Wyatt proposed that the Israelites crossed the Red Sea at the Gulf of Aqaba via the Nuweiba peninsula. He claimed a shallow underwater land bridge existed there, supported by his discovery of coral-encrusted Egyptian chariot wheels and commemorative pillars erected by King Solomon.

The bathymetry of the Gulf of Aqaba poses a major problem for the shallow land-bridge scenario proposed by Wyatt, particularly because the seabed at Nuweiba descends rapidly into the deep central basin. But the most significant methodological failure involves the artifacts. Coral growing around an unidentified object does not identify the object. Archaeological identification requires recovery, documentation, context, analysis, and independent verification.

Wyatt’s own archive claims divers saw numerous wheels, including a four-spoked gold wheel, but states it was not retrieved because of its fragility. No authenticated chariot wheel—gold-plated or otherwise—has ever been recovered, conserved, dated, and independently examined from this site. Spectacular artifacts are announced, but the decisive evidence remains inaccessible. This extends to the commemorative pillars; Wyatt claimed an inscription on the Saudi side contained names like Moses and Solomon, yet this inscription has never been independently documented.

Furthermore, Wyatt’s logic demonstrates a potentially circular chain of reasoning: he claimed his discovery of these chariot parts in the Gulf of Aqaba is what led him to identify the mountain in Arabia as Sinai. The “chariot wheels” confirmed the crossing, which confirmed the Arabian Sinai, which in turn validated the crossing site.

The Wyatt Method: Observation to Interpretation

• Observation: Coral-covered geometric forms on the seabed.
• Interpretation: Wheels.
• Further interpretation: Egyptian chariot wheels.
• Final interpretation: The remnants of Pharaoh’s army.

What Is Actually Demonstrated?

• Demonstrated: Coral grows extensively in the Gulf of Aqaba and can obscure or grow around objects on the seabed.
• Demonstrated: A stone column exists at Nuweiba.
• Not demonstrated: That the photographed coral formations are chariot wheels.
• Not demonstrated: That a gold-veneered wheel exists or was recovered.
• Not demonstrated: That the Nuweiba column contains inscriptions linking it to Solomon or the Exodus.

Next in the Series: In Part 4, our investigation moves to the arid landscapes of northwestern Saudi Arabia. We will separate geological fact from pseudoarchaeological fiction as we examine Jabal Maqla, the supposed “burnt mountain” of the Sinai narrative.