Editing Gulf of Aden (section)

==Historical names==
[[File:Ibn Majid Gulf of Berbera.png|thumb|upright|[[Ahmad ibn Mājid|Ibn Majid]] referring to the Gulf as the ''Gulf of [[Berbera]]'']]
In [[classical antiquity|antiquity]], the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] viewed what is now called the Gulf of Aden as an extension of the [[Erythraean Sea]] (Red Sea) {{langx|grc|Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα}}, ''Erythrà Thálassa''. They named several of the islands in the gulf, including one they called Stratonis, although it is no longer clear which Greek name referred to which island.<ref>[[William Smith (lexicographer)|Smith, William]] (editor); ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography]]'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064;layout=;query=id%3D%2312506;loc=stratoniceia-geo "Stratonis Insula"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522132615/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0064&redirect=true |date=2024-05-22 }}, [[London]], (1854)</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16D*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Strabo's Geography — Book XVI Chapter 4|website=penelope.uchicago.edu|access-date=2021-02-19|archive-date=2021-06-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210612122218/https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/16D%2A.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Abu'l-Fida]]'s ''A Sketch of the Countries'' ({{langx|ar|تقويم البلدان}}), the present-day Gulf of Aden was called the Gulf of Berbera, which shows how important [[Berbera]] was in both regional and international trade during the medieval period.<ref>[http://www.idref.fr/026676869 Identifiants et Référentiels Sudoc Pour L'Enseignement Supérieur et la Recherche - Abū al-Fidā (1273-1331)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420092100/https://www.idref.fr/026676869 |date=2023-04-20 }} {{in lang|fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Lewicki|first1=Tadeusz|title=Arabic External Sources for the History of Africa to the South of Sahara|date=1974|pages=33|publisher=Curzon Press|language=en}}</ref>

Legendary navigator [[Ahmad ibn Mājid|Ibn Majid]] also referred to the Gulf of Aden as the Gulf of Berbera in his 15th century magnum opus ''The Book of the Benefits of the Principles and Foundations of Seamanship''.<ref>{{cite book|title=الفوائد في أصول علم البحر والقواعد|page=129|language=ar|first=Ahmad|last=Ibn Majid}}</ref> Berbera has been a prominent port since antiquity.<ref name="Periplus">{{Cite web |url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html |title=Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Schoff's 1912 translation |access-date=2020-12-31 |archive-date=2014-08-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814160845/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html |url-status=live }}</ref>