The legend of “the sea splitting in two” seemed fictional, but it turned out that science could explain it

How could the surface of the water split in two, revealing a lonely path at the bottom? “The sea splits in two” – this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event.

From Eastern fairy tales to Western mythology, there is no shortage of motifs such as a character running to the sea, with enemies chasing behind. At that time, the sea surface splits in two to allow him or her to escape.

The legend of “the sea surface splitting in two” was thought to be fictional, but it turns out that science can explain it – Photo 1.

Thought it was just a legend, but scientists believe that “water surface splitting in two” is completely possible. But no matter how you say it, to “slash” the ocean requires an equally large amount of energy! What “force” is that?

First, let’s reread one of the most popular stories about “the road across the sea”.

Saint Moses led the Jews across the Red Sea

The Old Testament recounts that, in the past, the Jews had to work as slaves in Egypt, and life was extremely miserable. To free the nation from imprisonment, a hero rose up – Saint Moses. He led 600,000 people and their luggage to flee across the Sinai Peninsula.

The Egyptian Pharaohs sent their armies to chase them away. The Jews fled to the Red Sea but were still overtaken. In the midst of danger, the water surface split into two so the Jews could continue their journey. Of course, the Egyptian army tried to chase them but couldn’t.

The following incident was recorded in the Bible: “Holy Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea rushed back at dawn. The Egyptian army was fleeing when they encountered sea water, and the Lord knocked down the Egyptian army. in the middle of the sea. The sea water poured down, burying the chariots and cavalry, burying all of Pharaoh’s army that had followed the Jews into the sea. Not a single person survived.”

Scientific explanation

Researchers from the National Center for Aerodynamics (NCAR) and the University of Colorado in the US used computer simulations to find out what really happened in the Red Sea.

Factors of interest include subsurface geology, waves and wind.

Finally, they came to an unexpected conclusion. Accordingly, strong East winds blew all night, causing the water surface to split in two right at the lagoon location along the North coast of the Red Sea (Egyptian side). The Jews followed this “temporary” route to escape during the night.

Carl Drews – the leader of the research – said: “The fact that the water splits in half is due to the movement of the flow.

The wind moved the water according to a certain physical mechanism, thereby opening a safe corridor for the Jews. After that, the water returned to its original position and coincidentally, it happened right at dawn to drown the Egyptian army.”

It is known that in a simulation experiment, a wind force of 100km/h can cause the water surface to “drift” 5km across for 4 hours. Those were the necessary factors to help hundreds of thousands of Jews run the 3-4km distance to the other shore.

Of course, scientists cannot explain all the mythical details, for example, how can people walk in winds of 100km/h? However, the hypothesis is that the large number of the army will create a protective “human wall”.

Researcher Carl Drews said: “No one wants to do that. But considering the extermination of Pharaoh’s soldiers behind them, their only choice was to overcome.”