SHIHOR shī hôr (שִׁיחֹ֞ור, Waters of Horus). A river described as lying “before Egypt” (KJV) or “E of Egypt” (RSV) and cited as the S extremity of the land which remained to be conquered in Joshua’s old age (Josh 13:3). It is mentioned in an Egyp. poetical work written in praise of the city of Raamses. The Egyp. document (Papyrus Anastasi III) cites the name in parallelism with the Papyrus Marshes and speaks of its production of salt and its use as a shipping way. The identification of Shihor depends on the location of the city of Raamses which has been identified with the modern San el-Hagar (Tanis) and with Qantir, fifteen m. S of San el-Hagar. At any rate, Shihor appears to have been an extremity of one of the arms of the Nile, perhaps the Pelusiac or the Bubastite.

This identification agrees with the occurrence of Shihor in Isaiah 23:3 where it is in parallelism with “the River” (i.e. the Nile), and in Jeremiah 2:18 where it occurs in parallel structure with the Euphrates, the chief river of Assyria.

The occurrence of Shihor in Joshua 13:3; and 1 Chronicles 13:5, which cites it as the S extremity of the Davidic empire, would seem to warrant an identification of Shihor with the Wadi el Arish. Since, however, the area of the Sinai S of Wadi el Arish was for the most part uninhabited, it may be that the passages cited above simply indicate the extreme limits of Israelite influence.

Bibliography A. H. Gardiner, “The Geography of the Exodus,” JEA, 10 (1924), 93; ANET (1955) 471.