Exodus 15:22

MARCH TO MARAH AND ELIM, Exodus 15:22-27.

22. And they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water The springs regulate the movements and fix the halting places of the caravans now as in the time of Moses, and it is probable that the first resting-place of Israel after the passage of the Red Sea was the oasis which the Arabs call Ayun Musa, the “Springs of Moses,” two miles from the shore, and about six hours’ travel from Suez . There Robinson found seven fountains, one of massive ancient masonry; yet previous travellers describe many more, some mentioning twenty. The water is dark coloured and brackish, depositing a hard, calcareous sediment as it rises, which forms mounds around the springs, over which the water flows into the sands and disappears. About twenty palm bushes now grow around the springs, and there is a small patch of grain and a vegetable garden cultivated by people from Suez. There are fragments of tiles and pottery, indicating that there were once habitations near these springs. It was probably from this spot that Israel started on the three days’ journey in the wilderness of Shur.