Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-27
THE EXODUS,
Or the Passage of the Isrssiites Across
the Red Sea.

Or the Passage of the Isrssiites Across
the Red Sea.
The quarterly statement of the Pales-
tine exploration fund for April Of this
year, says the London Post, contains an
article by Prof H iii, OF Dub
lin, on ''The Relations of Land and Sea in
the lsthmus OF Suez at the time OF tue
Exodus wherein he deals with the
question of the actual position of the pas
sage of the Red sea by the children OF
Israel. Prof. Hull justly remarks that,
according to the present position OF land
ana water, there is a direct landWay
across into the wilderness of Ethan, and
he asks whether, if at the time OF the
exodus the physical conditions OF the dls-
trict north of Suez had been the same as
they are now (of course he disregards for
the moment the existence of the onez
canal), there would have been cause for
the cry of despair from the lraelltes, or
the necessity for the stupendOus miracle
of deliverance such as the Bible narrative
relates? He then proceeds to snow
that the beds of sand and gravel contain
ing shells, coral and other marine FORMS
now existing in the waters of the Guu OF
SueZ (which beds are found on either side
of that gulf up to at least 200 feet above
plete evidence of the elevation of
the whole land area OF that par
ticular region, but that this elevation
must have taken place at time long
antecedeut to that of the Exodus. He
points out, what is true, that Il at the
time of the exodus an elevation OF not
more than from % to 80 feet had remained
to be effected, the land now forming the
southern part of the Isthmus OF SueZ
would have been submerged by the waters
of the Red sea, and he regards it as in the
highest degree probable that as far back
as the time "When the exodus took
place the waters of the Red Sea eX-
tended northward, up the valley at least
as far as the Bitter Lakes, producing
a channel 20 to so feet in depth, and
perhaps a mile in breadth; a terrible bar
rier to the Israelites, and sufficient to in
duce a cry of despair from the whole Hul-
titude." Having quite recently traVersed
the whole isthmus, making special eX-
animation of the portion between lsmaI-
Iva and SueZ, the following incident,
which then occurred, appears to me to be
worthy of notice, inasmuch as it is emf
npntlY cOrrObOratlVe of DR.. HulPs view /:
While engaged with other members Of the
International Commission upon the inves-
tigatiOn of various matters connected
with the question Of improving the Suez
canal, some of our party landed from time
to time, and on one occasion at point be-
tween what is now the north end of the
Gulf OF SueZ and the south of BitterLakes,
not. in fact, very far to the north Of
the bridge of boats by which the
pilgrims from Mecca cross the canal.
Desiring to test for myself the character
and hardness of the unbrOken ground at
this point, and height of about twelve
or fifteen feet above sea level, the first
stroke of a pick turned up from three
inches below the surface thick cake of
a dull white substance, which at the mo
ment appeared tO'be gypsum, and, while
stopping to take it up, | remarked accord
ingly, but simultaneously a colleague
who was standing at ne side exclaimed,
salt" On asking him how it came to
pass that he 50 instantly arrived at this
conclusion be replied that the whole
district thereabOut was full of such
salt. When it is explained that
this gentleman had the engineer
ing charge of a considerable length Of
this part of the SueZ canal at the time
the work was in course of construction,
and consequently had thus acquired an
intimate knowledge of this district, and
also that on testing the ground at other
points whereabouts l found salt existing
below thin covering of sand at heights
considerably above the sea level. there is
ample warrant for saying, as l have done,
that the extensive existence of salt in
this form and at such height cannot be
regarded otherwise than as a proof that
the waters of the Red sea did at one time
extend as far north as the Bitter lakes.
A specimen nearly an inch thick is before
me as l write.
Further evidence that some period an
tecedent to the formation Of the SueZ ca
nal the sea extended as far up the isthmus
as the Bitter lakes is found in a remarka-
BILE sample of salt which was cut from the
bottom of the Bitter lakes by the engineers
of the Suez Canal Company before the sea
was let in to effect the completion of the
water communication between the north
ern and southern sections of the work,
This block of salt, to which my attention
was directed by Nj. de Lesseps, is pre-
served in the courtyard attached to the
offices of the canal company at lsmailiya.
1t is fully seven feet in height, and, ac-
cording to NJ. VOlsin Bey, who at the time
it was taken out acted as the cOmpany's
chief engineer in Egypt, salt certainly
existed to still greater depth, but to
what precise extent is not known. | may
here mention that while passing over
the 1900 miles from the Strait
of Bah ell Mandeb to Sucz the
water of the Red sea is so far changed by
evaporation that samples taken from the
surface at Suez have been proved to be
nearly two parts in 1000 salter than those
at Bah ell Mandeb. 1t should be borne in
mind, moreover, that an exceptionally
great amount of evaporation would me-
cessarily take place within such a COM
paratIYely shallow INLAND basin as that of
the Bitter lakes, having its surface swept
by the hot dry air of the Arabian desert,
and shut in from the Mediterranean by
high land at Serapeum Immediately to
the north, or, at any rate, by the still
higher ridge of country at FL Guisr.
These conditions would obviously con-
tribute to the formation of such a re-
markable deposit of salt as is found in the
specimen above described.
A peculiar feature in this specimen is
the presence of thin layer OF sand, most
probably caused during the prevalence of
violent sOutherly winds, which from
time to time raise the sea level OF Suez
nearly three feet above that of an ordinary
spring tide in calm weather. The strong
current to the northward on such occa-
siOnS would be sure to carry considera-
BILE quantity of sand into the Bitter lakes,
sufficient, it may be assumed, to account
for the layers of sand in question. The
facts to which l have here called
attention appear to me I'M
questionably to confirm the view enter
tanned by Prof. Hull. Feeling with him
that, according to this view, the physical
conditions at the time of the Exodus Will
be brought into harmony with the Bible
narrative, and that the difficulty which
has hitherto surrounded the subject of the
passage of the Israelites through the Red
sea will thus have been to a great extent
removed. 1 have ventured to send you
the result Of my own recent personal OBJ
servations, In the hope that the interest of
the subject may secure a place for this
letter IN your columns.
SECrS IN IERusAI,ENI