Then Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. …
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
Exodus 13:17-18; 14:21-22
Some scholars suggest the parting of the Red Sea may have arisen from a mistranslation of the Hebrew yam suph, meaning God parted not the Red Sea but a more modest Reed Sea. But the parting of the Red Sea has featured prominently in religious tradition and imaginations for centuries. It is named for its crimson coral reefs, which sometimes reflect the light of the sun and make the water seem red.
From the Jordanian shore at Aqaba, one can look out on the Red Sea and see three other countries: Israel, Egypt and, beyond a spit of Jordanian shoreline, Saudi Arabia.
