Scarab

The Gravettian toolmaking industry of the Upper Paleolithic was prevalent before the last glacial epoch. It was named for the La Gravette type site of Dordogne region of France where its graveur style lithic tools were first found. The characteristic artifact of this industry is a lithic flake with a chisel edge called a burin. This specialized edge of  a burin may have been used by prehistoric humans as a carving and engraving tool on wood, bone or softer stone. Burins are designed with a feature called a burin spall where the toolmaker struck increasingly smaller flakes in order to form the graving edge. It has an oblong heft that would fit comfortably into the palm of the artisan hand. The comparison of the burin shape to wood boring beetles is in accordance with the function of both. Perhaps the manufacture of the first burin was an attempt dislodge grubs and beetles as a meal.

Dawn's encroaching light that consumes the shadows and creates a new day was attributed to Khepre represented by the dung beetle Scarabeaus.  The ancient Egyptian word for the dung beetle as well as the carved stone scarab artifacts is a'ov. Ovular shapes such as the beetle, egg and nuts are natural containers.The container that held the throne name of the Pharaoh was an ovular shape. Scarabs were inscribed with throne names of Pharaohs as well as high officials in later dynasties. The throne name inscribed on the scarab literally meant "Ra manifested through ________ (Pharaoh's name)." The grooves of the engraving allowed the name of the Pharaoh to be seen through the play of shadows. What magic indeed!

A geometrical ellipse is the locus of all points of a plane whose distances to two fixed points add to the same constant. It is is a closed curve and its horizontal and vertical axes are symmetric. In Euclidean geometry, an ellipse is usually defined as the bounded case of a conic section, or as the set of points such that the sum of the distances to two fixed points is constant. The proof of the equivalence of these two definitions uses focal spheres. The first theorem is that an ellipse is the locus of points such that the sum of the distances to two fixed points (the foci) is constant. The second theorem is that for any conic section, the distance from a fixed point (the focus) is proportional to the distance from a fixed line. The precise conic section of stone scarabs'oval shape illustrate the ancient Egyptians understanding of Euclidean geometry.


The Hebrew tri-lateral roots KRV and KRS build words that describe cutting and splitting. (keh'·resh - to split off, khä·rash' to cut into to engrave,  makh·ar·eh'·sheth plow share cutting furrow, khä·rav' splitting of red sea, kheh'·rev tool for cutting stone, sword, knife) These carving words are also cognate to scarab. Scribe is another scarab word and has the meaning of to write or to copy. Scarab and scribe are both words that contain all the letters in which a conic section is required. All other letters can be inscribed with a combination of right triangle and/or isosceles triangle. The letters S, C and B must have a conic section to inscribe. Letters O, D, R, and P can be created using the S, C or B pattern.  But nothing can replace the equivalence of the two fixed points of the scarab's flat underside.

Cherubim

Professor Christopher Hutton's language research focuses on the link between linguistic theory and race theory. He states that "For in language the most important thing is not the object itself but the concept that the members of the speech community have of it. That the concept varies from place to place and period to period is so evident as not to require special justification". In the Latin language cerebrum meant profound understanding to people under Rome's domination. The profound understanding of Romans and the regions they conquered was the rule of the sword. "Ius Gladii"  the Law of The Sword meant that Ceasar held the power of life over death. Roman officials, preceded by sword carriers, announced their supreme jurisdiction by virtue of Ceasar. The life of every human was not his own.The bronze sword's supreme jurisdiction was common to all Chalcolithic peoples. . The *keres- top of the head was easily separated according to the Law of the Sword. 

Pe Kheruv "edge of the sword" is an Hebraism found in thirty-five chapters of the Old Testament.  Pe Kheruv means to lay waste and is used in conjunction with the elimination of entire clans or tribes. Pe Kheruv  literally translated is "mouth of the sword" and could be describing the curved area of the Canaanite khopesh. The khopesh blade is only sharpened on the outside portion of the curved end. The Egyptians adopted this implement from the Canaanites which was eventually rendered kopis as a result of the bronze trade with Greece. It was a weapon of slaughter - not fighting - and specifically designed to separate the head from the shoulders of man or beast. 

 Romans 14: 3"For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, and an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer". 

This warning from Paul does not use the Ius Gladi sword word of Roman supreme jurisdiction. Instead, he uses the word for a large knife used for killing animals and cutting up flesh; mä'-khī-rä. Fabrication of the curved edges of a leaf shaped large knife requires a process of scribing. A pattern must be traced onto a blank form and then cut and polished. The Hebrew word makh·ar·eh'·sheth is the implement of scribing whether it be with the plow or engraver. In the creole language of the copper trade, a makira may have meant those implements that are traced and cut from a pattern. A form of this word for engraving was used when the God of Hebrew speaking people split the Yam Suph and allowed the Israelites to escape into freedom. Yam Suph, the crossing of the crevice, was a paradigm shift of profound understanding. The supreme jurisdiction was no longer Pharaoh but the Law of Moses engraved on tablets for all to read. Asiatic slaves created the first alphabet in the copper mines of Sinai appealing to the God of Adam. Their prayers were answered and an agent of wrath brought punishment onto the wrongdoers. Perhaps Paul was implying a similar scenario using language to defy the Ius Gladii of Caesar.

The first man and woman were instructed not to eat fruit from the Tree of Life. But they could not help themselves so the God of Adam placed Cherubim on either side of the garden gate each with flaming Kheruvim swords. Genesis 3:24 "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life".  The Cherubim were the agents of God's supreme jurisdiction. They were the profound understanding gained from the merisms of the Tree of knowledge. Cherubim are the heavenly mirror image of man's holy countenance where language, speech and every supreme jurisdiction reside; the cerebrum. 

The cerebrum is the most superior region of the central nervous system. A longitudinal groove separates the human brain into two distinct cerebral hemispheres that mirror each other. The cerebrum and cerebral cortex is folded into many peaks and valleys called sulcus and gyrus. The cephalitic enfolding of the cerebrum is the process by which the embryo develops. The dual wings of the cerebrum cover more primitive sections of the brain and are responsible for all speech and language skills as well as complex behaviors such as social interactions, thought and judgement. That could also be describing the Cherubim guarding the front gate of the Garden of Eden.

Khepre

The tree of knowledge of good and evil is introduced in the Genesis story of Adam and Eve. It has been suggested by a scholar of ancient languages,Cyrus Gordon, that the phrase "good and evil" is a figure of speech called a merism.  The mirror image of good and evil are used together to create a third entirely new  meaning defined as everything. The tree of knowledge of good and evil becomes the tree of all knowledge.

The mirror image approach to understanding creation is known as dualism and is a consistent theme in religion and philosophy. Symmetry is dualism's biological mirror image for which a tree is also an excellent metaphor. The trunk of the tree represents the connection of the mirrored halves and is the conduit between the two sides. The Cabbalistic Tree of Life (Sephirot) is a symmetrical network cabled together by a central trunk. Its redundant connections could be compared to the human brain. Kaphal is the Hebrew word for doubling and folding or making two out of one. It is surely the origin of kephale the Greek word for head which would make kaphal the origin of many words describing cephalization.Trees connect sky and earth, life and death, moisture and dryness and men to the divine. They are vascular plants and have veins that move water and nutrients throughout their structures. Xylem veins run from the roots throughout the entire tree to carry nutrients from the soil. Phloem sap is created at the leaves during photosynthesis and travels down to the roots.

The ancient Egyptian representation of the head is Khepre with the dung beetle (Scarabaeidae) as his totem. His job is to protect Ra on his journey through the night time underworld. Khepre means "to come into being" and came to represent the sun at dawn. During the night hours the sun is "hidden within" the dark beetle. Kaphir is a word that means black and must originate from this cephalic totem. Sephir of the Cabbalistic Sephirot may ultimately originate with this beetle. Khepre is also the ancient Egyptian word for hinna, a plant harvested for lawsone. Lawsone is a dark organic compound that binds with protein and has been used since antiquity as a dye. Men dyed their beards and women their fingernails with hinna and was considered a sunnah (fortunate) by Prophet Muhammad saaw.

The pineal gland is located in the center of the brain and secretes a dark hormone called melatonin. It is the Regulator-in-Chief of all secreted hormones including the female menstrual cycle. The pineal  releases melatonin during the dark hours and plays a critical role in the sleep cycle. Circadian rhythm, governed by the pineal, duplicates the movement of the sun. The dualistic approach the ancient Egyptians used to understand natural laws placed Ra in the center of the cephalic vault during the night.

It is easy to make a comparison between the scarab beetle shell and the human skull. The dung beetle has a hard outer layer protecting a hemolymphic circulatory system and the grooves are similar to the sutures of a skull. The job of Khepre was to protect Ra on his journey through the underworld as the skull protects the important matter within. Noah was protected during the flood by an ark built of kopher wood.  Kopher means to "cover over or to house something" and is also the word used for pitch. Pitch is a resin made from petroleum and possibly tree sap and was used in antiquity to waterproof boats.The word khepre may originate with the tree Noah used to build his ark. Cypress is a tree from which sap is collected and is used as the translation of kopher.

Linguists agree that is copper is a word related to Cyprus/cypress. They have decided that the metal was named for the island. However, copper ore was being mined in the Rift Valley on an industrial scale long before the island developed a high civilization. The earliest records relating to Cyprus dates to the middle Bronze age. Perhaps copper  is derived from the  from the ancient name for the bipennis, the Cretin version of Khepre. Bipennis means doubled wing and was used as a scepter by the Regulator-in-Chief. Bipennis and pineal, as well as pinia and pine, are ultimately derived from the same Hebrew root word Panah which means to "turn and face". Its derivatives are used to describe the Presence of God and the worship thereof.

Kherev is the Hebrew word for sword and originates with a word meaning to "divide into two halves". It must also be related to carob and cherub which are words related to scarab. The dual cherubim covered the Mercy Seat of the Arc of the Covenant with their wingspan. They were formed from one blank of bronze without any seams. Other related words are crab (creature with hard shell), karibu (Akk.one who blesses), grub (larvae of beetle), scorpion and groove.

Ultimately, the winged Khepre, the Bipennis, the Cherubim and Scarab are all derived from the corpus collosum;  the abode of the Regulator-in-Chief. It is a wide bundle of neural cables beneath the cortex along the longitudinal groove. It connects the the doubled wings of the cerebrum (another sword word) and facilitates communication between the two hemispheres. This configuration may explain why humans interpret the world in a dualistic manner. We compare, contrast and create using the building blocks of earlier comparisons. Our amazing bipennate brain needs to compare heaven to earth to create the words that describe what we discover. Language is more than the croaking of frogs - even if they are the northern European variety.

Veil of the Horizon

The ancient Egyptians used basin irrigation in their agricultural practices which not only watered but naturally fertilized their fields. The Nile River is the lower watershed of the Ethiopian highlands and the recipient of mineral enriched sediment that amends the topsoil. In ancient times, the Nile would create a floodplain to a depth of 1.5 meters. In mid July the river began to rise gently in the south and reached flood stage at the first cataract in mid August. The flood would then surge northward and reach the end of the valley about five weeks later. The farmers would capture the sediment by enclosing plots of land with dikes. The flood water was held fast giving the fertile silt and sediment time to settle. The surplus water would then be returned to the watercourse by breaching the dikes. July 17th is still celebrated as the "Night of the Drop" when the celestial tear fell and the Nile began to rise. Tatenen was the totem of this cyclical inundation and may be translated as "Realm of the Rising Mounds." The hieroglyph of Tatenen is accompanied by the sign for cloth.


In prehistoric Egypt, the watercourse of the flood would have evolved through the agricultural practices of farmers. Mounding the topsoil onto higher ground and digging ravines for water drainage would have eventually created permanent canals. The perennial flood waters would have traveled the same course both rising and receding.This circulating watercourse may have been called a kikker. "And Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the kikker of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."  The floodplain of Jordan, although contained because of mountain ranges on each side, would fit the description of basin irrigation. However, because of the rapid descent of the River Jordan (Jordan means the descender) sedimentation would have soon been depleted. Unlike the Nile kikker, farmers of the Jordan floodplain would have had to eventually amend the soil. The floodplain in Guyana is similar to the Nile watershed and is farmed by descendants of African slaves. They call their basin irrigation system a koker which corroborates the definition of the similar kikker.


After the Nile began to recede, the dikes would be breached allowing the excess water to drain. The sun would dry the soil enough so that the plowing and planting could begin. A plausible word used to describe dike breaching is the Hebrew word shalaish which has cognates meaning to set seed. The definition of shalaish is "striking repeatedly" and/or "to impale." The rim of the dike would be slashed repeatedly and impaled with farming implements to create a ditch for the water to escape. A slow flow would be desirable so that valuable sediment remains in the basin. There is a noticeable similarity of shalaish and slash but also to shalosh the Hebrew word for three. Three slash marks is a ubiquitous symbol with a meaning lost to antiquity. Perhaps it represented breaching the dikes and release of water. 


After the crop harvest, an important task would have been to repair the breaches in the dikes. The predictable flooding required advanced planning to prepare for the next cycle of sediment capture. An inevitable invention would have been a sluice gate. A sluice gate precludes the need for the repeated slashing and building back up of the basin embankment. Another benefit would be the ability to regulate the amount of water released. With a sluice gate installed, the dike could be permanently fortified and unintentional breaching could be deterred. Sluice and shalosh may have both evolved from shalaish. Watching the operation of a sluice gate, the word slice also comes to mind.


The single most important connection between heaven and earth was the moisture delivery system. Famine, disease and death were directly correlated to an absence of water. Understanding and controlling the water cycle was the foremost duty of the priestly class. They compared the heavens to the earth (as well as the human body) and tried to control hydrology by the obsessive creation of rituals. The priests interpreted the heavens as a kikker and releasing water must be through a similar device. Stars were the sluice gates of heaven and must be tears in the fabric of the firmament. Opening the sluice gates of heaven required ritual that focused on the body of the Pharaoh - especially in death. Celestial is another shalaish word and comes from the Greek word for heavenly bodies.  A tear (water droplet) comes from the tear (laceration) but linguists say there is no connection. Tear and slash have about the same meaning.

The cloth of Tatenen was viewed as the earthly fabric of the kikker woven from one thread without any seams. Likewise, the continuous flow of the Nile was one thread that carried the life-giving silt and sediment throughout all farmland. Weaving with one thread could more accurately be described as or knitting or tatting. Weaving requires both warp and weft threads but tatting depends upon one continuous flow of yarn. If the Pharaoh was to be the pure light then the"veil of the horizon" (wrappings) would need to be tatted. Tait was the goddess responsible for mummy wrappings and also the fine linens that clothed the votive statues. Woven cloth is relatively rigid whereas tatted "lace" or intarsia is flexible, can be drawn closed or stretch when filled. Supermarkets sometimes provide tatted shopping bags that stretch to accommodate produce but shrink closed when empty. 

The Wab priests were also known as Priests of Purity performed their duties in pristine linen. They were closely associated with Tait and were responsible for the health of the Pharaoh. Their primary duty, or at least, their only duty that can be confirmed, is to retrieve the bat to be used in an unknown potion. The bat was probably the Egyptian fruit bat or Egyptian Rousette. This bat had to be retrieved on the correct day at the correct hour supposedly to achieve the most benefit to the potion. The Rousette is proven to be the pollinator of the hinna plant called Khepre by the ancient Egyptians. The Edenic name of this bat is atalleph and is cognate to many words that mean to suspend. 


The Rousette would be an appropriate totem for the suspended veil that divides heaven and earth. In fact, it does appears to be the creature depicted on the Was Scepter.  In some iterations of this scepter, tear drops or rain is cascading down the shaft. In other funerary art, the Was Scepter is shown holding up the night sky. The striking resemblance to a tatting hook make the Was Scepter a fitting totem for the goddess Tait to tat the Veil of the Horizon.

Kalakala

The Kalakala (kah-LAK-ah-lah) is a unique art deco ferry boat that operated on the Salish Sea and Puget Sound from 1935 until 1967. In 1933, the vessel was sold to the Puget Sound Black Ball Line and refit to operate as a ferry. It was a popular tourist attraction during the 1962 World's Fair in Seattle. The Kalakala was issued FCC license #001 for the first commercial radar system. 


In 1967 the vessel was sold to a seafood processing company and towed to Alaska to work as a crabbing ship. After a time the Kalakala was beached in Kodiak and used to process shrimp and as a cannery. In 1998, she was rediscovered  and, after complicated financial negotiations, the ship was re floated and towed back to Seattle by the fearless Holly James. However, since sufficient funds could not be raised for her refurbishment, she languished in Seattle's Union Bay until she was evicted. Next, the Maakah First Nation people of Neah Bay took pity on her and allowed the Kalakala to be moored free of charge in a tribal harbor.  

Kalakala means seagull in Chinook Jargon, a "creole" language created from native Pacific Northwest dialects for use in trade with the "Anglo" people. It was said of her gleaming hull that she looked like a seagull sitting on the water. Seagulls do not have a good reputation in the coastal Northwest. They are very noisey scavengers and tend to indiscriminately deposit bird droppings. They are also carrion eaters and are often seen fighting over the smelliest fish carcass. The Black Ball Line understandably wanted their vessel to be known as the Silver Swan but it was the name Kalakala that has endured. 

The native tribes of the Northwest are concentrated around coastal regions and estuaries. Their culture is intimately connected to the sea and inland waterways. Historically, each tribe occupied an economic niche that exploited natural resources while not infringing on the food sources of other tribes. An exception would be during salmon runs when the plenitude allowed everyone to take as much as they could cure. The Maakah people of Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula were seal and whale hunters. They would await the yearly whale migration at the Seiku bluff and could immediately tell which specie had arrived by their seal point. 

At the notification by the lookout the Maakah men would rush to their canoes and paddle out to intercept the whale. Their highly structured society was built on status achieved at these whale hunts. One hunter would harpoon the whale with a device that was attached to a seal skin float. This float was filled with air and slowed the behemoth and kept it from deep diving. More floats would be attached until the whale tired and eventually stopped swimming. At this point, a high-status young man or a man wishing to achieve a higher status, would jump into the freezing water with the dying behemoth and sew the mouth shut. This was to prevent the whale from taking on water and sinking. What an amazing connection these people must have had with the sea and the animals that inhabit it!


There has not been much ethnographic research regarding these tribes or their myths and legends. As a matter of fact, their burial rites and other cultural practices have been historically met with contempt. When an area bridge needed to be rebuilt, it was discovered that the area the old pylons had been built was back-filled with bones from an ancient burial ground. How did these people dispose of their dead? Anecdotal evidence shows that each tribe may have had very different methods. 


Jim Trainer, an arborist in the ancestral Suquamish tribal area has found burials sites inside massive tree trunks. Canoes containing bones were interred inside living trees as if they were to become part of its continued growth. It is not known if only certain individuals achieved this rite or if only select trees received this honor. Tree burials immediately call to mind the myth of Osiris who was embedded in the trunk of a tree. Also, Egyptian barqs were buried near Pharaohs tombs for his journey through the underworld. Perhaps these ancient people had a similar view of the afterlife? Finding an area on the coast where a human could be buried underground would be a daunting task. Glaciation has laid down a deep stratum of hardpan clay soil that is denser than concrete. A much more practical and culturally significant method would be to lay the deceased in a canoe and float it out to sea. Other peoples connected to the sea have adopted this method. If so, the body would undoubtedly be excarnated by seagulls and, therefore, returned to the sea for fulfillment of the cycle. In the cultures of the Red Sea, the completion of this cycle is called Sheva or Saba. 

 It is now time for the Kalakala to complete her cycle. She deserves to be allowed to lie on the floor of the sea to become a home for fish fry and other sea creatures. It is so sad to see the once proud vessel list in the mud of Foss waterway. Please, Steve Rodriquez, end her suffering. Let the Kalakala go to her eternal resting place on the ocean floor.

The Heb Sed Jubilee

The Heb Sed Jubilee was celebrated after 30 years of a Pharaohs' reign to reaffirm his right to rule and as protection for his continued good health. There is speculation that this rite was the replacement of the earlier tradition of regicide (king sacrifice.) In this solemn ceremony, the Pharaoh was sacrificed and then brought back to life in a symbolic re-enactment. The Pharaoh of the First Dynasty was already celebrating the Heb Sed with all its dramatic components which places the origin of this sacrament in the far distant past.

A connection to Osiris as well as the constellation of Ursa Major give us clues to the meaning behind these symbolic rituals. Heb Sed has been translated as Festival of the Tail and, indeed, the ceremonial attire of the Pharaoh includes a bushy tail connected to his tight fitting garment of linen. Egyptologists see the tail as a remnant of an earlier garment made completely of animal skin but another explanation will be offered here at Yam Suph. In this theory Ursa, Osiris, Asar as well as horse and arse all share the same root and have the meaning of tail. Saur is a Greek word for tail and is used to build the word dinosaur, the extinct animal whose petrified bones consist mainly of tail. Uraeus is a Greek word also derived from tail. The Osiris bone is the only bone required for the body to reconstitute itself in Rasta (heaven) and is identified as the coccyx or tail bone. The brightest star of Ursa Major is called Mizer in Arabic and is translated as loin which is where the coccyx resides. This is the star that mariners use to find True North. Perhaps Mizer is somehow related to m'ezer; from a fitting helper (Eve) for Adam. Urs is the Arabic word meaning to wed.

Ursa Major contains the asterism known as the Big Dipper and, to northern language groups, known as the Bear. It is disconcerting to see antique depictions of this constellation as a bear with a long tail. The meaning of tail must have remained attached to this asterism as the science of astrology spread throughout the world. Most likely, the animal that inspired this word does not exist in colder climates. That would eliminate the wolf or fox as the Ursus as they are well adapted to northern climates although they have long, bushy tails. The British Islands see the Ursus as a plow. In the UK, the beast of burden that pulled the plow was a horse which does have a long hairy tail. Perhaps the reason the bear was chosen was its propensity for eating honey. The Ursus was famous for the ability to obtain honey and was undeterred by the sting of the bee. Honey was required for the transformation of the Pharoah from a man/god into a star. Also, the tail bone bears the weight of fetus before the mother bears the child. A son was viewed as a continuation of the father; "bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh."

The Semitic word for the number ten is esar and is unique in all the Afro-Asiatic language groups. The tenth portion is that which is set aside to charge the next cycle. Seeds and rhizomes are set-aside portions and are tails for the next season's harvest.  The head eats the tail. The word Sed may be cognate to sud which is a rhizome that dies off but reappears in another location or season through underground tails. Surely Sed is the originating meme of the English word seed. The Osiris bone may have been thought of as providing the same function; rebirth of the spirit/entity in heaven. Likewise, the Sud tail was a representation of the rebirth of the Pharoahs' next thirty-year cycle.

The animal that fits the description of the Sed is not the wolf or jackyl but the African honey badger. Its long bushy tail is the length of its body and its front paws rival the ten claws of the bear. Another name of the Sed is "the opener of the ways" and the honey badger is known to other predators for opening the dens of rabbits and mice. Jackyls and hawks follow the honey badger waiting for an opportunity to snatch the escaping prey. It is not bothered by the sting of the bee nor the bite of a cobra. The honey badger can be repeatedly bitten by the poisonous snake and seem to succumb - but then, miraculously, the honey badger recovers and returns to his badgering ways. The honey badger is the bravest bad-arse in Africa and is a fitting totem for the rebirth of a Pharaoh of Egypt.

Ras and rosh are a reversal of  the SR bi-radical root and have the meaning of top or head and sometimes beginning. Arsis is a Hebrew word meaning to elevate and  Rasta is an ancient Egyptian word for Heaven (G. Massey). Ceres is the Greek goddess of agriculture and the tyranical saurus has a large head as well as a gigantic tail. Rise and sewer seem to fit this pattern. A sure sire ensures a legitimate child.

Marjia Gimbuta  has noted the similarity between the bovine skulls from Catal Huyuk and the female reproductive system in her book The Language of The Goddess. A comparison could be made to the coccyx as well.

The Reed Sea

Exodus is the story of the Israelites' journey to freedom from slavery. The central drama is crossing the Red Sea which was made possible by a miraculous parting of the waters. Throughout history, the exact location of the crossing has been hotly debated and centers on the translation of the name of the body of water. Red Sea is a direct and undisputed translation of the Greek name Erythra Thalassa which may simply be the Greek color-identifier for a southern sea. The map on the right does not show the Gulf of Aqaba so perhaps Greek speakers did not have a frame of reference for this arm of the Red Sea. The original Hebrew name, Yam Suph, has been translated as Reed Sea and has no etymological connection to Erythra Thalassa.

Biblical scholars have theorized that the Exodus story was based on an ancient psalm entitled Song of the Sea found embedded in the Jawist source of Torah. According to this song, the original incident clearly places the crossing in the Gulf of Aqaba. The references to the "Edomites, Moabites and inhabitants of Philistia" make this identification certain.

When it was widely disseminated that Yam Suph translates to Reed Sea, everyone turned their attention elsewhere to find this sea of reeds. While papyrus thrives in brackish water, the Gulf of Aqaba is much too salty to sustain any form of shoreline vegetation. In ancient depictions, the lakes of the Nile delta were choked with many species of reeds and popular opinion moved the location of the Yam Suph nearer to ancient Egypt. However, other biblical passages place the Yam Suph in the Gulf of Aqaba and it is never associated - in scripture - with the Nile delta. In Exodus, the Hebrews quit Goshen and Ramses; assumed to be places in the region of the Nile. The ancient Egyptian sphere of influence went far beyond the Nile river and delta area. Evidence shows that the Egyptians were involved in copper mining throughout the Sinai, Negev and Jordan Valley. Wadi Faynan in Jordan and the Timna mines north of Eilat, Israel are two examples. Egyptian scarabs, aegides of Maut and images of Hathor have been discovered at these locations. The copper deposits in the Faynan and Timna districts belong to the same family of rock-hosted mineral deposits. Host rocks are part of Early Cambrian lagoonal strata and both sites are geologically identical.

The Gulf of Aqaba, Arava and Dead Sea of the Great Rift Valley divide the Arabian and African plates of the supercontinent Gondwanaland. The Sinai Peninsula is part of the African plate and has historically been administratively controlled by Africans. Slave labor and complex supply chains for the ancient bronze market would have required a powerful and organized controller of people. Industrial scale copper smelting at the Rift Valley sites has been ongoing for 5,000 years. In the early and and middle Bronze Age, it was the Egyptians that had the military might to exploit and control an industrial operation. A powerful Egyptian colonial power subjugating an indigenous Rift Valley populace could produce enough smelted copper to supply the entire ancient world! If Hebrew speaking slaves quit Goshen and Ramses, then the copper mines of the Rift Valley could not be eliminated as their point of departure.

Fluvial Geomorphology is the study of river related landforms. The FG of the southern Arava was perennial meandering streams 7,500 years ago. In Water, Life & Civilization: Climate, Environment and Society in the Jordan Valley, the data suggests "wet conditions requiring an excess of precipitation over evaporation." Rainfall 7.5 ka BP may have been as high as 800 mm per year. Surveys of pollen show that the Faynan region was on the southern edge of the Mediterranean Forest Zone with "C4 sedge (papyrus) becoming the dominant plant in the south". Arava means willow and the paleosol record has periods of calcrete nodule formation. Calcretions are formed by a simultaneous increase in temperature and rainfall which may have been aided by a canopy of water-soaking willows.

The Rift Valley is a narrow tube hemmed in on both sides by mountain ranges until it reaches Sharm el Sheik in the Sinai. Sea water fills the deep crevice in the south and silt fills in the central Arava.Water would have a hard time escaping this tub/tube because of the concave topography. A picture is emerging of an ancient valley swampland giving way to trees in higher elevations. Papyrus would have choked the lowland and become a natural barrier between Africa and Arabia as was the Gulf of Aqaba. Traveling northward, the swamp becomes willow and sycamore and finally hardwood forests of the Mediterranean Forest Zone. The Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee were combined into one body of water which was replenished by the Hermon snow melt.

The rapid desertification of this region is profound compared to similar ancient population centers. The Faynan industrial complex could be the reason. The amount of charcoal required for the furnaces of the bronze age surely contributed to deforestation. Locating the copper mines on the southern boundary of a forest zone would be a convenient source of fuel.. Slaves to work the mines could be obtained from local people but would be hard to control. The sea of papyrus would have been a welcoming refuge for escaping slaves or those that did not want to become the property of the Pharaoh. The chariots and horses of the Egyptian state would be useless in the impenetrable suph.

Moses had sojourned in Midian (Arabia) and so was familiar with the mountain passages as well as the suph sea. He had to cross it in his escape after murdering an Egyptian. A man traveling through suph would be hidden by walls of reeds and sound would be baffled. Having a common Egyptian enemy may have united escaping slaves so that they gave assistance to others in similar situations.One important way to help would have been to show them the hidden passages through the suph sea. Symbols for pathways could easily be translated into lines for mapping of escape routes. These lines could be cut into wet clay with a reed stylus. Reading reed roads (w)rought by (w)riting reed rods. Rush also is a word for reed. Rush is wind caught in the rosh (head) of suph.

Teba is a reed word that may be from tef (tsuf, suph, chufa) and is used to build words that are "unsinkable". Reeds stand high above the water, can be hollow and, when bundled together, can hold a man afloat. Tub and tube may be words stemming from the unsinkable word for the ark of Moses - teba. As a baby, Moses had been found floating in a teba amongst the suph of the Nile. Another teba was the floating ark of the deluge. Noah floated his household and livestock so they would not sink. The Akkadian tabalu is a continent which was thought to float above the primordial water. Syriac tabayl is the "world fit for habitation" or that which would not sink. Table and tablet must also originate from teba. Moses knew the hidden roads and topography from tablets of reed writing (Arabic k'tob). Since he had sojourned here before he knew where the sea floor was gently sloping and where it dropped off into the chasm of the tehowm. Moses seems to have lured the Egyptians into the water and perhaps the charioteers were not familiar with the area and did not know about the crack in the earth.

There is such a place in the Gulf of Aqaba. It has a gently sloping shoreline but then suddenly drops off into a deep crevice. It is called Taba and is the ancient name given to the place where the suph met the abyss of the tehowm. Taba is located on the ancient edge of the tub of suph. Perhaps this is precisely where the Israelites entered the water and so has always been remembered as the place of the unsinkable Taba.