SHUR . A place or district on the N.E. border of Egypt ( Genesis 16:7; Genesis 20:1; Genesis 25:18 , Exodus 15:22 , 1 Samuel 15:7; 1 Samuel 27:8 ). The name in Aramaic means ‘wall,’ and, as Egyp. th is regularly rendered by sh in Aramaic, Shur is probably the Egyp. city Thor (the vocalization is uncertain), a fortress near the N.E. frontier, and capital of the 14th nome of Lower Egypt. This Thor lay on a stream or canal named Shi-Hôr (See Shihor), and malefactors were sent thither after having their noses cut off. It is tempting to identify it with Rhinocorura (See Egypt [River of]), but it was on the banks of a fresh-water canal and 10 days’ march from Gaza. Perhaps it is the later Sele, near el-Kantara, on the Suez Canal.
F. Ll. Griffith.