Bob CollinsThe National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado have figured out how the Red Sea could part, allowing Moses and the Israelites to leave Egypt as described in the Book of Exodus.
The two have released a study that says it could have been the wind.
The computer simulations show that a strong east wind, blowing overnight, could have pushed water back at a bend where an ancient river is believed to have merged with a coastal lagoon along the Mediterranean Sea. With the water pushed back into both waterways, a land bridge would have opened at the bend, enabling people to walk across exposed mud flats to safety. As soon as the wind died down, the waters would have rushed back in.
“People have always been fascinated by this Exodus story, wondering if it comes from historical facts,” researcher Car Drews says. “What this study shows is that the description of the waters parting indeed has a basis in physical laws.”
Previous researchers have claimed that a 74 mph wind from the northwest could’ve exposed a reef.
Researchers did not hazard a guess as to what — or who — caused the wind.
