The northwest arm of the Indian Ocean, about 1400 miles long and 200 miles wide, lying between Arabia on the east, and Africa on the west, connected with the Mediterranean Sea by the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal, and with the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. No important river flows into it, and it is noted principally for its heat. In the Bible it is famous as the scene of the miraculous crossing of the Israelites at the time of the Exodus (Exodus 14).