Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. (14:1-2)

Can’t be more specific, right? Well: wrong. Migdol simply means ‘fortress’. And no archaeologist has ever been able to pinpoint where Pi Hahiroth is.

And what sea did Moses cross exactly? That also seems an easy one: open your bible, and it will (most often) mention the Red Sea (13:18, 15:4, 22).

Well: wrong again. That’s a notorious mistranslation in English! It has been in English language bibles for centuries – but it is dead wrong.

In Hebrew, the bible reads that the sea Moses passed was called ‘Yam Suph’. Now ‘yam’ is simply the word for ‘sea’. And ‘suph’? It means: reeds, or bushes. The bible uses exactly the same word to describe where Moses was put into the water as a baby in a basket.

So: Moses crossed the Sea of Reeds, or the Reed Sea. (Is it a coincidence that in English, Reed Sea and Red Sea only differ one ‘e’?)

But where is it?

Scholars believe that Exodus refers to a salty, swamp district north of the Red Sea – a lake at the Mediterranean coast. Indeed, plenty of reeds there! And the Red Sea has none.

		The Sea of Reeds?

It would also explain the third name from the description above: Baal Zephon.

At the Mediterranean coast, on a thin strip of land bordering the Sea of Reeds, there was a well-known temple in honor of Zeus Kasios. Scholars know that this is a newer name for Baal Zephon, the old storm god of the Jews.

So there it is: the most likely place where Moses performed his most famous miracle.

Well, 'miracle'... We’ll discuss that elsewhere on this site.