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)