The route of the Exodus has been the subject of many debates and speculations. This lack of absolute certainly has nothing to do with the lack of information in the Bible. Num 33:1-49 provides a comprehensive list of the places Israel encamped on their journey from the time they left Rameses until they arrive on the plains of Moab. The biggest problem has to do with identifying the sites mentioned. The names of most of these remote places in an infrequently travelled land have never been updated or preserved. Knowledge of the precise location of Mount Sinai, to cite just one example, was lost soon after Elijah's visit to the mountain (1 Ki 19:8). Any decision regarding which of the several mountains in the Sinai Peninsula was the mountain where Israel spent nearly a year in the presence of God depends, therefore, on one's interpretation of the evidences recorded in the Pentateuch. The same issue attends the question of the Yam Suph, the Reed Sea or Red Sea. What and where exactly was it?
Three routes have been proposed by scholars who have poured their energies into the question. Each have their merits and weaknesses. The most widely accepted view today is the Southern Route (or variations of it), and this is the one that appears in the map here.
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