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their second place of encampment. For we have been told that they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, in (or upon) the edge of the wilderness. Exod. xiii. 20.

From Etham to Phi-Hiroth.

The Israelites were now secure, being out of all fear of the Egyptians, and just ready to take shelter in a wilderness where no army, without a miracle, could subsist. The want of water and every other necessary necessary article precluded all chance of being overtaken. But at this instant they have an order to change their routes and in consequence of it one would imagine that they would be directed to march by the left to Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. No: they are commanded to retire from it. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they TURN and encamp before Pi-hahiroth, (or Phi-Hiroth) between Migdol and the sea, over against Baal-zephon; before it shall ye encamp by the sea. Nothing can be more plain than the command of the Deity; and the situation into which they were afterwards brought

in consequence of it is equally plain. They were to turn somewhat retrograde, which is a circumstance particularly to be observed; and they were then to proceed, till they came ---xαтα soμα Eigal, to a mouth or opening between some mountains, at that day well known. And when they had halted, they were to have the sea on one hand, and Migdol, the castle or garrison, on the other; and over against them was to be Baal-zephon, on the opposite side of the sea. The place where the wilderness of Etham commenced was at the top of that western gulf, in which the Redsea ended. There were two of these gulfs, one of which lay to the east, and was of the least extent. This in aftertimes was called Elanites, from the city Elana, or Elah, the Elath of the scriptures, which bordered upon it. The other was the Sinus Heroopolitanus, which extended farther inland, and was nearest to Egypt. It was thus named by the Greeks from the city Heroum, which stood at its northern extremity. Near this point the chil

1 Fauces Montium,, os, apertura. See Le Clerc upon Exodus, p. 430.

2

* Ptolemy, 1. 5. p. 162. It is by Pliny called Sinus Horoopoliticus, 1. 5. c. 11, 259. Deut. ii. 8.

dren of Israel turned back, and passing downward with the sea on their left hand, they were brought into a defile, which consisted of a long extended coast, and was bounded by the above mentioned sinus to the east, and by the extremity of the Arabian mountain

to the west.

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At the end was the inundation above mentioned, which from the Greeks had the name of Clysma, and supposed to be the same place which was called by the Arabians Colsum. This inlet of water stopped the Israelites, and prevented their proceeding farther; for it directly thwarted them in their spassage, so that they were on every side enclosed, and had their enemy pressing close upon their rear. For the Egyptians pursued after them,- -and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pi-hahiroth, before Baal-zephon. tonThe place of this inlet is, I believe, now for the most part dry, and is called Bedea by the

It is now

and Niebo called Gibel Mocatti. See Shaw, Pocock,

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Some say, that whatever similarity may have appeared

in the purport of these two names, yet they are of a different signification. Clysma, Kλvoμa, denotes an inundation, cr *place inundated: but by Colsum is meant an overwhelming or submersion. It was, they say, given from the overwhelming of Pharaoh and his host.

Arabs. It formerly extended some miles inward towards Egypt, passing through a mouth or opening between the mountains; which mouth or opening is very justly supposed to have been the Phi-Hiroth of the scriptures. It is some miles in length, and still retains marks of the sea, as we learn from 'Monconys, and others who have passed it. For, instead of going round by the mountain of Arabia, in a direction to the north or the east, travellers often pass towards the south-east through this hollow way, and so arrive at Bedea, where it terminates at the Red-sea. From thence they turn to the left northward, and in about ten hours arrive at Suez. This road is called now Derb al Touriac. The history given by Monconys is remarkable, where he describes his passage through the length of this opening. ? Après diner nous passâmes pendant deux heures entre des montagnes, qui sont de côté et d'autre fort droites, et fort hautes, et laissent un grand chemin au milieu de trente ou qua

Of the different roads to the Red-sea, and Etham, see Shaw's Travels, p. 433. and Niebuhr's Arabie, p. 352. Of the four roads mentioned by Pocock, Derb Ejenef is the most northern, and by this he supposes the Israelites to have passed, as it led more directly to Etham, p. 155.

2

a Voyages de Mons. de Monconys, vol. 1. p. 409.

rante pas de large; qui ne semble pas mal a l'endroit, dans lequel l' Ecriture dit, que Pharaon pretendoit attraper le peuple Hebreu enfermé. Aut bout de ces montagnes il y a une vaste campagne, qui va jusque a la mer.—————— Le 18. nous fimes une heure de chémin à pié toûjours dans cette plaine, qui se rétressit entre de hautes montagnes, qui vont jusques a la mer, et font paroître cette plaine un canal artificiel, excepté sa largeur, qui n'a guere moins de deux lieus. Nous arrivâmes à onze heures au bord de la Mer Rouge, ou nos dinámes. Puis la cotoiant toujours jusques au soir nous marchames vers le nord, et laissant les montagnes au couchant, et la mer du coté du Levant ---Le 19. nous partimes au point du jour, et arrivâmes a neuf heures au devant de Suez. At the embouchure of this valley, between the mountains, was the Clysma of the Greeks, and the Colsum of the Arabs, from whence the sinus took its name. Here was also a tower and garrison described by Ptolemy as--Κλύσμα φρέριον, and Κλυσμα καςρον by . Hierocles, the encampment at Clysma; which was perhaps the Migdol of the Egyptians. When

1 L. iv. p. 116.

* See Appendix to Antonini Itin. p. 723.

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