Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 8.djvu/235

 ISRAELITES

105

ISRAELITES

Sea— the Gulf of Akalxih, as it is called. To most writers, however, there does not seem to be sufficient reason for giving up the time-honoured view which holds that the Hebrews proceeded southward until they reached the traditional Mount Sinai.

On the basis of tliis latter view, Israel's interven- ing stations between the place of crossing and Mount Sinai have been identified as follows. Mter three days' march through the Wilderness of Sur, on the narrow and comparatively level coast-track of the Gulf of Suez, the Israelites came to a .spring named Mara (Exod., xv, 22 sq.), probably the 'Ain Hawara, with its bitter waters. They next reached the oasis of Elim, usually identified with Wady Gharandel, where there are, even at the present time, wells and palms (Exod., xv, 27). Proceeding southward, they foUowetl the road which winds by the Wady Tayiben until it strikes the seashore, at which point the en- campment by the sea (Numb., xxxiii, 10) is natu- rally placed. Before turning inland the coast-track expands into a plain four or five miles broad, called el-Markha, and probably to be identified with the Wilderness of Sin (Exod., xv, 1), wherein the stations of Daphca and Alus (Numb., xxxiii, 12, 13) were presumably situated. Thence Moses led his people

called the Gulf of Akabah. Of the various places mentioned as being on their route only two have been identified with some degree of probability. These are Kibroth Hattawah (graves of lust), re- garded as identical with Erweis el-Ebeirig, and ilazeroth, apparently identical with the modern 'Ain Hudherah (cf. Numb., xi, 34; xxxiii, 16, 17). On entering the Desert of Pharan, the people established themselves at Cades, also Cadesbarne (the holy place), which has been identified with great prob- ability with 'Ain Kedis, some fifty miles south of Bersabee (Numb., xxxiii, 36). Proceeding north- ward, after the return of the spies whom they had sent to explore Southern Palestine, they made a mad attempt to force their way into Chanaan. They were repulsed by the Chanaanites and the Amalecites at Sephaath, a place subsequently named Horma (cf. Judges, i, 17; now Sebaita) and some thirty-five miles north of Cades. (Cf. Numb., xii, xiv.) Then be- gan a most obscure period in Israel's hfe. During thirty-eight years they wandered in the Badiet et- Tih (Wilderness of the Wanderings) on the southern confines of Chanaan, apparently making Cades the centre around which their movements turned. " It is possible that while here, they came, for the first time

Semitic family seek:

in the direction of the sacred mount of Sinai, the next station being at Raphidim (Exod., xvii, 1), which is commonly regarded as identical with Wady Feiran, a long and fertile plain overhung by the granite rocks of Mount Sherbal, probably the Horeb of Holy Writ. From Feiran the road winds through the long Wady es-Scheykh and leads to the exten- sive plain er-Rahah, which is directly in front of Mount Sinai, and which offered more than sufficient standing-ground for all the children of Israel. It is true that none of the foregoing identifications enioys more than a certain amount of probability, and that, consequently, their aggregate cannot be considered as an unquestionable proof that the traditional road along the Gulf of Suez is the one actually followed Ijy tfie Hebrews. Yet, as may readily be seen, it is a fact of no small importance in favour of the route just described that its distance of some 150 miles between the place of crossing and Mount Sinai ad- mits of a natural division into stages which on the whole correspond well to the principal marches of the Hebrews; for nothing of the kind can be put forth in support of their position by the contem- porary scholars who prefer to the traditional road an eastward one running across the Peninsula of Sinai to the northern point of the Gulf of Akabah.

On leaving Sinai, under the guidance of Moses' brother-in-law, the Israehtes proceeded in a northerly direction towards the Wilderness of Pharan, the bar- ren region of et-Tih which lies south of Chanaan and west of Edom. They seem to have approached it by the shore of the eastern arm of the Red Sea, now

to Egypt

since the Exodus, into contact with the Egj^ptians. An inscription of the Pharaoh Memptah has been found recently (at Thebes, in 1S96), the clo.se of which relates the conquest by the Egj^itians of the land of Chanaan and of Aslikelon, and then adds: 'The Israelites are spoiled so tlwt they have no seed; the land of Kliar [perhaps, the land of the Horites, i. e. Edom] is become like the windows of Egypt.' Of the circumstances alluded to nothing positive is known; but the situation of the Israelites implied in the inscription is in or near Southern Palestine, and, as the fuller records of later date show no trace of any relations between Israel and Egypt until the time of Solomon, the sojourn at Cades seems to be the only occasion that will suit the conditions. On the assumption that the Exodus took place in the reign of Memptah, the only alternative to the view just set forth is to regard the inscription as a boasts ful account of the Exodus itself, considered as an expuisionofihelsraelites". (Wade, "Old Test. Hist."). In the beginning of the fortieth year of Israel's wanderings, the march towards Chanaan was re- sumed from Cades. In approaching Palestine this second time, it was determined to avoid the southern frontier, and to enter the Lanil of Promise by cross- ing the Jordan at the northern end of the Dead Sea. The shortest road for this purpose was through the territories of Edom and Jloab, and Moses asked per- mission from the King of Edom to take this route, reminding him of the relationship between his people and Israel. His refusal compelled the Israelites to journey southward towards the Gulf of Akabah, and