The Sea Crossing

The Qur'an records the crossing of the sea by Musa (peace be upon him) and the Bani Isra'il, and the drowning of Pharaoh and his army, in several extensive passages, principally Surat al-Shu'ara' (Q 26:52-68), Surat al-A'raf (Q 7:130-137), Surat Ta-Ha (Q 20:77-79), and Surat Yunus (Q 10:90-92). After the plagues of Egypt and the night of the departure, the Bani Isra'il under Musa (peace be upon him) marched toward the eastern frontier; Pharaoh pursued them with his chariot army. The Bani Isra'il, trapped between the sea and the pursuing chariots, despaired; Musa (peace be upon him) reassured them with the famous statement at Q 26:62, qala kalla inna ma'iya rabbi sa-yahdin ('Never! My Lord is with me; He will guide me'). The Qur'an then records the divine command, idrib bi-'asaka al-bahra ('Strike the sea with your staff,' Q 26:63), and the parting of the sea into a dry corridor; the Bani Isra'il crossed; Pharaoh and his army pursued into the corridor; the sea closed over them. The Qur'an makes the deliverance a sign for all generations (Q 10:92): fa-l-yawma nunajjika bi-badanika li-takuna li-man khalfaka ayatan ('So this day We save you in your body that you may be a sign for those who come after you'). The Sunni hadith tradition (Sahih al-Bukhari 2004, Sahih Muslim 1130, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas radiyallahu 'anhuma) records the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) coming to al-Madinah and finding the Jews fasting on the 10th of Muharram in commemoration of this deliverance; the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: 'We have more right to Musa than you,' and fasted himself, and ordered the Muslims to fast, the foundational origin of the Sunni Ashura fast on 10 Muharram, observed annually to this day. The dating is by anchor (the time of Musa peace be upon him); the modern Sunni academic consensus places the events in the New Kingdom Egyptian period (specifically the 19th Dynasty), with the precise crossing site debated between the northern Red Sea, the Bitter Lakes, and the modern Gulf of Suez. This scene depicts the eastern shore at dawn after the crossing: the closing corridor still visible as a faint trace in the water, the abandoned Egyptian chariot wheels and gear in the wet sand, the Bani Isra'il in the middle distance beginning the journey into Sinai. No identifiable figure is depicted.