Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The Exodus and the Border Gate at Sile

by John D. Keyser

The question has often been asked why a large group of people such as the Israelites, located near Egypt's northeastern border and suffering the sort of hardships that the Bible ascribes to them, should not simply have slipped across the frontier and disappeared into the desert. On a present-day map with the Suez Canal mentally removed, there seems to be more than sufficient open terrain for them to give the slip to, or even overpower, any roving bands of border guards. Think about it!

The Frontier Barrier

The answer to this enigma was revealed, some decades ago, by aerial photography:

"When aerial photography and on-the-spot surveying discovered the COURSE OF THE OLD PELUSIAC, or easternmost branch of the Nile, they also REVEALED A DISTINCT BUT ARTIFICIAL-LOOKING WATERWAY running northwards from Lake Timsah, disappearing into Lake Ballah, which the Egyptians appear to have known as the 'Papyrus Swamp,' and taking a dogleg course east and then northwards to join up with the Pelusiac mouth of the Nile. The discovery began to make sense of several previously puzzling early references to the 'WALL OF THE RULER' which...served to check Asiatic incursions in the wake of the troubles of the First Intermediate Period." [1]

While the original purpose of such a frontier had been to keep the Asiatics out, IT IS ALSO CLEAR THAT IT COULD SERVE TO KEEP THE ISRAELITES IN -- just as the Berlin Wall served to keep the East Germans within the Communist Block!

At Karnak in Egypt, a relief of Seti I, the father of Ramesses II, shows the pharaoh returning from an expedition to Canaan, and being separated from the welcoming Egyptians by a CROCODILE-INFESTED CANAL WHICH CAN BE SEEN TO FLOW INTO THE SEA.

According to Ian Wilson, "THE SOLE ROUTE TRAVERSING THE CANAL IS A BRIDGE COMMANDED BY THE KEY FORTRESS OF SILE, otherwise known, like the route it controlled, as WAT-HOR."

Also known as Tjaru, this was an ancient Egyptian fortress on the Way of Horus or Horus military road, the major road leading out of Egypt into Canaan. It was known in Greek as Sele, in Latin as Sile or Sele, and in Coptic as Sele or Sle. Towards the end of July 2007, archaeologists announced that this ancient Egyptian fortress was unearthed near the Suez Canal.

The Discovery of Sile

The massive fortress, discovered at a site called Tell-Huba near Qantarah, that could house as many as 56,000 troops, included the graves of soldiers and horses and once featured a giant water-filled moat. The discovery dated back prior to ancient Egypt's struggle to re-conquer the northern Sinai peninsula from the occupying Hyksos.

The campaign against the Hyksos was depicted in etchings on the walls of the Karnak Temple, 450 miles to the south of Cairo. The archaeologists said the new find showed those stone-chiselled tales to be surprisingly accurate. The bones of humans and horses found in the area attested dramatically to the reality of such battles.

Zahi Hawass, director general of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities (SCA) pointed out that, previously, the area was known only from depictions in temples elsewhere in Egypt. There was no first-hand evidence of what was happening there during the pharaonic period. The discovery was part of a broader effort called the North Sinai Archaeological Project, which was started in 1991 to identify and protect archaeological sites that were threatened by an industrial agriculture project.

The fort was unearthed by a team led by Mohammed Abdul Maqsoud of the SCA. Tjaru's mud brick walls were 42.7 feet thick, enclosing an area 1,640.4 feet by 820.2 feet. Twenty-four watchtowers loomed over the parapets. A deep moat ringed the entire complex. It was the biggest in a chain of eleven fortresses which stretched from Suez to the present-day city of Rafah on Egypt's border with the Palestinian territories.

The fort was built to secure the entrance to the delta and protect the city of Pi-Ramesses -- as well as prevent the captive Israelites from easily leaving the country. It demonstrated the importance to the Egyptians of securing the eastern border.

Much of this manoeuvring is described at Karnak, the massive temple complex near Luxor. The most surprising thing about the fort is how accurately its architecture was depicted at Karnak. The archaeologists found evidence of the exact buildings shown, as well as of the moat which surrounded the citadel and of the large, wooden beams which spanned it.

An expedition led by archaeologist James Hoffmeier of Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois, unearthed a smaller fort known as the Lion's Lair about four miles to the east of Tjaru at Tell el-Borg. Another small fortress seven miles away was unearthed by a French team.

The Canal and Wall

The reason for spending so much time and effort on this HUGE construction project is explained by Egyptologist W. A. Ward:

"This line of defense, once completed, would be a logical one, since it would guard the whole area FROM THE SOUTHEASTERN SHORE OF LAKE MANZALA TO LAKE TIMSAH. Its NORTHERN TERMINUS would be the LAND-ROUTE WHICH ENTERED EGYPT THROUGH the WAY-OF-HORUS (WAT-HOR) and its southern terminus at the entrance to the Wadi Tumilat at Ismailia. Precisely this region was the main point of entry for nomads wishing to move out of the desert into the Delta. A FORTIFIED CANAL, HALF-FILLED WITH WATER, would be an ideal defensive position, easily manned by troops and mobile units on rafts or small boats patrolling the length of the canal." [2]

Explains Ian Wilson:

"That this canal, which must surely be the one revealed by aerial photography, existed some centuries before the time of Seti I is strongly indicated by the discovery of several MIDDLE and early New Kingdom sites along its route. When all this evidence is put together, the only reasonable deduction is that CANAL AND WALL must have been created in one and the same operation, the latter, all trace of which has disappeared, having simply been MADE FROM THE MUD REMOVED TO FORM THE CANAL." [3]

Dating the Barrier

Evidence that this frontier barrier was in existence PRIOR to the Exodus is mentioned by George Rawlinson in his book, History of Ancient Egypt:

"...we find that, in one quarter at any rate, he [Amenemhat I of the 12th Dynasty] followed up his victories by BUILDING A WALL, or defensive work, upon his own frontiers, for the purpose of "keeping off the Sakti," or, in other words, of checking and repelling their incursions. THIS POST WAS PROBABLY A LITTLE TO THE EAST OF PELUSIUM, NEAR THE WESTERN EXTREMITY OF THE LAKE SERBONIS...." [4]

Further evidence of this huge barrier is found in the account of an individual by the name of SINUHE, who had trouble escaping from Egypt due to an obstacle he calls the "Wall of the Ruler." This account comes from the reign of Sesonchosis, the SUCCESSOR of Amenemhet I. It reads as follows: "I came up to the WALL OF THE RULER, made to oppose the Asiatics and crush the Sand-Crossers [Israelites?]. I took a crouching position in a bush for fear lest WATCHMEN UPON THE WALL where their day's [duty] was might see me." [5]

The IDEA of a frontier barrier was born in an even earlier reign when a pharaoh of unknown name produced a still extant set of instructions to his son Merikare, urging him to dig a canal from WAT-HOR to Lake Timsah: "Dig a canal until it is un(hindered); flood it half as far as Lake Timsah (Kmwr)."

According to Ian Wilson, "the pressure of historical circumstances seems to have prevented Merikare from carrying out his father's instructions, THE TASK SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN BROUGHT TO FRUITION IN THE REIGN OF THE TWELFTH-DYNASTY AMENEMHET I..." [6]

Which Route Did Moses Take?

The main caravan and military road from Egypt -- WAT-HOR, or the "way of the land of the Philistines" -- led from Memphis and followed the banks of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile to PI-RAMESSES or AVARIS. From here it passed through the frontier fortress of SILE and continued on to Pelusium, and thence to el'-Arish and Gaza, running parallel to the Mediterranean coast. THIS WAS THE QUICKEST WAY OUT OF EGYPT FROM PI-RAMESSES/AVARIS, AND THE QUICKEST WAY TO CANAAN!

Notice, now, how Immanuel Velikovsky describes the departure of the Israelites from Egypt:

"The following lines speak of a population escaping a DISASTER. "Men flee....Tents are what they make like the dwellers of the hills" (Papyrus 10:2). In the Book of Exodus it is said that the Israelites left the country "IN HASTE" (Exodus 12:33) and "COULD NOT TARRY" (12:39). No doubt flight and living in makeshift tents was shared by the majority of the survivors, as has happened many times since then whenever a VIOLENT SHOCK has occurred, DEVASTATING CITIES; a new shock is feared by those who have escaped with their lives.

"A "mixed multitude" of Egyptians joined the Israelite slaves, and with them HASTILY MADE TOWARD THE DESERT (Exodus 12:38)....The escaped slaves HURRIED ACROSS THE BORDER OF THE COUNTRY." [7]

In contrast to Herman L. Hoeh (of Ambassador College) having the Israelites travel SOUTH to the locale of Memphis and then crossing the desert to the Gulf of Suez [8] the children of Israel passed out of Egypt at THE NEAREST POINT -- at the frontier fortress of Sile.

Following the traumatic events of YEHOVAH's plagues and the insistence of the Egyptians, the children of Israel pulled up stakes and, traveling by night and by day, instead of taking the more DIRECT ROUTE along the Wat-Hor after crossing the border at Sile, they TURNED AND HEADED SOUTH. This road down into Sinai is described by Werner Keller:

"From the Nile to the mountains of the Sinai peninsula stretches AN ANCIENT BEATEN TRACK It was the road followed by the countless labour gangs and SLAVE GANGS who had been digging for copper and turquoise in the Sinai mountains since 3,000 B.C....IT WAS ALONG THIS ROAD TO THE MINES THAT MOSES LED HIS PEOPLE. It begins at Memphis, crosses the top of the Gulf, at what is now Suez, and then bends south along a waterless stretch of 45 miles, without a single oasis or spring....Fifteen miles farther on to the south, exactly a day's march, lies Wadi Gharande, a fine oasis with shady palms and plenty of water-holes." [9]

"Moses led them not along the road that tended to the land of the Philistines, but he was desirous that they should go through the DESERT...." [10]

Eventually they traversed the peninsula of Sinai to assemble on the beach at Pi-Hahiroth on the western shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. Here, in one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Old Testament, the Eternal God YEHOVAH parted the waters of the Red Sea, enabling the children of Israel to pass across to the land of Midian and the Mountain of YEHOVAH God.

Was Sinai a "Desert"?

It has been argued by some that Moses would have been insane to lead the Israelites into the wilderness of Sinai -- where water and pasture land for their flocks and herds was scarce in the arid interior. However, we must understand that the present-day climatic conditions of the Sinai peninsula are VASTLY DIFFERENT to what they were 3,500 years ago!

The Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, an extension of the Great Sahara, is among the driest deserts on Earth, but that wasn’t always the case. Geological evidence indicates that the Eastern Sahara has undergone climatic fluctuations of wet and dry episodes over the last two to three million years. Wadi El-Arish is one of the ephemeral rivers that were active during these wet phases, although at present, the tributaries of Wadi El-Arish are dry, channeling the occasional flash flood northward over the central carbonate plateau of Sinai, toward the Mediterranean Sea at El-Arish City.

There is evidence that the Sinai once was green -- as recently as 4,500 to 8,000 years ago. Cave paintings found there depict trees and plants. Records in the 1,500-year-old Saint Catherine’s monastery, near the so-called Mount Sinai, tally harvests of wood. Satellite images reveal a network of rivers flowing from the mountains in the south towards the Mediterranean.

What turned the Sinai into a desert was, most likely, human activity. Wherever they settle, humans tend to chop down trees and clear land. This loss of vegetation affects the land’s ability to retain moisture. Grazing animals trample and consume plants when they try to grow back. The soil loses its structure and is washed away – hence the silt in Lake Bardawil.

Lieut.-Colonel C. C. Robertson explains:

"The Sinai Peninsula must have been the most desirable of all territories early accessible to mankind....The great CENTRAL PLATEAU forming the basin of the River El Arish provided AMPLE PASTURE LAND. Leone Caetani holds that the El Arish was a GREAT STREAM within historic times. Although desert country extended to east and west, there would be pasture and arable land like the country south of Gaza at the present day, where the barley harvest is enormous.

"Gold, copper and turquoise gave to Sinai an active mining industry, which the Egyptians exploited with FORCED LABOUR [Israelites, during the 12th Dynasty]. The country was, on all sides, in touch with seaborne trade, and caravans from East and West followed the trade routes across the peninsula. THE MOUNTAIN REGIONS OF SOUTH SINAI RETAINED THEIR RAINFALL LOCALLY to a certain degree WITHIN RECENT TIMES." [11]

When British soldier and archaeologist Colonel Sir Charles Warren led an expedition into the Sinai in 1882, a member of the team wrote about their observations:

"Our road to Mount Sinai lay for many miles along NARROW wadis [like those around Serabit el-Khadim], pent up on either hand by masses of sandstone or granite mountains, and covered at the bottom with white sand or alluvial deposit. THERE WERE ACACIA TREES IN THESE WADIS; but all had been pollard in a very rough manner, so as to be nearly destroyed....

"The Bedouin complained that the RAIN had entirely failed of late years, and the Sheik pointed out to us places in the Wadis which he remembered THICKLY COVERED WITH TREES, now bare of all verdure. Colonel Warren explained to him the relation of cause and effect, and urged him to stop the wholesale destruction of the trees going on, which if persisted in would make the country uninhabitable and force his people to evacuate it." [12]

It is not at all difficult to realize that the valleys of central and southern Sinai would have provided RICH PASTURE FOR FLOCKS AND HERDS, and a viable passage for the escaping Israelites. Notes C. C. Robertson: "Sinai presented every variety of climate from the highlands and lowlands to the sea level. If only the ORIGINAL CONDITIONS [like those of 3,500 years ago] were restored Sinai would AGAIN BE ONE OF THE CHOICEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD." [13]

There can be little doubt that in earlier times water and pasture land existed over A WIDE RANGE OF THE PRESENT DESERT. In reading Colonels Warren's and Ward's accounts of their travels in the Sinai Peninsula, it is quite evident that the coastal and mountain regions of Southern Sinai (along with the great central plateau), the Gulf of Suez, and the Gulf of Akaba were, at the Exodus period, INTERSECTED BY WATER COURSES which are now marked by DRY RIVER BEDS; and that these regions provided AMPLE PASTURAGE for sheep and cattle.

Throughout the Exodus narrative the student of the Bible is confronted with the terms "the Wilderness" and "the Desert." At face value the Israelites with their women and children, camp followers, flocks and herds, and IMMENSE QUANTITIES of stores, supplies and tents, are apparently forced to traverse great stretches of barren, desolate country devoid of grass and water.

Nothing could be further from the truth! This unfortunate impression arises from the continual use of the English word "WILDERNESS," which is NEVER associated (in the mind if the reader) with pasture lands. But the Hebrew word "MIDBAR," translated almost invariably as "WILDERNESS" or "DESERT," ALSO means "PASTURES" or PRAIRIE LAND -- a place where cattle and sheep are led to pasture.

The Hebrew and English Lexicon by W. Gesenius [14] gives the following variations of "MIDBAR":

(1) Tracts of land used for PASTURAGE OF FLOCKS AND HERDS.

(2) Uninhabited land.

(3) Large tracts of such land bearing various names, in certain districts of which there might be towns and villages.

If you go to Young's Concordance [15] you will find Hebrew words expressing "desert" and "wilderness" as follows:

(1) "Yeshimon" -- a desolate place.

(2) "Arabah" -- a plain, unknown or obscure place.

(3) "MIDBAR" -- a wilderness, desert, PASTURE LAND.

In a number of places the Hebrew word "DOBHER" is used for "pasture." The root in both "dobher" and "midbar" is "DABAR" which, in Aramaic, bears the meaning of "leading," ESPECIALLY WITH REFERENCE TO THE PASTURING OF FLOCKS.

It is quite possible that the original translators of the Bible OVERLOOKED the value of "pasture lands" for "midbar," and used the words "wilderness" or "desert" exclusively in the revised version. The effect has been unfortunate. Students of the Bible would be quite justified in reading "PASTURES" or "OPEN COUNTRY" for "wilderness," except where a desert condition is emphasized as in Deuteronomy 1:19.

Writes C. C. Robertson:

"'Midbar' would apply to Salisbury Plain, the South African veldt or the prairies of America. The Exodus narrative gains much in life and interest and becomes quite intelligible. In fact, unless THE INTERPRETATION OF PASTURES be introduced, the whole fabric of the story must collapse. Take the following verses, Ex. 5:1; 5:3; 8:27; 10:24; 10:26; 12:32; 12:38; and decide whether desert or PASTURE COUNTRY is implied in the context. The same test can be applied whenever wilderness or desert is introduced.

"'Desert' and 'wilderness' are perfectly good renderings for 'midbar' where barren country is definitely indicated. But TO RESTRICT the translation of 'midbar' to these two meanings, and to reject 'pasture land' where it is obviously implied, robs the Exodus of most of its probability for the simple reason that grass and water were ruling factors throughout. No migration on a large scale over desert could survive. The people and animals would be dead in a week." [16]

A careful study of the Bible and Egyptian history shatters the millennia old tradition and understanding of a Gulf of Suez crossing and a mountain of the law-giving in the peninsula of Sinai. Truth uncovered is much more fascinating than so-called Christian tradition and perversion!

Footnotes:

[1] Ian Wilson, The Exodus Enigma, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. 1985, p. 83.

[2] W. A. Ward, Egypt and the East Mediterranean World, 2200-1900 B.C.: Studies in Egyptian Foreign Relations During the First Intermediate Period. American University of Beirut, 1971.

[3] Ian Wilson, The Exodus Enigma, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. 1985, p. 83-85.

[4] George Rawlinson, History of Ancient Egypt, Dodd. Mead & Company. N.Y. 1882, p. 148.

[5] Ian Wilson, The Exodus Enigma, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. 1985, p. 83.

[6] Ibid., p. 83.

[7] Immanuel Velikovsky, Ages in Chaos, Sidgwick and Jackson, London. 1977, p. 36.

[8] Herman L. Hoeh, Compendium of World History, Vol. II, Ambassador College, Pasadena, CA 1963, p. 232.

[9] Werner Keller, The Bible as History, Second Revised Edition, William Morrow and Co., Inc. N.Y. 1981, pp. 127-128.

[10] Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. II, chap. XV, section 3.

[11] Lieut.-Colonel C.C. Robertson, On the Track of the Exodus, Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks, CA 1990, pp. 15-16.

[12] Colonel Sir Charles Warren, 1882 expedition to the Sinai to discover what had happened to Professor Edward Henry Palmer's archaeological expedition.

[13] Lieut.-Colonel C.C. Robertson, On the Track of the Exodus, Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks, CA 1990, pp. 16.

[14] Wilhelm Gesenius, The Hebrew and English Lexicon, Andesite Press,  2015.

[15] Robert Young, Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, IL.

[16] Lieut.-Colonel C.C. Robertson, On the Track of the Exodus, Artisan Sales, Thousand Oaks, CA 1990, pp. 55-56.

Hope of Israel Ministries -- Proclaiming YEHOVAH's Truth to the Modern Descendants of Ancient Israel!

Hope of Israel Ministries P.O. Box 853 Azusa, CA 91702, U.S.A. www.hope-of-israel.org

Scan with your Smartphone for more information