PELUSIUM pĭ lōō’ shĭ əm (Πηλούσιον, meaning uncertain; סִ֖ין) KJV SIN. A city at the NE extremity of the Nile Delta, about one m. from the Mediterranean.

The name means “city of mud” in Gr. This is evidently the result of false etymology. The Egyp. name Sin was confused with sin, “mud.” Though noted in antiquity for its flax and wine, the city acquired military importance as a frontier fortress facing Syria. Ezekiel (30:15) called it the “stronghold of Egypt.” It was the site of numerous battles. In 525 b.c. Cambyses defeated the Egyptians nearby and made Egypt a Pers. province. In 343 it was held by Artaxerxes and in 333 by Alexander the Great. In 169 it was seized by Antiochus IV. In 55, Gabinius and M. Antonius seized it for the Romans. In his campaign against Antonius the young Octavian occupied it in 30. During the Rom. empire the city was an important station on route to the Red Sea.