The word translated “east wind” may apply to any wind coming from a general easterly direction, from southeast to northeast, since the Hebrews used special terms for the four quarters of the compass only. Even now the ebb tide in the Gulf of Suez is strengthened by a strong northeast wind. Before the construction of the Suez Canal, it is reported, part of the gulf which lies north of the city of Suez was sometimes laid completely dry during the ebb flow of the tide, by a strong northeast wind. As a result, one could ride across the gulf or ford it on foot. However, an ebb tide strengthened by an east wind cannot account for the drying up of the sea here described, because in such a case the water is all driven southward, not in two opposite directions as the Sacred Record indicates. Such a separation of the waters could be produced only by a miracle (see PP 287). The exact spot of the crossing is unknown.