For this latter reason, the suggestion is also advanced that the name Shur (“wall”) identifies the mountain range called Jebel er-Rahah to the E of the Red Sea or Gulf of Suez. Running in a N and S direction it is a part of the great Jebel et-Tih mountain chain that covers a large portion of the Sinai Peninsula. Seen from the Egyptian side of the Gulf of Suez the white cliffs of this long range have the appearance of a wall or barrier. Some Sinai travelers in the past have claimed that the name Jebel es-Shur is still applied by the Arabs to this part of the range. If, indeed, there is some connection here, then there may have been a place or town called Shur on, or at the foot of, the range, perhaps the last Arabian town before crossing Egypt’s frontier. Definite identification, however, awaits further evidence.

The name Darb el Shur has been given to an ancient caravan route that crosses the Sinai Peninsula and enters Egypt near the Bitter Lakes region, considerably N of the Red Sea. This name, however, was applied to the route by modern explorers and so may not represent the ancient name. It is also possible that a southern branch of this ancient route led into Egypt near Suez at the northern end of the Red Sea.

SHUSHAN

(Shuʹshan).

An ancient city, the ruins of which lie on the Karkheh River, about 225 miles (362 kilometers) E of Babylon. Shushan or a fortified part of the city, “Shushan the castle,” was the setting for one of the visions of the prophet Daniel (8:2), the scene for the events narrated in the book of Esther (1:2, 5, 6; 2:3, 5, 8, 21; 3:2, 15; 8:14; 9:12-15) and the place where Nehemiah served as cupbearer during the reign of Artaxerxes (Longimanus, the son of Xerxes I).—Neh. 1:1; 2:1; see CASTLE; ELAM No. 1; PERSIA, PERSIANS.

There is evidence that Shushan (also called Susa [Ezra 4:9]) was the capital of ancient Elam. In the seventh century B.C.E., King Asenappar (Ashurbanipal) of Assyria conquered Shushan and transported inhabitants of the city to Samaria. (Ezra 4:9, 10) Under Persian domination, Shushan was a royal city. In the fourth century C.E., Shushan fell to Alexander the Great and eventually witnessed decline. Today only a mound of ruins occupies the site.

Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of a palace, thought to be the one begun by Persian King Darius I and completed by his son Xerxes I (believed to be Ahasuerus, the husband of Esther). The panels of colored glazed bricks and the stone capitals give some indication of its former glory. An inscription of Darius I about the erection of the palace reads: “This is the hadish palace which at Susa I built. From afar its ornamentation was brought. Deep down the earth was dug, until rock bottom I reached. When the excavation was made, gravel was packed down, one part sixty feet, the other thirty feet in depth. On that gravel a palace I built. And that the earth was dug down and the gravel packed and the mud brick formed in molds, that the Babylonians did. The cedar timber was brought from a mountain named Lebanon; the Assyrians brought it to Babylon, and from Babylon the Carians and Ionians brought it to Susa. Teakwood was brought from Gandara and from Carmania. The gold which was used here was brought from Sardis and from Bactria. The stone—lapis lazuli and carnelian—was brought from Sogdiana. The turquoise was brought from Chorasmia. The silver and copper were brought from Egypt. The ornamentation with which the wall was adorned was brought from Ionia. The ivory was brought from Ethiopia, from India, and from Arachosia. The stone pillars were brought from a place named Abiradush in Elam. The artisans who dressed the stone were Ionians and Sardians. The goldsmiths who wrought the gold were Medes and Egyptians. Those who worked the inlays were Sardians and Egyptians. Those who worked the baked brick (with figures) were Babylonians. The men who adorned the wall were Medes and Egyptians. At Susa here a splendid work was ordered; very splendid did it turn out.”—History of the Persian Empire, by A. T. Olmstead, p. 168.

SHUTHELAH

(Shuʹthe·lah).

1. A son of Ephraim and forefather of the tribal family of Shuthelahites. (1 Chron. 7:20; Num. 26:35-37) Shuthelah is not mentioned in the Masoretic text of Genesis 46:20 but a form of his name is among the several names here added in the Septuagint.

2. An Ephraimite descendant of No. 1 above.—1 Chron. 7:20, 21.

SHUTHELAHITES

(Shuʹthel·aʹhites).

The family descendants of Shuthelah; included among the registered ones in the tribe of Ephraim at the time of the second census in the wilderness.—Num. 26:35, 37.

SIA

(Siʹa), Siaha (Siʹa·ha).

One of the Nethinim whose descendants returned from Babylonian exile with Zerubbabel in 537 B.C.E.—Ezra 2:1, 2, 43, 44; Neh. 7:47.

SIBBECAI

(Sibʹbe·cai).

One of David’s mighty men, a Hushathite. (1 Chron. 11:26, 29) Sibbecai, in a war with the Philistines at Gob, slew Saph (Sippai), one of the giantlike Rephaim, thereby subduing the enemy. (2 Sam. 21:18; 1 Chron. 20:4) When David organized the monthly rotational service of the nation’s forces, Sibbecai was placed in charge of the eighth division. (1 Chron. 27:1, 11) He is apparently called Mebunnai at 2 Samuel 23:27.

SIBBOLETH

See SHIBBOLETH.

SIBMAH

(Sibʹmah) [balsam].

A town E of the Jordan, taken by Israel from Amorite King Sihon and assigned to the Reubenites, who desired it because of surrounding pasturelands. Apparently it was also called Sebam. (Num. 32:2-5, 37, 38; Josh. 13:15, 19, 21) Originally a city of the Moabites (compare Numbers 21:25, 26), it reverted to them at an undisclosed time, and was noted for its vineyards and summer fruitage. (Isa. 16:8, 9, 13, 14; Jer. 48:32, 46, 47) The exact location of Sibmah (Sebam) is now unknown, though it is mentioned with Heshbon and Nebo (Num. 32:3), and Jerome said that it was only about 500 paces from Heshbon. However, some identify it with Qurn el-Kibsh, about three miles (4.8 kilometers) W-SW of the suggested site of Heshbon (modern Heshban) on the Wadi Salmah.

SIBRAIM

(Sibʹra·im) [possibly, hope].

A northern boundary site listed in Ezekiel’s vision of Israel’s territorial inheritance. (Ezek. 47:15-17) Its location is not known, though some seek to place it in the Hums area, S of Hamath in Syria. It may be the same as Sepharvaim.

SICKLE

See FARMING IMPLEMENTS.

SICKNESS

See DISEASES AND TREATMENT.

SIDDIM, LOW PLAIN OF

(Sidʹdim) [valley of the fields],

A valley linked in Scripture with the Salt (Dead) Sea. (Gen. 14:3) There, in Abraham’s day, the rebellious kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim and Zoar battled with Elamite King Chedorlaomer and his three Mesopotamian allies. Defeated, the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, only to have some of their troops fall into the “pits upon pits of bitumen” that filled the area.—Gen. 14:4, 8-10.

The Low Plain of Siddim is generally identified with the baylike section of the Dead Sea S of the Lisan Peninsula. Probably once a fertile valley, it was apparently later submerged, perhaps due to earthquake activity or because of topographical changes resulting from God’s destruction of Sodom, Gomorrah and the entire District. (Gen. 19:24, 25) From time to time, pieces of bituminous matter still rise to the surface of the shallow waters there.—See SALT SEA.