"It is truly amazing", said Professor Barrett, opening up the next session, "how biblical scholars, even learned Rabbis, have been taken in by the conventional wisdom about the Exodus - whether there is any truth or not to the story: the escape of a slave people: the miraculous crossing of a Yam Suf, the Red Sea, and its location; or if there really was then, or is still, a Mount Sinai? Were the many descriptions of the surroundings of Mount Sinai exaggerated? One sees advertisements about a tour trip to Mount Sinai, and pilgrims, or adventurers, or curiosity-seekers are then taken to a monastery in the lower Sinai peninsula - where there's nary a single topographical landmark that is consistent with biblical description of Mount Sinai, Yet, that's the centerpiece for the Ten Commandments, the basis of our Judean-Christian civilization's moral code, and the philosophy of human-kind for two millennia, How can that be?"

"Yes," chimed in Avi, "but we must remember sixteen centuries of dominating thought -" "Propaganda -" interrupted Stewart, "- establishes a very powerful belief system."

"Not being religious, -" said the new participant to the group, a no-nonsense feminist lawyer, Sarah, "- what do you mean, sixteen centuries?"

"Well", explained Avi, "Constantine, in the fourth century AD, adopted monotheism and Christianity, taking with him the Roman Empire at first, then the entire civilized world. The influence on him was his mother. On a trip to the mid-East, she claimed to have a vision that the biblical Mount Sinai was a nearby mountain in lower Sinai - either Mount Jabal Katerina, now marked by St. Catherine's monastery, or Jabal Al Musa, Mountain of Moses, built about 350 AD, monks having lived there ever since235. That's where the world accepts the biblical Mount Sinai as being located, in lower Sinai Peninsula - tour trips take pilgrims to one or the other - neither having a match with any biblical features of Mt. Sinai - like the piles of stones around it, or altars, or pillars - and no one seems to care, because religion is not believed in by our cultural elite."

"OK," asked Sarah, "But why do you say 'even scholars' have been taken in?"

"Well," said Avi, "If Mount Sinai is in the Sinai Peninsula, then the crossing of Yam Suf must have taken place closer to Egypt, thus the crossing site had to be either the Bitter Lakes or the tip of the Gulf of Suez. But those bodies of water are shallow, raising a plausibility question of the drownings of Egyptians with their chariots and horses,"

Lawrence interrupted, "There's also the curiously overlooked fact that, elsewhere in the Bible, the same phrase 'Yam Suf' clearly refers to the right arm of the historical Red Sea - the Gulf of Aqaba. Thus, in 1 Kings 9:26, 'King Solomon built a fleet of ships at Etzion Geber near Elath on the shore of Yam Suf, in the land of Edom.' The city at its northern tip is still called Eilat. Interestingly -" he added, displaying a bit of research knowledge, "- scholars have suggested that the name 'Red Sea' is probably due to the reddish tint reflected from the neighboring mountains.'" 236

Ranah added, "Ancient maps also show that the land of Midian - where young Moses fled, later finding himself on Mount Horeb - another name for Mt. Sinai - is not in the Sinai Peninsula at all, but is 'east' of the Gulf of Aqaba. Also ignored are over a hundred biblical references which state that Moses and the Hebrews 'came out from the land of Egypt' - and the Sinai Peninsula has always been 'in' Egypt, part of it, not 'out' of it - all this evidence has been dismissed by scholars, even Hebrews, for centuries!" 241

"So, where did all this recent knowledge come from?" asked Sarah.

Avi said, "Initially, it was really 'Indiana-Jones' type adventurers, apparently religious Christian mountain climbers, who searched out Jabal Al Laws, the highest mountain in northwest Saudi Arabia. With derring-do, they crawled under a Saudi barbed-wire fence and climbed the mountain, about 7000 feet high - taking pictures, which were forbidden, and making notes and sketches. What they found - and it's confirmed by photos in a half-dozen books and an expeditionary diving film - all available on the Internet - was that the features of Jabal Al Laws and surrounding topography, apparently meet all the biblical descriptions of Mount Sinai.". He opened up a notebook: "Firstly, the location conforms to Biblical geography that Midian, where young Moses fled Egypt, was not in the Sinai peninsula but was 'east' of the Gulf of Aqaba." 240

Lawrence interrupted, "The earliest placement of Mt. Sinai in lower Sinai Peninsula was probably when the Hebrew Bible was first translated into Greek, circa 250 BC. Hebrew scholars really ignored their own Torah for centuries. Ancient documents placed Mount Horeb or Mt. Sinai - in the land of Midian, which is now Saudi Arabia - not in the Sinai Peninsula. Yet all this was ignored."

"The power of universal propaganda," said Stewart, "they even renamed Yam Suf - which used to mean 'Red Sea', into 'Sea of Reeds' - that's the translation found today in almost every English-language Bible in America, even those found in orthodox synagogues."

Avi's reaction to Sarah's newly-found interest to be stimulating: "After the adventurers opened it up, there were several teams and expeditions of religious Christians - and really, all of this is only in recent years. They did their proper homework as to biblical locations, then began mountain-climbing and sea-diving - exploring in Saudi Arabia and finding the real Mount Sinai - after that, they found the provably true Red Sea crossing site - an underwater ridge spanning the entire width of the Gulf of Aqaba, about seven miles."

"How can you mean, 'provably true'" asked Sarah, her growing interest evident in her tone.

The others all tried to answer at once, but Avi persisted. "Just only years ago, in 2000, amazing discoveries were made by a diving expedition in the Gulf of Aqaba, using both deep sea divers and an underwater submersible with cameras. Astonishingly, coral-covered chariot wheel artifacts from ancient Egypt were photographed on that undersea ridge in the Gulf of Aqaba - and there were many highly-credentialed, world-renowned scientists, archaeologists and historians on the expedition, providing scholarly oversight and also testifying to the credibility of the findings."

"Isn't that amazing," said Bethe, unable to contain her excitement, "- and this incredible discovery really raises a 21st century consideration of the biblical miracle of the splitting of the sea - how can it be ignored? After all, how explain coral-covered wheels of 15th Dynasty Egyptian chariots, wreckage strewn along the under-sea ridge path, going from Egypt to Saudi Arabia - along with bones of men and horses - all exactly as described in the Bible." Bethe paused for emphasis, "All of which supports the drowning of the Egyptian chariot army, even including Pharaoh - which brings us, face to face, with the question of 'Why are those Egyptian chariot wheels there?' - leading into - by hard logic - the 'miracle' of the splitting of the sea."

There was a pause, then Avi continued, "There was also the discovery of the true Mount Sinai - in Saudi Arabia, and with all the topographical attributes as described in the Bible. These include altars, with drawings on them of the uniquely-shaped horns of Aphis bulls - certainly out-of-place in the Arabian desert, hundreds of miles from Egypt."

"Not to mention the amazing discovery of Rephidm" said the professor, "Imagine, two sixty-foot solid rock shafts - with an absolutely parallel, twenty-inch gap between them - where Moses, per the Bible, struck a rock in anger, twice, and split it - to get water. It is a startling sight, available on the Internet - a gigantic, five-story-high perfectly split rock. One immediately concludes it's either solid proof that the Bible story is true, or these colossal rock shafts were crafted in Hollywood studios."

"Wow," said Sarah, "Can this really be true - with apparently so few people knowing about any of this - including me? I've got to research this out myself."

"Wait a second", said Avi, "You're putting the cart - or, I should say 'chariot' - before the horse - what precedes all that, and also explains a mysterious phrase in written history - what the Bible says Pharaoh said - and what comes from modern satellite photography of the area. If you 'Google' Wadi Watir and Nuweiba Beach of the Gulf of Aqaba, you'll see a depiction of the words in the Bible attributed to Pharaoh - 'the Israelites are entangled - or trapped - in the wilderness' - the satellite pictures show it is absolutely right on. The wadi dry river wanders between impassable rugged hills, then ends at a huge flat, open and sandy beach, maybe a mile on a side - and that's where the Israelites were - apparently trapped: behind them was the Egyptian army; they were strung out along a narrow, meandering wadi in rugged rocky terrain; and in front of them was the daunting Gulf of Aqaba."

"Interesting also," added Bethe, "Roman-Jewish historian Josephus, given the temple scroll records for his research because he helped Rome in their destruction of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple, uses the exact same expression to denote the helplessness of the Hebrews - 'they are trapped in the wilderness.'"

Avi summarized for Sarah, "The Israelites had no place to hide or escape - Pharaoh and his chariots were behind them, impassably hilly ground was on both sides, and ahead was a deep sea.

The subject for the next session was "The Crossing of Yam Suf and Egyptian Chariots", Sarah indicating she wanted to research the subject and wanted to be the Presenter.