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Al-yamm (اليم) is the word the Quran uses for the body of water in the story of Moses. It occurs eight times and is never given a name, a country or a region.1 The only place-like word in the river scene is the shore (السَّاحِل) in 20:39.2 For that reason the Moses timeline shows moment 1 without a map pin, and the map records the silence rather than filling it.3
In the text
The eight occurrences are 2:50, 7:136, 20:39 (twice), 20:78, 20:97, 28:7, 28:40 and 51:40.1 In each the word is definite and bare: the water, not a named water. Lexica gloss the root as sea or great river without settling which; that is a grade C observation about Arabic, not about this text.2 The identification with the Chelif was tested and did not pass: its only source is a 1930 travel account describing modern practice.
Numbers in the text point to the verified findings below.
Grades describe the evidence, never a vote. A finding takes the grade of the evidence that establishes it; interpretation is always D.
Weight of evidence, highest first: the Quranic text, then material evidence (manuscripts, inscriptions, sites and their verified images), then dated documents. Interpretation ranks below all three.
A · Quranic text
What the text itself says, quoted as written.
B · Material evidence
Manuscripts, inscriptions, coins, artefacts and sites — and images of them whose provenance (holder, reference, date, photographer) was recorded and checked.
C · Dated document
Chronicles, lexica, treaties, maps, reports and studies with a known author and date.
D · Interpretation
Reasoning built on A–C. Always D, whatever it cites.
E · Unverified
Images without provenance, undated or anonymous claims. Cannot support a finding.
اليم occurs eight times in the Quran (2:50, 7:136, 20:39 twice, 20:78, 20:97, 28:7, 28:40, 51:40). In each occurrence it is a body of water; a proper name never appears beside it.
Decision carried to the map and the timeline: Moses moment 1 has no map pin. The timeline card records that the text names no river; proposed identifications are listed below as tested ideas.
The river is the Chelif, Algeria, on the basis of a 1930 travel account mentioning reed baskets.
The source is dated 1930 and describes modern practice; it says nothing about the text and cannot reach grade B. Kept here so the idea and its test are on record. A dated source would reopen it.
Quranic Arabic Corpus, root y-m-m, all 8 occurrences
Held by
The Quranic Arabic Corpus (Univ. of Leeds)
Reference
root y-m-m, screenshot
Date
2026-08-30
Photographed by
Yacine B.
[1] · Cited by #1 · uploaded by Samira K.Verifier · 6203 ★lexicon-sahil.jpg
E · Unverified✕ 6/15
Lane's Lexicon, root s-ḥ-l, p. 1317Unverified — not usable as evidence[3] · Cited by #2 · uploaded by Karim D.Scholar · 11204 ★+ Add an image (through a finding)
References
Every finding above cites one of these. Page numbers given where the source has them.
A · Dukes, K. (ed.), The Quranic Arabic Corpus, 2009–, root y-m-m, corpus.quran.com · Cited by #1, #2
A · Quran, 2:50, 7:136, 20:39, 20:78, 20:97, 28:7, 28:40, 51:40 · Cited by #1, #3
C · Lane, E. W., An Arabic-English Lexicon, 1863–1893, p. 1317 (s-ḥ-l) · Cited by #2
C · Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, c. 1290, entry س-ح-ل, vol. 11 · Cited by #2
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