Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim
Coral shapes in the Gulf of Aqaba said to be Pharaoh's drowned army
Found 1978 — Ron Wyatt (dives from 1978); later Jonathan Gray, Viveka Ponten, Lennart Möller; the 'Exodus Revealed' (2001) and 'Patterns of Evidence: Red Sea Miracle' (2020) films
Where Nuweiba beach and offshore slope, Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai (Egypt)
Dates from Claimed c. 1446 BCE · Modern claim; objects never recovered for study · Crossing of the Sea of Reeds (claimed)
Now at Underwater; no recovered objects in any museum
How Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim was found
Wyatt dived off the Nuweiba beach delta and reported coral growths shaped like wheels, axles and a gilded four-spoked wheel, plus bones. He claimed a photograph of an eight-spoked hub. No object was surfaced for laboratory examination.
What it is
Nuweiba is a large sandy fan at the mouth of Wadi Watir on the Gulf of Aqaba, facing Saudi Arabia about 14 km away. On the sea floor offshore are coral heads that, in Wyatt's photographs and later videos, resemble wheels and axles. Divers who followed have shown coral growing in rings and on cylindrical objects.
Why it matters for the Bible
The Arabian Sinai theory needs the sea crossing here, and the wheels are its most repeated 'evidence'. Problems noted by Egyptologist James Hoffmeier and others: no wheel has ever been raised, photographed in situ by a professional, or radiocarbon dated; coral naturally forms ring shapes; the spoke-count dating used by Mary Nell Wyatt misquotes Hoffmeier, who showed six-spoked wheels existed before 1400 BCE; the underwater slope rises steeply on the Saudi side; and Egyptian records of the New Kingdom would place any pursuit in the Delta lakes, not 400 km away. Even the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Wyatt's own denomination, published a book disowning his finds.
The Hebrew word: REH-chev
רֶכֶב
רֶכֶב is pronounced REH-chev and means chariot, chariotry (Strong's H7393).
People this discovery connects to
- Pharaoh — פַּרְעֹה (par-OH) — 'great house', the Egyptian king's title
Places
- Sea of Reeds (Red Sea) — יַם סוּף (yahm SOOF) — sea of reeds
Events
Pharaoh's chariots drowned in the sea (claimed location)
Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim in Scripture
Exodus 10:19 First mention of Red Sea in Scripture.
Exodus 14:25 YHVH removes the chariot wheels so they drive heavily; the verse the coral 'wheels' are attached to.
Exodus 14:28 The waters cover the chariots and horsemen; not one remained.
Questions people ask
What is Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim?
Nuweiba is a large sandy fan at the mouth of Wadi Watir on the Gulf of Aqaba, facing Saudi Arabia about 14 km away. On the sea floor offshore are coral heads that, in Wyatt's photographs and later videos, resemble wheels and axles. Divers who followed have shown coral growing in rings and on cylindrical objects.
When was Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim discovered?
It was found in 1978 by Ron Wyatt (dives from 1978); later Jonathan Gray, Viveka Ponten, Lennart Möller; the 'Exodus Revealed' (2001) and 'Patterns of Evidence: Red Sea Miracle' (2020) films, at Nuweiba beach and offshore slope, Gulf of Aqaba, Sinai.
Where is Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim today?
Underwater; no recovered objects in any museum.
Which Bible verses does Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim relate to?
Exodus 10:19, Exodus 14:25, Exodus 14:28.
Is Nuweiba Crossing and the 'Chariot Wheels' Claim authentic?
No object recovered or tested; coral forms are natural; rejected by Egyptologists including those who defend an historical Exodus.
Related discoveries
- עַמּוּדThe Nuweiba Granite Column ('Solomon's Pillar')An unmarked column on the beach said to have been raised by Shlomo to mark the crossing
- פַּרְעֹהMummies of Ramesses II and MerneptahThe two pharaohs most often named as 'Pharaoh of the Exodus', both found in their tombs' aftermath
- מֶלֶךְ חָדָשׁThe Hyksos Expulsion: Kamose's Stelae and Ahmose son of EbanaEgyptian records of driving out the Asiatic rulers, background to 'a new king who knew not Yosef'
- רָעָבThe Famine Stela (Sehel Island)A Ptolemaic rock inscription telling of seven years of famine under Djoser
- שִׁלֻּחִיםGezer Tenth-Century Destruction LayerA burned city that may be the pharaoh's 'dowry' destruction
- בָּרSaqqara 'Joseph's Granaries' Claim (Djoser's Step Pyramid Complex)Deep shafts and vaults said to be Yosef's grain stores; Imhotep said to be Yosef
Sources
- Heiser, 'Ron Wyatt and Those Egyptian Chariot Wheels'
- Franz, 'Is Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia?' (ABR)
- Standish & Standish, Holy Relics or Revelation (1999)
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