where the name is handed down in connection with the deep well which made it a place of resort, "Migdol" may have been at Bir Suweis, two miles north of Suez, where are two wells of brackish water and a stone building of the seventeenth century, in a region where Seti I is shown by Chabas to have visited "Maktal" built over a well; and "Baal Zephon" may well have been the high and precipitous mountain Jebel Atakah, the chief object in full view of Ajrood, shutting down sharply to the western shore some distance southwest of Suez, and sweeping off indefinitely westward. Here they were absolutely shut in by Jebel Atakah in front, and the sea on the east, extending two miles or more north of Suez and termi*The detailed proof of this and some other points can not be given here, but may be found in the author's "From Egypt to Sinai."

nating in a marshy region, and with the enemy in the rear. The Gulf of Suez is, for variableness of depth, a singular body of water. In a line running southeast from the town, directly toward "the wells of Moses," is a comparatively shallow region where at low tide the Arabs have always, prior to the dredging of a channel for the ship-canal, been in the habit of fording the gulf, and where they now pass, after crossing the dredged channel with a boat. This passage is now a little less than three miles in length, with much deeper water on each side. When a northeasterly wind concurs with low tide on the one hand, or a strong southerly wind with high tide on the other, the difference in depth, as shown by the Maritime Canal Company's chart, amounts to ten feet and seven inches. The Scripture narrative distinctly introduces the wind, which blew "all that night and made the sea dry" (Ex. xiv, 21), and again says in the sequel (xv, 10), "Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them.”* The distance across and the time assigned, as shown by Dr. Robinson in detail, would correspond with what was practicable for such a host. "The waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left," that is, completely protected their flanks from attack. With the morning light came the returning tide and changing wind, and the fate which Napoleon narrowly escaped at another ford two miles north befell the Egyptian army.

When fairly across, the Israelites were but three or four miles from Moses's Wells; indeed, their front ranks would be wellnigh there. Another point on the march is ascertainable beyond reasonable doubt, namely, the "encampment by the sea." And the way to this spot is unmistakable, shut in on the west by the sea, and on the east by the impassable Et-Tih mountain-range. The intermediate points, before reaching the encampment by the sea, are not difficult to determine by the distances and other circumstances. Elim is found at Wady Gharandel, with its somewhat copious watersupply, still oozing forth from several springs, and its palm-trees, living and dead, not quite so numerous as then-"threescore and ten." Marah is not quite so clearly at Hawwarah. The route from the sea to Sinai is, in its main features, not difficult to determine.

* It has sometimes been objected as an inconsistency to recognize the introduction of a natural cause here. But the inconsistency would be in not recognizing a fact explicitly asserted in the narrative itself. The prevalent winds are north or northwest winds, but "the most terrible," says M. Mauriac, the engineer of the Canal Company, are "those from the southwest," which would accompany the returning tide.

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Unless they retraced their steps from the sea, which is not to be unnecessarily assumed, their journey would lie over the plain of El Murkha along the coast, a plain which would correspond to the Desert of Sin, and, by reason of the oppressiveness of a spot where my thermometer on the 11th of February, 1874, rose to 96° at noon (though but 44° by the sea in the morning), would explain the first 'murmuring" of Israel. A part of the host may have struck diagonally across the plain into Wady Shellal, and so past Wady Maghara-then probably deserted by the Egyptians-through Mukatteb to Wady Feiran. But the more encumbered portion and their "wagons" would have gone along the seacoast (a weary journey) to the mouth of Wady Feiran, a valley ranging in width from half a mile to two miles or more, and inclosed by high, precipitous walls. By the route thus indicated, a carriage can be driven all the way from the Wells of Moses by way of Wadys Feiran and es Sheikh to Mount Sinai.* Feiran preserves the ancient name (transferred) of the northern desert of Paran or Pharan. They would hardly fail to make a camping-ground at the great oasis of Feiran, where a fine brook flows along, and a palm-grove, two miles long, is succeeded by a grove of tamarisks, and where the Bedouins still raise wheatcrops, and gather dates and gum-arabic. Just before arriving there is a natural location for "Rephidim" and the struggle with Amalek, after a journey (from the encampment by the sea) singularly destitute of water-supplies, and therefore attended with distress. Serbal, just south, has been held by some for Sinai. But no one who has made the exceedingly difficult and toilsome ascent (as did the present writer), and has noted the entire absence of either camping or standing ground for a great company in any such proximity to the mountain as the narrative requires, will for a moment accept the claims as compared with those of the commonly received Sinai, namely, Gebel Musa, or rather its northern peak, Ras Sufsafeh. This lies some thirty miles (by a winding way) southeast, and meets all the conditions of the law-giving and the sojourn of some months: the great plain on which two million people could stand, and see the top of the mountain that rises sharply from the

* Wellsted comments admirably on the correspondence in the time of march; fifteen hours is the distance to Hawwarah, on which they spent three days. "If they marched five hours on each of the three days, traveling with their baggage and effects that would be as much as we could expect. . . . From Ras Selima [the encampment by the sea] to Mount Sinai are expressly made five more stations. We used twentyfive hours, which gives for the Israelites, again, five days' marches of five hours each."

southeastern terminus of the plain; large adjacent valleys; several little streams and fountains; more or less pasturage on the hill-tops and in the valleys; a soil in many spots capable of cultivation, and still producing large growths of various kinds of trees.

It is important to add that along many of the valleys of the Sinaitic Peninsula, notwithstanding the reckless havoc long made and still making annually by the Bedouins for charcoal, a very considerable number of trees are to be seen. The most abundant are the acacia, or "shittim-wood" of the Pentateuch. In some valleys (such as Wadys Gineh, or Igneh, and Sa'al) I counted several hundred in a grove, some of them large enough to furnish the planks of the tabernacle-" ten cubits" in length and "a cubit and a half" in breadth (Ex. xxvi, 16). The mines and remains of ash-heaps, in some places now wholly bare, indicate a much greater growth in former times. It may be added that in this region the writer and his company passed by or through valleys where, as we judged upon the spot, large numbers of cattle could have found pasturage when the vegetation, then (in February) just springing above the surface, should have grown ; and in some instances we saw flocks of sheep and goats busily nibbling high up among the rocks, where from below we had no suspicion of any vegetation. Besides such occasional flocks, and the camels of the Arabs, and asses at Feiran and Sinai, we also encountered (though the time of year was against us) the ibex, jerboa, hare, lizard (of large size), pigeon, raven, hawk, and small birds of various kinds, besides tracks of other animals, and at Arbain, near Sinai, the skin of a leopard recently killed.

Beyond Sinai the route of the Israelites is difficult to trace, for want of absolutely certain landmarks in the narrative. Whether Hudherah represents Hazeroth is questioned, and that the stone circles of Erweis el Ebeirig, discovered by Palmer (and visited by the writer), are to be connected with Kibroth Hattaavah, "the graves of lust," is thus far a doubtful speculation. Yet there is nothing incredible in the supposition of finding remains of the Hebrews, inasmuch as there are certainly in the peninsula much older remains of the Egyptians, including the name of the greatest pyramid-builder, at Maghara, together with trinkets and fragments of vessels found around the Egyptian temple at Surabit el Khadim. The characteristic Hebrew abstinence from carvings and inscriptions is so far unfavorable to the expectation. Yet a great company of people, with all their portable effects, stationary at times for months, would in all probability have left some of those effects,