Sin, Wilderness of

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SIN, WILDERNESS OF

SIN, WILDERNESS OF (Heb. סִין).

(1) An area between Elim and Sinai, traversed by the children of Israel in their exodus from Egypt (Ex. 16:1); it is defined more specifically in Exodus 17:1 as the area before Rephidim. In the recapitulation of the wanderings through the desert in Numbers 33:11–12, the order is: Elim-Red Sea-Wilderness of Sin-Dophkah. The location of Sin naturally depends on the view taken of the route of the Exodus (see *Exodus). Accepting the traditional southern route, the desert of Sin would be identical to the plain of al-Marḥa (or al-Markha), between Wadi Baʿbʿa and Wadi Sidrī on the west coast of the Sinai peninsula; its position would then be between Elim (Wadi Gharandal?) and Dophkah (Ṣarābīṭ al-Khādim (?), the turquoise mines exploited in ancient times).

(2) Sin is mentioned in connection with the "stronghold of Egypt" in Ezekiel 30:15–16. It is probably identical with Syene (Aswān; Ezek. 29:10; 30:6), the southern boundary fortress of Egypt.

bibliography:

Abel, Geog, 2 (1938), 212–3.

[Michael Avi-Yonah]

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