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[Authorities and Sources:—“Biblical Sites in Lower Egypt.” By Greville J. Chester, B.A., in the Survey Memoirs, P. E. Fund. “Tel-el-Yahoudeh.” By Prof. T. Hayter Lewis, F.S.A., in Trans. Soc. Bib. Archæol., vol. vii. “The Store-City of Pithom.” By M. Naville, Egypt Exploration Fund. “Goshen.” By M. Naville, E. E. Fund. “Daphnae.” By W. M. Flinders Petrie, E. E. Fund. “Tanis.” By W. M. Flinders Petrie, E. E. Fund. Murray’s Handbook, “Egypt.”]

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As Succoth was the first station of the Israelites in leaving Egypt, and we now know the locality, we begin to be able to trace their route. Starting from Rameses—a city not yet identified, but perhaps near the present Zagazig[11]—two courses were open to them. They might go northward, past the city of Zoan, and then skirt the coast of Philistia—the route generally taken by the great conquerors, and by much the nearer way. But there were objections against taking it, for “it came to pass in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died” (Exod. ii. 23), and the new Pharaoh, Menephtah, son and successor of Rameses II., was holding his Court at Zoan at this time,[12] and had his chariots and his horsemen about him. Nor must we forget the great wall and its fortresses, which in that direction would bar the way. “It was a wall,” says Mr Poole, “carefully constructed, with scarp and counter-scarp, ditch and glacis, well manned by the best troops, the sentinel on the ramparts day and night.” Prudence would seem to say that this route should not be attempted. The course actually taken appears to have been from Rameses eastward, along the valley Tumilat and the line of the canal which had been made by Seti I. They then encamped at Succoth, probably for the same reason that the British encamped there in 1882, namely, that there was abundance of forage and water, and a defensible position. The next station was “Etham, in the edge of the wilderness,” northward from Pithom-Succoth, we may suppose, for they seem to have been marching (perhaps for a feint) as though they would take the short route through the Philistine country. But then they received the command to “turn back and encamp before Pi-ha-hiroth, between the Migdol and the sea, before Baal-Zephon, over against it by the sea.” They obeyed, and to understand the course they actually pursued, we must take into account some recent geological discoveries. It is not the aim of the present writer to put forth original views of his own, but rather to explain the conclusions arrived at by the ablest investigators. In accordance with this design, it will be desirable here to introduce a paragraph from Major Henry Spencer Palmer, who shared with Colonel Sir Charles Wilson the command of the Sinai Survey Expedition.