Possible Scientific Explanation Behind Biblical Parting Of Red Sea
- 9 years ago
The bible tells a story of the Red Sea parting for Moses. While it's nearly impossible to prove whether this event was real, an atmospheric phenomenon causing water to move is.
The bible says the Red Sea parted to allow for Moses and fleeing Israelites to escape the Egyptians. Now there appears to be some scientific truth behind the tale.
For believers, the only way such a phenomenon could occur was through divine intervention. But according to software engineer Carl Drews, it was the weather.
Drews originally began studying the Red Sea story for his atmospheric and ocean sciences master's thesis at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Using archeological evidence, Drews theorized that it wasn't the Red Sea, but rather the Eastern Nile Delta, specifically an area of water known as the Lake of Tanis, which separated.
It's possible that very strong winds, known as a "wind setdown," blew from the east, causing a storm surge which cleared an area of the lake by pushing water away.
Computer-generated models were used to construct the landscape of 1250 B.C. and show what could have occurred.
Science journal 'PLOS One' published Drews' thesis, and it's backed by his employer, the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
There are still many variables that make this difficult to prove, including if Drews' ancient geography is correct, and whether the bible is relaying an actual event or fiction.
The bible says the Red Sea parted to allow for Moses and fleeing Israelites to escape the Egyptians. Now there appears to be some scientific truth behind the tale.
For believers, the only way such a phenomenon could occur was through divine intervention. But according to software engineer Carl Drews, it was the weather.
Drews originally began studying the Red Sea story for his atmospheric and ocean sciences master's thesis at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Using archeological evidence, Drews theorized that it wasn't the Red Sea, but rather the Eastern Nile Delta, specifically an area of water known as the Lake of Tanis, which separated.
It's possible that very strong winds, known as a "wind setdown," blew from the east, causing a storm surge which cleared an area of the lake by pushing water away.
Computer-generated models were used to construct the landscape of 1250 B.C. and show what could have occurred.
Science journal 'PLOS One' published Drews' thesis, and it's backed by his employer, the National Center for Atmospheric Research.
There are still many variables that make this difficult to prove, including if Drews' ancient geography is correct, and whether the bible is relaying an actual event or fiction.