News > Scientists reconstruct Red Sea parting Researchers at the
US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) have produced
a computer simulation that demonstrates how the parting of the
Red Sea described in the Book of Exodus could have been caused
by strong winds. The study, which is part of a larger project
looking into the impact of winds on water depths, was published
in the open-access journal Plos One. In it, researchers produced
a reconstruction of the likely geography of the Nile Delta
during the Old Testament period, which has changed considerably
over the intervening centuries. The researchers have identified
a stretch of the Nile where a strong east wind could conceivably
have pushed the river back at a bend, opening up a walkway
across the exposed mud flats and allowing the Israelites to flee
the approaching Egyptians. "The simulations match fairly closely
with the account in Exodus," Carl Drews of the NCAR told the
BBC. "The parting of the waters can be understood through fluid
dynamics. T