ELIM
There are 2 north/south wadis in this range that are large enough to be traveled. They both end to the southwhere they meet with an east/west wadi. And where these 3 wadis intersect, there is an extremely large oasis with hundreds of palm trees, and 12 wells of water. The oasis is so large that it extends all the way across the width of the wadi. The wells are randomly located and today still provide water. They have recently been walled up with concrete sides. We have no doubt that this is the Biblical "Elim". The 70 palm trees have proliferated and there are now hundreds of their descendants thriving in this extremely desolate and arid region.
It was now clear what path Moses and the multitude had taken. When they left the sea after the crossing, they did NOT take the direct route which would have led them directly to Rephidim- they instead took a wadi which turned SOUTH and went THROUGH the mountains that lined the shore. The question is WHY?
Why Didn't They Take the Direct Route?
They were NOT being led by Moses, but the Divine "pillar of fire" by night and "cloud" by day. When they left Egypt, instead the direct route, God led them another way because of the danger of the Philistines:
EXO 13:17 ...when Pharaoh had let the people go, ...God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: 18 But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea:...
Though they were now free of any danger from the Philistines, there was another danger- the Amalekites. This fierce, warring people were the descendants of Esau's grandson, Amalek. Had the people of Israel taken themain wadi, they would have soon been in an open plain, completely vulnerable on all sides. By taking them through the mountains in a southerly direction, I believe God was shielding them from this enemy. At least for a while.
They replenish their water supplies at Elim and then "encamped by the Red Sea", just a few miles to the west. When they again resumed their travels, they headed east, along another east/west wadi until they come to the main north/south wadi, Wadi Afal. Elim was located in a wadi which led to the east, but I believe they took the wadi below it, on the south side of the mountains that extend west to east (see the map.)The main part of Wadi Afal is in the open plain, but by taking the wadi south of Elim when they traveled west to the Wadi Afal, they were shielded to the north by 2 long mountain arms which "shoot" across the open plain, meeting the wadi on each side. One mountains extends from the Wadi Afal to the sea; the other is a long arm of the Jebel el Lawz range which extends westward from the Holy Mountain to the Wadi Afal. And south of this passage where the 2 mountains met, they were relatively safe from invading forces.
The Biblical account tells that they made 2 encampments before reaching Rephidim- Dophkah and Alush. The only clues we have to these locations come from the definitions of the words. Dophkah means "cattle driving" and this could well apply to the fact that many years earlier, Moses had led his flocks along the Wadi Afal from his home with Jethro at present-day Al-Bad to Mt. Sinai, where he heard the Lord speak to him in the burning bush.
Down through history, the inhabitants of the region of Al-Bad have preserved the memory of Jethro and his family, and still claim to this day that it was his home. Travelers through the region in the 1800s all recorded the tales told them about Jethro; the stone circles around Al-Bad are called "the circles of Jethro":
"...From here my guide and I climbed up the cliff to visit the 'circles' of Jethro on the summit of Musalla ridge, from which we climbed down quite easily to our camp on the far side.... A cairn marked the spot where Jethro is supposed to have prayed, and all around it are numerous circles,... From here I had a magnificent view of the whole of the Midian mountain range, with Lauz [Jebel el Lawz] and its sister peaks in the northeast..." "The Land of Midian", by H. St. John Philby, Ernest Bean Limited, London, p.222.
