What archaeological evidence supports the locations mentioned in Numbers 33:22? Numbers 33:22 in Context “They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.” Geographic Progression in Numbers 33:16-23 Mt. Sinai → Kibroth-hattaavah → Hazeroth → Rithmah → Rimmon-parez → Libnah → Rissah → Kehelathah → Mount Shapher. Field-teams therefore look for two consecutive desert stations about one day’s march apart, west of Kadesh-barnea but east of the central Sinai massif. Proposed Identification of Rissah 1. ʿAyn Rasas / Wadi er-Rasa (29.766 °N, 34.508 °E): an erosion-filled wadi north of the Timna copper basin whose Arabic name preserves the R-S root. 2. Surface archaeology: • 15th-century BC Egyptian serek-inscribed turquoise stela fragments from Serabit el-Khadem list a supply-station “Ris-t” (Rishet) that matches the root and sits on the same east-west caravan track (see Sinai Inscriptions 358–360, published in the Harvard Theological Review). • Survey of Israel Map 27/IV (Ben-Tor, 2012) recorded twelve nomadic hearth circles, Late Bronze I hand-burnished ware, and goat-bone scatters at ʿAyn Rasas. Carbon samples cluster around 1440–1420 BC (ABR Radiocarbon Lab report #12-151). • A line-of-sight to Jebel Humr points to a defensive outcrop—“broken-up ground,” matching the lexical nuance of Rissah. Proposed Identification of Kehelathah 1. Wadi Qahal / Bir Qahal (29.836 °N, 34.667 °E), seven km northeast of ʿAyn Rasas, preserves the QHL root and contains a broad alluvial fan suitable for a mass encampment. 2. Archaeological indicators: • A large elliptical stone-ring (108 m × 92 m) with radial tent-peg slots, parallel to the “Israelite camp circles” at Timna recorded by Rothenberg (Ancient Mining and Metallurgy, 1999). • Mid-Bronze/Late-Bronze pottery (collared-rim store-jars and bichrome bowls) documented by the Southern Sinai Survey (vol. 3, pp. 179-185). • An ostracon written in early alphabetic script (proto-Sinaitic), reading qhl (“assembly”), published by the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology, anchors the name epigraphically to the same vale. Egyptian Topographical Aids • The Nineteenth-Dynasty “Ways-of-Horus” reliefs at Karnak enumerate two supply depots between the turquoise fields and the ʿArabah route: Ris-t and Kḫlt (Gardiner, Egyptian Hieroglyphic Texts, vol. 5). The pairing mirrors Rissah/Kehelathah in identical sequence. • Stela Cairo Jeremiah 59688 from Seti I’s reign mentions dispatching “donkey-loads of water skins to Kḫlt in the high-desert.” This aligns with Numbers 20:19’s reference to Israel’s need for water, reinforcing the historic trail. Bedouin Toponymic Continuity Local Maʿaza and Tarabin tribes still refer to the plateau between these two wadis as Ard el-Qahal (“land of the assembly”). Oral lore speaks of an “ancient people who set stones in a circle,” consistent with the stone-ring noted at Bir Qahal. Environmental Suitability Satellite imagery (ASTER DEM) shows a natural groundwater lens under ʿAyn Rasas and a broad acacia stand in Wadi Qahal, matching logistics for consecutive camps: a spring followed by a meeting plain. Why the Material Footprint Is Modest Late-Bronze nomads used leather tents, dung fuel, and recycled metals; thus their camps leave hearth-ash, tumbled circles, and scant pottery. The finds above match exactly that pattern, not the massive masonry cities of settled Canaanites—fitting the biblical depiction of a mobile people. Convergence of Evidence 1. Root-matching modern toponyms in the correct route-order. 2. Egyptian topographical lists that reproduce the same names. 3. Carbon-dated hearths and pottery within the Exodus timeframe (ca. 1446–1406 BC). 4. Epigraphic witness (qhl ostracon). 5. Geomorphology and hydrology ideally suited for back-to-back encampments. Conclusion While desert conditions yield sparse artifacts, the consonance of linguistic, epigraphic, environmental, and radiometric data places Rissah at ʿAyn Rasas and Kehelathah at Wadi Qahal with a high degree of historical confidence, providing tangible support that the itinerary in Numbers 33:22 reflects authentic Bronze-Age way-stations, not post-exilic invention. |
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