Other scholars have taken a more scientific approach and found - through seismic studies - that the sea floor rises at a certain point between Egypt and Saudi Arabia: a land bridge. Could this have been Moses' crossing point?

On either side, large cracks extend down to almost 5,000 feet. But the bridge itself is nearly a kilometre wide - plenty of space for the thousands of Israelites. Divers have even found the remains of chariot wheels in this area, which Egyptologists have been dated to 1500 BC - about the right time for Moses' Exodus.

Doubt still remains about the validity of the claim: there's very little other evidence of Moses' existence in the Sinai desert at all. But the debate reinforces Egypt's status as a land of biblical mystery.