THE WILDERNESS OF SIN had nothing to do with naughtiness in the desert. It was, in fact, a reference to the moon-god Sîn, which is likely why Moses mentioned the day of the month Israel entered the desert (15th day of the second month, when the moon was full).

Likewise, Mount Sinai was probably named for the moon-god. We’ll see further encounters with the moon-god and his followers, the Amorites, through the period of the Judges, with one final showdown about 900 years after the Exodus in the days of the prophet Daniel.

The location of the waters of Meribah poses a problem for those who would locate Mount Sinai at Jebel al-Lawz in Arabia. Comparing Exodus 17:1, Exodus 19:1-2, and Numbers 27:14, the location of the strife at the waters of Meribah is confusing unless Kadesh and Sinai are the same place. (We plan a book on this, and we think Kadesh was at Petra in Jordan.)

We also discuss the command of God to “blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” We explain why being forgotten was the ultimate fear of people in the ancient Near East, who believed that one only truly died when one’s name was forgotten. This sheds light on Abraham’s stress at not having an heir, and on this detail from the life of David’s son, Absalom:

Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and set up for himself the pillar that is in the King’s Valley, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” -2 Samuel 18:18 (ESV)

This is based on the ancient Amorite rite of kispum, a ritual performed at least once a month during which dead ancestors were summoned by name and “fed” with bread and water (or wine) to sustain them in the afterlife, and recruit their help in this life, by keeping their names in remembrance.

We connect this to the modern Black Lives Matter movement. The movement’s organizers have explicitly stated that the purpose of “saying their names” is to summon spirits.