Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Bill Rea <bsr15 AT cantsl.canterbury.ac.nz>]

Vadim wrote:-

>> Actually, Vadim, until the construction of the Aswan Dam in the 1960's,
>> the Levantine coast was regularly supplied with sand and silt, washed
>> in from the Nile.
>The causeway's being filled in by sand is perfectly
>reasonable. I'm not sure, but from my experience of living near the sea,
>this does not seem probable. I doubt seashore increases anywhere.
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Well, it surely does in the Southern Hemisphere. While I don't know
what the oceans current are in the Mediterranean Sea, it is quite
possible that the causeway to Tyre constructed for the purposes of
conquest would grow further by natural means. It may have even become
connected to the mainland without human intervention.

The process we see here is of shingle being carried down from
the mountains by the rivers, then north by the prevailing currents.
Near my home on the south side of Banks Peninsula the seashore, known
as Birdlings Flat, is gradually being built up. On the opposite side
of the Island there is Farewall Spit which is being built from
material carried down by the West Coast Rivers. Far from being
improbably, I would expect that it was common throughout the world.

I'm not sure who wrote the ">>" piece, but if the current ran east past
the Nile then northwards towards Israel there would be a ready source
of material to expand the causeway to Tyre.

Bill Rea, Information Technology Dept., Canterbury  University  \_
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