The earliest known exploration of the Red Sea was conducted by ancient Egyptians, as they attempted to establish commercial routes to Punt. One such expedition took place around 2500 BCE, and another around 1500 BCE (by Hatshepsut). Both involved long voyages down the Red Sea. The biblical Book of Exodus tells the account of the Israelites' crossing of a body of water, which the Hebrew text calls "Yam Suph" (). "Yam Suph" was traditionally identified as the Red Sea. Rabbi Saadia Gaon (882‒942), in his Judeo-Arabic translation of the Pentateuch, identifies the crossing place of the Red Sea as "Baḥar al-Qulzum", meaning the Gulf of Suez.