Computer model shows how the Red Sea may have parted for Moses * By Helen Davidson

Computer model shows how the Red Sea may have parted for Moses

• By Helen Davidson
• From: No Source
• September 22, 2010

• Computer model shows how the Red Sea parted
• A strong wind at a bend in a river creates ideal conditions
• It's possible the waters parted for Moses

COMPUTER modelling has explained how the Red Sea parted for Moses and the Israelites escaping from the Pharoah.

The story, told in biblical writings and in the Koran, describes an east wind blowing the water apart, leaving a dry tract of land for the group to flee across.

When the Pharoah's army tries to follow, the walls of water rush back and drown the soldiers.

While this sounds like fantasy, an American research team at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Colorado at Boulder has created a computer simulation model to show that given the right circumstances, it is possible that the waters did indeed part for Moses.

The computer simulations, part of a greater study on how wind affects water, have shown that with a strong east wind blowing overnight at a bend where a river merges with a lagoon, the waters would be pushed back, exposing a land bridge for a short time.

It is due to a phenomenon known as a "wind setdown" where a strong and persistent wind can push a body of water and "pile it up" downwind.

Carl Drew who led the study, says in a video that this phenomenon is well-known, but to re-enact the biblical story, "the tricky part is to get water on both sides of the crossing".

They found that at a point where a river bends to merge with a coastal lagoon, the water "splits at the point of the bend".

"So there's water on both sides and a bunch of refugees can come walking or running across," he said.

Such a place occurred in the ancient Eastern Nile Delta.

Mr Drews and CU oceanographer Weiqing Han analysed archaeological records, satellite measurements and maps and applied the data to ancient topography of an area of the Nile Delta which they believed provided both the right geographical conditions and a plausible site for the Bible story.

Mr Drews told news.com.au that he ran 14 simulation experiments. "They tested various configurations of the geography and the wind (direction and speed). The short answer is that the crossing has some tolerance to variations, but not a whole lot. It's a rare event."

They found that if the wind blows for 12 hours at 63 miles per hour (just over 101km/h) it would push back nearly two metres of deep water.

This would expose mud flats for four hours, creating a safe passage for Moses and the Israelites.

This in turn would push the water into the lake and the channel of the river, creating the two walls of water.

When asked, Mr Drews said he had not had any reactions from church groups as yet. "The overwhelming reaction is that people are fascinated that a 3,000-year-old story, one they've heard about and seen in movies, has a real scientific basis in physical laws."