Wilderness of Sin

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In the Bible the Wilderness of Sin is an area lying between Elim and Sinai.

It is mentioned in Exodus 16:1; and Numbers 33:(11, 12). It was probably the narrow plain of el-Markha, which stretches along the eastern shore of the Red Sea for several miles toward the promontory of Ras Mohammed, the southern extremity of the Sinai Peninsula.

While the Israelites rested here for some days they began to murmur on account of the want of nourishment, as they had by this time consumed all the corn they had brought with them out of Egypt. God heard their murmurings, and gave them "manna" and then quails in abundance.

The Wilderness of Sin could possibly be connected with the Mesopotamian god Sin (mythology), worshipped widely around the entire periphery of pre-Islamic Arabia, as well as in temples in places such as Teyhama, Saba, Hadramaut, Oman, Dilmun, Magan, Meluhha and Ur.

• The Doors used the image of the Wilderness of Sin in their song Break on Through.

This entry incorporates text from the public domain Easton's Bible Dictionary, originally published in 1897.