The Route of the Exodus, Part 2 (A continuation)
Walter Reinhold Warttig Mattfeld y de la Torre, M.A. Ed.
17 October 2003
Revisions and Updates through 29 March 2009
Click on the following url to return to "The Route of the Exodus, Part 1"
Please click here for Why the Bible Cannot be the Word of God
Please click here for my latest map (21 Nov. 2009) showing the site of Israel's "crossing of the Red Sea"
in the Exodus as being at Ras el Ballah (my Baal-zephon)
By clicking on the purplish-blue-underlined-words (links) appearing in this article you are taken to maps showing these locations.
Special Note:
The late Israeli scholar Aharoni noted that in attempting to identify biblical sites preserved in Arabic one should realize that the possibility existed that the Hebrew rendering might have been transformed into Aramaic of the 2nd Temple Period or Greek from the Greek Septuaginta Bible. That is to say when the Moslems conquered this area in the 7th century A.D. some of the site names may have been known to 7th century A.D. Byzantine Christians in the Greek form preserved in the Septuaginta, the bible for Christians dwelling in the east. My research suggests that Aharoni is correct and some of my proposals (below) are based on Arabic preserving a Greek Septuaginta form of a site's name.
Zered, brook of, or valley of (De 2:13-14, 24). Strong #2218 pronounces it zeh`red (Strong's Exhaustive Bible Concordance and "Hebrew-Chaldee Dictionary" Word Books. Waco, Texas. 1977). LXX: Sarida, Sirdatha, Zared, Zaret. The Aramaic Peshitta renders Zared (Nu 21:12. George M. Lamsa translator. Holy Bible from the Ancient Eastern Text. San Francisco. Harper & Row. [1933] 1968)
Commonly identified by "most" scholars with Wadi el Hesa. However A. H. Van Zyl has broken rank with the consensus opinion and thinks Wadi es-Sultan _north_ of Wadi el-Hesa is the Zered (A. H. Van Zyl. The Moabites. Leiden. Brill. 1960).
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The Problem? The text suggests that the valley of Zaret (LXX) is encountered AFTER crossing into the border of Moab, where Iyim, Gai or Iyim-Abarim is located. If Wadi el Hesa is the Zered, then Iyim lay east of Edom, not east of Moab.
Deuteronomy 2:8-2-26 The Septuaginta (Brenton's Translation of 1851; Emphasis mine):
"And we passed by our brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, by the way of the Araba from Aelon and from Gesion Gaber; and we turned and passed by the way of the desert of Moab. And the Lord said to me, Do not ye quarrel with the Moabites, and do not engage in war with them; for I will not give you of their land for an inheritance, for I have given Aroer to the childred of Lot to inherit. Formerly the Ommim dwelt in it, a great and numerous nation and powerful, like the Enakim. These also shall be accounted Raphain like the Enakim; and the Moabites called them Ommin...Now then, arise ye, said I, and depart, and cross the valley of Zaret. And the days in which we traveled from Cades Barne till we crossed the valley of Zaret, were thirty and eight years, until the whole generation of the men of war failed, dying out of the camp, as the Lord God sware to them...And it came to pass when all the men of war dying out of the midst of the people had fallen, that the Lord spoke to me, saying, Thou shalt pass over this day the borders of Moab to Aroer; and ye shall draw nigh to the children of Amman, do not quarrel with them...Now then arise and depart, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have delivered into thy hands Seon the king of Esebon the Amorite, and his land...And I sent messengers from the wilderness of Kedamoth to Seon king of Esebon with peaceable words, saying I will pass through thy land...And Seon the king of Esebon came forth to meet us, he and all his people to war at Jassa (`Iassa)...and we smote him..."
(Lancelot C. L. Brenton. The Septuagint With Apocrypha: Greek and English. Peabody, Massachusetts. Hendrickson Publishers. [1851, originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd. London] 1986 reprint)
Brenton's translation, if correct, suggests that the valley of Zaret was also called the valley of the Arnon. I suspect the defile or pass between Gebel es-Subeban on the west and es-Saqrat on the east are the western and eastern limits of the Zered Valley and the "Arnon Valley" with Arnon perhaps preserved in Qatrane ("-rane" preserving "Arnon"?). That is to say Israel camped (1) on the southside of Wadi el Hafire, "the river of Zered," south of Qatrane, where Moses harangues Israel (De 2:12-18, 24) then (2) Israel waits in the wilderness of Kedemoth (De 2:26) for Sihon the Amorite to fight him at Jahaz.
Numbers 21:10-15 The Septuaginta (Brenton's Translation of 1851; Emphasis mine):
"And the children of Israel departed, and encamped in Oboth. And having departed from Oboth, they encamped at Achalgai, on the farther side in the wilderness, which is opposite Moab, toward the east. And thence they departed and encamped in the valley of Zared. And they departed thence and encamped on the other side of Arnon in the wilderness, the country which extends from the coasts of the Amorites; for Arnon is the borders of Moab between Moab and the Amorites. Therefore it is said in a book, A war of the Lord has set on fire Zoob, and the brooks of Arnon. And he has appointed brooks to cause Er to dwell there; and it lies near to the coasts of Moab."
I "suspect" that the Greek Septuaginta's form "Zoob" has been preserved in Arabic as Gebel es-Subeban, a height forming the west side of the valley of Zered (the east side of the valley of Zered being the height called es-Saqrat, Arabic for Zered?). Macdonald understands waheb means "watershed," and the map reveals several wadies descending "like a watershed" from the western heights or slopes of Gebel es-Subeban as "headwaters" of the Arnon. I understand that "to set on fire Zoob," is to set on fire the area comprising the watershed source of the Arnon's headwaters: Gebel es-Subeban. Gebel es-Subeban lies east of the Amorite territory (north of the Arnon, Wadi el Haire in the valley of es-Saqrat, Zered).
I suspect that the "brook" or "valley" of Zered/Ze`red/Ze`rat, dervives its name from an elevation or height on the eastside of "the Way of the Wilderness to Moab" track called es-Saqrat near El Qatrane (Palastina Karte. 1:300,000. Blatt Sud. 1979/1981).
I suspect that "the river of Zered" may possibly not be saying a river exists called Zered, rather, that there is a river "in" the valley of Zered. The valley of Zered is the valley, or defile through which passes the "way of the Wilderness to Moab," and the river _of_ Zered is wadi el Hafire, a headwater of the Arnon which one MUST CROSS on the "way of the wilderness to Moab" to enter the Amorite territory held by Sihon.
Perhaps the Greek Septuaginta's form, Sarida or Zaret is preserved in the Arabic es-Saqrat (could the Arabic "q" be a gutteral reproducing the aspiration Zeh' ret )? Zered is called the boundary of Moab, a valley over the Arnon, Heshbon's lands are north of Zered-Arnon?. This suggests the Zerad is a tributary of the Arnon ? Does [el Qat]RANE or [q] A [t] RANE, -A-RANE, in es Saqrat preserve "Arnon, the valley of" (De 2:13-18, 24) ? That is to say the river Arnon takes its name from head waters at Qatrane ? The Septuaginta's VALLEY of Zerat would be the depression or defile, or pass "below" and west of the heights of es-Saqrat through which "the Wilderness Highway to Moab" passes (cf. Map of Azraq. 1:250,000 1949). To the degree that the Hebrew Massoretic text says the "brook" Zered (De 2:14) was crossed and suggests it forms a boundary for Ar of Moab (De 2:18), I suspect the "brook" is Wadi el-Hafira, which crosses the north-south defile, depression, pass of es-Saqrat (cf. Palastina Karte. 1981 Hohne, which clearly shows the defile). Wadi el-Hafire eventually drains into the Arnon which extends to Ariha (biblical Ar on Wadi el Mojib). Of interest is that one of the headwaters of Wadi el-Hafire, is Wadi es-Sekhreyat, draining from Gebel es Sekhreyat, to the east of the Wilderness Highway. Thus the Brook of Zered might derive its name from either one of its headwaters, Wadi es-Sekhreyat, or the defile of es-Seqrat which it crosses (cf. Azraq. South Levant. 1:250,000 Sheet NH 37 A, U.S. Army Map Service 1952).
Ar of Moab, of the heights of the Arnon (Nu 21:28), Khirbet Ariha (Palastina Map Sud Blatt. 1979)
Wilderness of Kedemoth (De 2:26), Israel encamps at, awaiting permission to cross Sihon the Amorite's lands. Kedemoth might be Kasr el Khadem in the high tableland overlooking, and west of, the Wilderness Highway near es-Siwaqe? (cf. Alois Musil. Karte von Arabia Petraea. 1:300,000.1907. Cf. also, the map produced by Bearbeitet in der Kartogr.Abteilung der Kgl. Preuss. Landes-Aufname, April 1918, which renders the site as Kasr el-Chadim).
Jahaz, Jahzah, LXX: `Iassa (De 2:32). Where Sihon the Amorite attempts to stop Israel's penetration of his country. Jahaz, Jahazah, LXX: `Iassa is probably es-Siwaqe on the north side of Wadi et-Tuwei, where the wilderness track crosses the wadi. (cf. South Levant. Azraq, 1:250,000 Sheet NH 37 A. 1946). Under this paradigm, Israel waited at the Wilderness of Kedemoth east of Kasr Khadem/Chadem for Sihon's attack. They were on the southside of Wadi et-Tuwei, which drains into Silat es Sufey and the Arnon (Silat el Mojib). The Arnon is formed by several wadies in the wilderness east of the Amorites. I understand that Wady el Hafire at Qatrane is the Arnon Israel crossed after reaching the valley of Zered (the southern part of the valley bounded by the height of es-Saqrat (Zered?). The "river" Arnon Israel which crossed _after_ reaching the valley of Zered is Wadi el Hafire, a headwater of the Arnon.
T'waheb in Suphah [Massoretic Text], LXX: Zwob (Nu 21:12-15).
Burton Macdonald has suggested t`whaheb is Hebrew for a "watershed," if he's right, this would describe the cluster of wadies draining from Gebel es-Subeban. The Septuaginta renders:
"set on fire Zoob" and this suggests for me Gebel es-Subeban is Zoob, whose heights are a "watershed area" from whence numerous headwaters descend to become the Arnon at Ar.
MacDonald:
"Waheb in Suphah (Nu 21:14): Although the Hebrew word whb means "watershed," it is understood here as a place name...The Septuagint and the Old Latin read Zoob for Waheb...The site cannot be identified, though it is generally seen to be an unspecified place or region near the Arnon..."
(p. 75. Burton MacDonald. "East of the Jordan," Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures. Boston. American Schools of Oriental Research. 2000)
Alternately, the Hebrew t'whaheb might be preserved as Wadi et-Tuwei (the "T" having a diacritical dot under it) loosing its "-b"? In which case," in Suphah" is referring to the fact that et-Tuwei (t'waheb?) drains into Silat es-Sufey which would be Suphah (Musil's Map. 1907)?
Beer (Nu 21:16)
Might be Musil's Birke, a village near (WNW) Gebel es-Subeban overlooking the Wilderness Highway?
Beer might also be Tell Bereik, north of Khan ez-Zebib, on the Wilderness Highway (cf. Sheet NH 37A. South Levant 1:250,000 Azraq. U.S. Army Map Service. 1952)
Mattanah (Nu 21:18-19), Might be El Mdjene/Mudeiyine on the Arnon (d transliterated to t? cf. Palastina Karte. Hohne. Sud Blatt)? Mudeiyine is west of Tell Bereik. The biblical text suggests to me that Israel "left" the Wilderness track at Beer and headed west into Sihon's kingdom. The 1918 map shows a track going west from near Kal`at Daba, which might be biblical Dibon Gad (Nu 33:46). Bureik is just south of an adjacent to Daba and both sites lie on the Wilderness track, so they could have been alternate designations for Israel's itinerary.
Nahaliel (Nu 21:19-20) "river of El," wadi el Halq (?) W of Qasr Dab`a (Hohne. Palstina Karte. Sud Blatt. 1979/1981).
Almon-Diblaithaim, LXX : Gelmon-Diblathiam (Nu 33:47) is perhaps Delelet el Gharbije, west of Mudeiyine and Meleh (cf. 1918 Map) ? Is Almon, Almit ?
Bamoth (Nu 21: 19-20) might be Me`et a village west of the track going up to Madeba (cf. 1918 Map).
Pisgah valley (Nu 21:20)
Abarim, mountains of, before Nebo (Nu 33:47, 48), perhaps the mountains above Wadi Barrakat (cf. 1918 Map)?
Nebo (Nu 33: 47), en-Neba ? (Musil 1907)
Plains of Moab by the Jordan, at Jericho (Nu 33:48)
Encamped by Jordan from Beth-Jeshimon to Abel-Shittim in the plains of Moab (Nu 33: 49) Jeshimon, LXX: Aesimoth is Swejme (Musil. 1907 Map)?
Hazeroth (Nu 33:17)
Ain Hudera in the southern Sinai, as noted by many scholars (?) Note Arabic "d" is transliterated on occasion as "z."
Rithmah (Nu 33:18)
Rimmon-Perez (Nu 33:19, 20)
Might be modern Israeli Makhtesh-Ramon; Arabic: Wadi er Rummun, which lies in the midst of a great "breach" in the earth, an erosion crater. Perez in Hebrew means "breach," so Rimmon-perez is "the breach of Rimmon" ? This great breach in the earth is near Ain el Qadeis, which is identified by some as Kadesh Barnea (cf. Map #18 of the Negev, in Avraham Levi. Bazak Guide to Israel, 1979-1980. New York. Harper & Row. 1979)
Libnah (Nu 33:20, 21)
Rissa (Nu 33:21, 22)
Kehla'thah (Nu 33:22, 23)
Mount Shepher (Nu 33:23, 24)
Hara'dah (Nu 33:24, 25)
Makhe'loth (Nu 33:25, 26)
Tahath (Nu 33:26, 27)
Terah (Nu 33:27, 28)
Mithkah (Nu 33:28, 29)
Hasmo'nah (Nu 33:29, 30)
Mose'roth (Nu 33:30, 31), also called Mount Hor (Where Aaron died)
Rugm ez-Zuwera, ESE of Arad ?
Beeroth Bene-ja'akan (Nu 33:31, 32)
Rugm el Berara by Khirbet Gazze, SW of Gebel el Qeni, and Rugm ez-Zuwera (Israel Mizpe Zohar) ? (cf. Hohne. Sud Blatt. 1:300,000. 1981 Palastina Historisch...Karte. Gottingen).
Hor-haggid'gad LXX: mount Gadgad (Nu 33:32, 33)
Gebel el-Mgaddar (?) on the west side of Arabah, opposite Ain Gaharandel (Musil. 1907). Note: Raphael Giveon has observed that "M" is a "formative" appearing and disappearing before some Semitic words, so Mgaddar might be Gaddar ?
Jot'bathah; LXX: Etebatha; Peshitta: Jotbath. (Nu 33:33; De 10:7) "a land with brooks of water" usually identified with Sabkhat et-Taba and Bir et-Taba in the Arabah, a salt-marsh area, which may be the "brooks of water"? An Early Iron I fortress has been found here, with Midianite pottery and copper working scraps suggesting to some scholars that water and nearby acaica trees may have provided water and wood for charcoal for the miners at Ramesside Har Timna (cf. Vol. 4. p.1518. Ze'ev Meshel. "Yotvata." Ephraim Stern. Editor. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. New York. Simon & Schuster. 1993)
(Musil's Ajn Taba, east of Ma` Radjan/Gadyan. 1907)
Gidgad and Jotbathah
"Jotbathah. A stopping place of the Israelites in the wilderness (Num 33:33-34), where they found a "land of brooks of water" (Deut 10:7). It may have been in the Arabah, north of Ezion Geber." (Vol. 2. p. 999. J.L.Mihelic. "Jotbathah." George Arthur Buttrick. Editor. The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible, an Illustrated Encyclopedia. Nashville. Abingdon Press. 1962)
Jothbathah.The 18th encampment of the Israelites, after leaving the wilderness of Sinai, as listed in Num 33:33-34, where it is placed between Hor-haggidgad and Abronah. In Deut 10:7 it is listed as the station after Gudgodah. The Deuteronomy passage also relates that the area was well supplied with water...Suggested locations include et-Taba, the source of a marshy winter lake near the Wadi Ghadhaghed (Abel GP, 216; Simons GTTOT, 259 and map IIIC; M.R. 153922)..." (vol. 3. p. 1021. Jeffrey R. Zorn. "Jotbathah." David Noel Freedman, editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992)
I suspect that the Septuaginta's rendering of Jothbathah, which is Etebatha, has been preserved in Arabic as et-Taba, as noted above by Zorn, a location in the southern Arabah north of the port of Aqaba, the salt-marsh area known as Sabkhat et-Taba. A well, Bir et-Taba is just east of the Sabkhat. An Iron Age I fortress was found nearby.The Israeli scholar Yohanan Aharoni noted that biblical site names may be preserved in Arabic (in some cases losing their Hebrew suffixes or endings) from either a Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek or Latin rendering, in this case it appears to be Greek. The modern Israelis render Jotbathah as Yotvata.
Deut 10:7 Septuaginta (Brenton Translation)
"Thence they departed to Gadgad; and from Gaddad to Etebatha, a land wherin are torrents of water."
(Lancelot C. L. Brenton. The Septuagint With Apocrypha: Greek and English. Peabody, Massachusetts. Hendrickson Publishers. [1851, originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd. London] 1986 reprint)
Might Gadgad, the site before Etebatha, be Ein Ghadian (Roman ad-Dianam), which lies near et Taba ? I note the "g" can appear and disappear in biblical site names, for example Ije-abarim (Iye-Abarim) appears in the Greek Sptuaginta as Gai-Abarim, and Ai by Bethel becomes Gai in Greek too. Did the Romans drop the "g", to arrive at ad-Dianam ? Today the oasis of Ghadian is called Yotvata by the Israelis, and an Early Iron Age I fortress has been found at Yotvata. Crude Negebite and Midianite pottery was found in this casemate fortress, along with some copper slag pieces suggesting contact with the Ramesside mines at Har Timna (in operation from ca.1279-1140 BCE, Ramesses II to Ramesses V), which is the period some scholars place the Exodus in, ca. 1260 BCE and the reign of Ramesses II. The excavators suggested the fortress served to provide fresh water and provisions for the miners at Timna in the Ramesside era (cf. Vol. 4. pp. 1517-18. Ze`ev Meshel. "Yotvata." Ephraim Stern, editor. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. New York. Simon & Schuster. 1993).
"Yotvata is the modern name of a small oasis located on the western edge of the southern arabah on the main road to Elath, about 40 Km (25 mi.) north of the city. Before the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, the oasis consisted mainly of a few shallow pits, from which the upper groundwater ran, and a small grove of tamarisks and date palms.. In Arabic it was called Ein Ghadian...Another possibility is that the Arabic name is derived from ad-Dianam, possibly the site's name in the Roman period...
...The modern name Yotvata is based on the site's possible identification of the oasis with Jotbathah, "a land of brooks of water" (Dt 10:7), one of the Israelites' encampments in their desert wanderings, before Ebronah and Ezion-Geber (Num 33:33-34). There is as yet no proof for this identification; some scholars have suggested the Israelites' route here ran from north to south and have found support for this hypothesis in the Arabic names Sabkhat et-Taba and Bir et-Taba of the Yotava saline marshes (today bisected by the Israel-Jordan border) and the well on their eastern edge.
The water source and the crossroad here made Yotvata a focus for settlement at different periods...there are a number of sites in different places. Their remains can be divided into four main groups: remains related to water and agriculture; tombs; remains of settlements or encampments; and remains associated with copper production...Chalcolithic Period. The earliest remains...they extend over the entire hill (on which the early Iron Age fortress was built), but are found primarily on its eastern part...Early Bronze and Middle Bronze Age I. Scanty remains of structures, burial cairns, and many sherds, scattered over an area of approximately 2.5 acres...Part of an Egyptian alabaster vessel was also found...There was probably an encampment here that made use of the site's topograpghical advantages. Ten round structures... and four tumuli are ascribed to the Middle Bronze Age I...All four tumuli that were excavated had a rectangular burial cist in their center...A contracted skeleton was found in one tumulus...
Early Iron Age Fortress. An irregular casemate fortress (c. 50 by 76 m.) situated south of and above the kibbutz is dated to the Early Iron Age...The ceramic finds include wheel-made vessels, mainly storage jars; crude Negebite vessels, mainly cooking kraters; and several fragments of Midianite pottery. Other important finds, indicating one of the occupation modes of the site's inhabitants and their connections with Timna are pieces of copper slag, part of a low-quality copper ignot (contining only 75 per cent copper), and a small piece of almost pure copper. Both the grinding stones and the flint hammers are probably related to copper production...The dating of the fortress to the beginning of the Iron Age, or more precisely, to the period of activity at Timna, is based on the resemblance of the finds to those at Timna, especially the Midianite pottery. The finds associated with copper production also point to a connection between the two sites. The excavators believe that the Yotvata oasis and its environs were a major source of water, acacia charcoal, and maybe even for fresh provisions for the people producing the copper at Timna. The Yotvata fortress overlooks the oasis and the roads leading to it, and it should be attributed to the zenith of copper production at Timna." (Vol.4. pp. 1517-1518. Ze`ev Meshel. "Yotvata." Ephraim Stern, editor. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. New York. Simon & Schuster. 1993).
I understand that the Exodus traditions are recalling events in the Ramesside mines, as these are the ONLY archaeologically attested areas possessing Late Bronze Age (ca. 1560-1200 BCE) and Early Iron Age (1200-1000 BCE) debris, the Exodus being dated to one of these two eras by various scholars.
It is interesting to note that Moses spoke favorably of the "Promised Land" which extended from the Sea of the Philistines to the Red Sea (Ezion Geber and Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba) as a land that had copper and iron waiting to be exploited by Israel. Of note are the copper mines of the southern Arabah, southwest of Ein-Ghadian (LXX: Gadgad ?) and Sabkhat et-Taba (LXX: Etebatha or Jotbathah?). Was Moses referring to the copper mines of Har Timna (Arabic: Gebel Mene`iyeh)? I understand that events at the Har Timna mining camp are -in part- behind events at Mount Sinai "near" Midian. If I am correct that mining events of the Ramesside era are being recalled and reformatted in the Exodus narratives then it would be no surprise to have Moses as a "Ramesside miner" at Har Timna, proclaiming Israel's "Promised Land" has stones of iron and hills of copper to dig out. Professor Rothenberg found crude iron rings and braclets at Har Timna and has recently speculated that perhaps iron was worked as a by-product of the copper ore bearing rocks at Har Timna or the "Timna Valley" ( cf. Beno Rothenberg. p. 185. "Iron Objects at Timna." Beno Rothenberg, editor. The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper. 1990. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies Institute of Archaeology, University College London). So, Moses the "Ramesside miner" would have had firsthand knowledge of the iron and copper as being in the land God was going to set aside for his peoples.
Exodus 23:31 RSV
"And I will set your bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the Euphrates..."
(Herbert G. May & Bruce M. Metzger, editors. The New Oxford Annotated Bible With Apocrypha. Revised Standard Version. New York. Oxford University Press. 1977)
De 8:9 RSV
"...a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper."
(Herbert G. May & Bruce M. Metzger, editors. The New Oxford Annotated Bible With Apocrypha. Revised Standard Version. New York. Oxford University Press. 1977)
Rothenberg:
"Iron artefacts dating between 1318 and 1156 BC, found both at Site 2 and at the site of the Hathor Temple, noticable amounts of copper. There is a strong indication that the iron used to make these artefacts was produced locally as an adventitious by-product of copper smelting. Isotope ratios of traces of lead present in Timna ores and fluxes, as well as in the iron artefacts, correlate within the margins of error, thereby proving both the provenance of the artefacts and the origin of iron from the mines and smelting centres of the Timna Valley. It seems that in Timna metallic iron was truly born in a copper smelting furnace." (pp.189-190. "Iron Objects at Timna." Beno Rothenberg, editor. The Ancient Metallurgy of Copper. 1990. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies Institute of Archaeology, University College London)
I suspect that as the Iron II (ca. 9th-6th centuries BCE) Israelites and Judaeans who did not possess Sir Flinders Petrie's sophisticated pottery chronology, came to view the encampments, burial cairns and tumuli of the Chalcolithic through Middle Bronze I found throughout the Arabah as evidence of the "graves of Israel" struck down in the wilderness wanderings of 40 years by an outraged God.
The notion that Israel wandered as far south in the Arabah as Ezion-Geber and Elath, may recall the remains or skeletons of Red Sea fish and and various assorted shells found in the Ramesside era sites of Yotvata and Har Timna ( the Timna Valley)? If Egyptian ships were picking up copper at Jezirat Fara'un, "the island of Pharaoh" as suspected by Rothenberg, who found Midianite pottery in the area, then we have the reason why the Exodus memories recall Israel encamping at ports like Ezion-Geber and Elath on the Red Sea in her wilderness wanderings.
The biblical narratives suggest that the Israelites in their wanderings are accompanied by some Midianites/Kenites who later settle near Arad in Joshua's days (Judges 1:16). Perhaps the Ramesside era Midianite wares found in the Arabah and Negev (at Tel Masos near Arad), recalls this biblical association ? The Midianite wares found in the vicinity of the island of Jezirat Fara'un may also recall Israel and Midian's Ramesside presence at the Red Sea and Ezion-Geber and Elath (De 2:8)?
Abro'nah (Nu 33: 34, 35)
Bir Gber (?), south of Ajn Taba and north of Late Roman Ailah or Elath (Musil's Jla). near the western foothills of Edom, Bir Gber is east of Gebel Mene`ijje, modern Israeli Har Timna (cf. Alois Musil. 1907. Karte von Arabia Petraea. 1:300,000). Note that "G" can appear and disappear in some toponyms, Ezion Geber becoming Gesion- Gaber. Ai which was attacked by Joshua in Canaan becomes Gai in the Septuaginta.
E'zion-ge'ber; LXX: Gesion-Gaber. (Nu 33:35, 36)
Jezirat Faraun (island of Pharaoh). Is LXX : Gesi-[on] preserved in Arabic Jezi-(rat)/Gezi(rat) meaning "island" in Arabic? Rothenberg noted "Midianite" pottery at Jezirat Fara'un, contemporary with the Timna mining camp. Others suggest Aqabah, which is another possibility. Flavius Josephus, said its name had been changed to Berenike by the Ptolemaic Greeks in his day, ca. 80 CE (was Berenike a Greek punning of Geber?). Roman remains have been unearthed in various quarters of Aqabah.
De 2: 8 RSV
"So we went on, away from our brethren the sons of Esau who love in Seir, away from the Arabah road from Elath and Ezion-geber. And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab."
Heshbon, Dibon and Medeba (Nu 21:30)
Heshbon (Arabic: Tell Hesban), first settled in Iron I. There is NO EB, MB or LB. No walls appear until Iron II, suggesting for Prof. Burton MacDonald, that it is the Iron II city which was envisioned as a mighty capital of Sihon the Amorite.
Dibon (Arabic Dhiban) Excavations to bedrock reveal a presence in the Early Bronze II-IV, but NO evidence for MB or LB, settlement resumes in Iron I, but no structures appear until Iron II (cf. Vol. 2. p.195. A. D. Tushingham. "Dibon." David Noel Freedman, editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. 1992)
Madeba, Tell Madaba, not thoroughly excavated. A mid 2d millennium BCE presence is attested via tombs as well as two tombs of ca. The 13th-10th centuries BCE. (cf. Vol. 4. p.657. Michele Piccirillo. "Medeba." David Noel Freedman, editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. 1992)
Nophah Nu 21:30. Khirbat Nefaich (?) WSW of Madaba (Musil 1907).
Jazer, of the Amorites (Nu 21:31)
Khirbet Jazzir (MacDonald. p. 210)
Bashan (Nu 21: 33)
Land north and south of the Yarmuk river according to MacDonald (cf. p. 209)
Edrei (Nu 21: 33)
Dera`a in Syria (MacDonald. p. 210)
Beth-Jeshimoth (Nu 33: 49)
Tall al-Azemiah (?) Chalcolithic, Iron I -II, Roman occupations (cf. pp. 88-89. Burton MacDonald. East of the Jordan. 2000).
Abel-Shittim (Nu 33:49). Tell el Ble-bil (?) Shittim is Tell Mistah (transposed consonants, stah-im ?). MacDonald notes some scholars suggest Tall al-Hammam, an Iron I-II fortress (p.90).
Peor (LXX: Phegor)
Fugara (?) on highway north of Blebil and Tell el Mistah.
Pisgah, Rosh (the top of the Pisgah) Josh 12:3, De 3:17. From which Moses views the Promised Land. Kraeling suggests Ras Siyaghah in Moab (1966.128). I note a Ras Feshka on the western shore of the Dead Sea. Could the Pentateuchal narrator have confused Ras Feshka's location ?
Tophel (De 1:1-2,5)
Qal`at at-Tafila (?)
"These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth and Dizahab It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea....Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law..."
Some commentators have thought based on verse 5, that Tophel must be near Moab, and the plain of the Arabah (Jordan valley) across from Jericho. To date, no site appears to preserve the name Tophel.
Kraeling noted that et-Tafila in Edom was a possible site for Tophel :
"To say Suph [the Red Sea] lay between Paran and Tophel makes sense if Tophel can be connected with et-Tafilah, an important place in the Edomite country." (p.116. "The Wilderness Sojourn." Emil G. Kraeling. The Rand McNally Bible Atlas. New York. 1966)
Aharoni and Avi-Yonah also suggested that Tophel was et-Tafileh (cf. Map No. 52. p. 48. "The Penetration Into Transjordan." Yohanan Aharoni & Michael Avi-Yonah [Revised by Anson F. Rainey & Ze`ev Safrai]. The MacMillan Bible Atlas. Jerusalem. Carta. 1993)
I suspect that the narrator has been misunderstood, he is describing the boundaries of the great Arabah valley from the Red Sea (Suph) or Gulf of Aqabah to just north of the Dead Sea and the Jericho area. I note that south of the Dead Sea, in Edom lies a site called Tafila. Excavations in Qal`at at-Tafila have revealed the site came into existence in Iron II. It is my understanding that Tophel is Tafila. Tafila lies just north of Buseirah (biblical Bozrah, Ge 36:33) another site NO earlier than Iron II.
I suspect that the Pentaeuchal narrator apparently mentioned Tophel/Tafila as a "border site" to fix the location of the Arabah (on the east) and Suph (the Gulf of Aqabah) on the extreme south. I further suspect that Paran is the Sinai, bordering the Arabah on the west. In verse 5, I understand that the narrator, having described for his audience the magnitude of the great Arabah valley, then "pinpoints" Moses as across from Jericho, on the Arabah plain east of the Jordan and near Moab, the Arabah actually extends all the way from the Sea of Galilee to the Gulf of Aqabah.
The fact that Qal`at at-Tafila is no older than Iron II (according to Professor Burton MacDonald) aligns nicely with other archaeological anomalies noted by other scholars that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses in the 15th century BCE as maintained by Conservative-Fundamentalist scholarship, but is a composition of the Exile, ca. 562-560 BCE.
Bibliography :
Yohanan Aharoni. The Land of the Bible. A Historical Geography. Philadelphia. Westminster Press. 1979.
Yohanan Aharoni & Michael Avi-Yonah [Revised by Anson F. Rainey & Ze`ev Safrai]. The MacMillan Bible Atlas. Jerusalem. Carta. 1993.
Jason Baldridge. Berenike Roman Trade on the Red Sea Coast of Egypt. 1995. http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~jason2/papers/bnikeppr.htm
Bernard F. Batto. "Red Sea or Reed Sea ?" pp.57-63. Biblical Archaeology Review. Vol. 10.1984.
Manfred Bietak. "Comments on the Exodus." pp.168-169. Anson F. Rainey. Editor. Archaeological and Historical Relationships in the Biblical Period. Tel Aviv, Israel. Tel Aviv University. 1987.
G. I. Davies. The Way of the Wilderness, A Geographical Study of the Wilderness Itineraries in the Old Testament. London. Cambridge University Press. 1979.
Israel Finkelstein. "Ethnicity and Origin of the Iron I Settlers in the Highlands of Canaan, Can the Real Israel Stand Up ?" pp. 198-209. Biblical Archaeologist. 59:4. 1996.
G.S.P. Freeman-Grenville [Translator], et. al., The Onomasticon by Eusebius of Caesarea (Palestine in the Fourth Century A.D.). Jerusalem. Carta. 2003. ISBN 965-220-500-1.
George E. Gingras [Translator]. Egeria: A Pilgrimage. New York. Newman Press. 1970.
Geraldine Harris. Cultural Atlas for Young People, Ancient Egypt. New York. Facts on File. 1990.
Ernst Hohne [Redactor] & Hermann Wahle [Cartographer]. Palastina, Historisch-Archaologische Karte, Karte Sud [zwei vierzehnfarbige Blatter, 1:300,000, mit Einfuhrung und Register]. Gottingen, Deutschland. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 1981. ISBN 3-525-50157-9). Two full-color maps of Israel & Transjordan with an accompanying bound register of sites identified by eras, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic, Byzantine.
James K. Hoffmeier. Israel in Egypt, the Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. New York. Oxford University Press. 1996.
John S. Holladay. "Maskhutah, Tell El-." cf. p.591. Vol. 4. David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. Doubleday. New York. 1992.
Zecharia Kallai. Historical Geography of the Bible, The Tribal Territories of Israel. Jerusalem & Leiden. The Magness Press. The Hebrew University. E. J. Brill. 1986.
Kenneth A. Kitchen. "Exodus, The." p. 703. Vol. 2. David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992.
George M. Lamsa, [Translator]. The Holy Bible, From the Ancient Eastern Text, George M. Lamsa's Translation From the Aramaic of the Peshitta. San Francisco. Harper & Row. [1933, 1939], 1967, 1968.
Edouard Naville. The Store-city of Pithom and the Route of the Exodus. London. Egypt Exploration Fund. 1885.
Emil G. Kraeling. The Rand McNally Bible Atlas. New York. Rand McNally Company.1966.
Burton MacDonald. "East of the Jordan," Territories and Sites of the Hebrew Scriptures. Boston. American Schools of Oriental Research. 2000.
Ze'ev Meshel. "Yotvata." Vol. 4. p.1518. Ephraim Stern. Editor. The New Encyclopedia of Archaeological Excavations in the Holy Land. New York. Simon & Schuster. 1993.
Professor Gary D. Mumford. El Marka # 5. Survey and Excavations Projects In Egypt, South Sinai. 2003. <http://www.deltasinai.com/sinai-05.htm>
Edouard Naville. The Store-city of Pithom and the Route of the Exodus. London. Egypt Exploration Fund. 1885.
T. Eric Peet. Egypt and the Old Testament. Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1924. England: The University Press of Liverpool Ltd. 1923.
Michele Piccirillo. "Medeba." Vol. 4. p.657. David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992.
James B. Pritchard. Editor. The Ancient Near East, An Anthology of Texts and Pictures. Princeton University Press. 1958.
Eliezer D. Oren. "Land Bridge Between Asia and Africa." pp.182,190. Beno Rothenberg et al. Sinai, Pharaohs, Miners, Pilgrims and Soldiers. Washington & New York. Joseph J. Binns, Publisher. 1979.
Donald B. Redford. "Zoan." p.1106. Vol. 6. David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary, New York. Doubleday. 1992.
Beno Rothenberg et al. Sinai, Pharaohs, Miners, Pilgrims and Soldiers. Washington & New York. Joseph J. Binns Publisher. 1979.
Beno Rothenberg. The Egyptian Mining Temple at Timna. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies Institute of Archaeology, University College, London.1988.
Alan R. Schulman. "Egyptian Catalogue Conclusion." p.145. Beno Rothenberg. The Egyptian Mining Temple at Timna. Institute for Archaeo-Metallurgical Studies Institute of Archaeology, University College, London.1988.
Steven E. Sidebotham. "Red Sea." Vol. 5, pp.633-644. David Noel Freedman et.al. Editor.
The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992.
J. Simons. The Geographical and Topographical Texts of the Old Testament : A Concise Commentary in XXXII Chapters. Leiden. Brill. 1959.
Mark S. Smith. The Early History of God, Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel. 2nd Edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan. William B. Eedmans. 1990, 2002.
William Smith [Revised by F.N. and M.A. Peloubet]. A Dictionary of the Bible, Comprising its Antiquities, Biography, Natural History and Literature with the latest researches and references to the Revised Version of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan Publishing House. [1884, 1948], 1976.
James Strong. Strong's Exhaustive Bible Concordance and "Hebrew-Chaldee Dictionary." Word Books. Waco, Texas. 1977.
A. D. Tushingham. "Dibon." Vol. 2. p.195. David Noel Freedman, editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. 1992.
William A. Ward. "Summary and Conclusions." pp. 105-112. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard H. Lesko. Editors. Exodus, The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana. 1997.
James Weinstein. "Exodus and Archaeological Reality." pp.87-103. Ernest S. Frerichs & Leonard H. Lesko. Editors. Exodus, The Egyptian Evidence. Winona Lake, Indiana. 1997.
Edward F. Wente. "Rameses." p.618. Vol. 5. David Noel Freedman. Editor. The Anchor Bible Dictionary. New York. Doubleday. 1992.
Ian Wilson. The Exodus Enigma. London. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1985.
A.H. Van Zyl. The Moabites. Leiden. Brill. 1960.
Maps :
Abu Zenima. Survey of Egypt. 1:100,000. 1936.
Atlas of Israel. Survey of Israel. Jerusalem. 1:250,000. 1976.
Azraq. Sheet NH 37A. South Levant 1:250,000. U.S. Army Map Service. 1952.
Avraham Levi. Bazak Guide to Israel, 1979-1980. New York. Harper & Row. 1979. (1:250,000 Maps at front of the book, including the Sinai)
Bearbeitet in der Kartogr.Abteilung der Kgl. Preuss. Landes-Aufname, April 1918. (A set of two Maps of Southern Palestine, from Jerusalem to Beersheba, and Transjordan on the same latitude).
Feiran. Survey of Egypt. Southern Sinai. 1:100,000. 1937.
Hammam Faraun. Survey of Egypt. Southern Sinai. 1:100,000. sheet 1. Department of Survey and Mines. 1938.
Ernst Hohne [Redactor] & Hermann Wahle [Cartographer]. Palastina, Historisch-Archaologische Karte, Karte SUD & Karte NORD [ zwei vierzehnfarbige Blatter, 1:300,000, mit Einfuhrung und Register]. Gottingen, Deutschland. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 1981. ISBN 3-525-50157-9). Two full-color maps of Israel & Transjordan with an accompanying bound register of sites identified by eras, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Hellenistic, Byzantine.
Ismaila. United Arab Republic. 1:250,000. Washington D.C.1970
Alois Musil. Karte von Arabia Petraea. 1:300,000. Vienna.1907.
Nuweiba`. Survey of Egypt. Southern Sinai. Egypt. 1:100,000. Sheet no. 7. 1934.
Qal`et El-Nakhl, Egypt. 1:250,000 Sheet NH 36-11, Washington D.C. 1972.
Suez. 1:25,000. Survey of Egypt. 1934.
Suez. United Arab Republic. 1:250,000. Washington, D.C.1970.
Tor, Egypt. 1:250,000 Washington, D.C. 1972.
Wadi Sudr. Survey of Egypt. 1:100,000. Northern Sinai. Sheet 15. 1937.
Wadi Watir. Survey of Egypt. Southern Sinai. 1:100,000. Sheet 4. 1934.
