The black granite inscription corroborates the story of the parting of the sea, as told in Exodus 14. There is a unique hieroglyph on it: three waves and two knives.
Searching for a way to translate this symbol, Griffith rendered it as “whirlpool”. But Egyptologist James Hoffmeier has suggested that we look at the hieroglyphic literally. Seen in this way, the obvious translation is the “parting of the sea” or the “parted sea”.
The El Arish stone is one of four similar shrines that were once a part of the Temple of Per-Sopdu at Saft el-Henna. The shrines were later disassembled and dispersed, one shrine remained on site and the other three placed at the major points of entry into Egypt (Canopus, Nubia and El Arish). They seem to have served some kind of amuletic function, protecting ancient Egypt from similar disasters.
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