Editing Mediterranean Sea (section)

==Names and etymology==
[[File:Wadj-ur.png|left|thumb|upright=0.65|Wadj-Ur, or Wadj-Wer, ancient Egyptian name of the Mediterranean Sea]]
[[File:EFS highres STS034 STS034-86-96.jpg|thumb|With its highly indented coastline and large number of islands, Greece has the longest Mediterranean coastline.]]

The [[Ancient Egypt]]ians called the Mediterranean [[Wadj-wer|Wadj-wr/Wadj-Wer/Wadj-Ur]]. This term (literally "great green") was the name given by the Ancient Egyptians to the semi-solid, semi-aquatic region characterised by [[papyrus]] forests to the north of the cultivated [[Nile delta]], and, by extension, the sea beyond.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Golvin |first1=Jean-Claude |title=L'Égypte restituée, Tome 3 |year=1991 |publisher=Éditions Errance |location=Paris |isbn=978-2-87772-148-6 |page=273}}</ref>

The [[Ancient Greece|Ancient Greeks]] called the Mediterranean simply {{lang|grc|ἡ θάλασσα}} (''hē thálassa''; "the Sea") or sometimes {{lang|grc|ἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα}} (''hē megálē thálassa''; "the Great Sea"), {{lang|grc|ἡ ἡμετέρα θάλασσα}} (''hē hēmetérā thálassa''; "Our Sea"), or {{lang|grc|ἡ θάλασσα ἡ καθ’ ἡμᾶς}} (''hē thálassa hē kath’hēmâs''; "the sea around us").

The [[Roman people|Romans]] called it ''Mare Magnum'' ("Great Sea") or ''Mare Internum'' ("Internal Sea") and, starting with the [[Roman Empire]], ''[[Mare Nostrum]]'' ("Our Sea"). The term ''Mare Mediterrāneum'' appears later: [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]] apparently used this in the 3rd century, but the earliest extant witness to it is in the 6th century,<ref name="Seirinidou2017">Vaso Seirinidou, [https://books.google.com/books?id=c53vDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA80 "The Mediterranean"] in Diana Mishkova, Balázs Trencsényi, ''European Regions and Boundaries: A Conceptual History'', series ''European Conceptual History'' '''3''', {{isbn|1-78533-585-5}}, 2017, p. 80</ref> in [[Isidore of Seville]].<ref>{{cite book |first=Geoffrey |last=Rickman |chapter=The creation of ''Mare Nostrum'': 300 BC – 500 AD |editor=David Abulafia |title=The Mediterranean in History |isbn=978-1-60606-057-5 |year=2011 |page=133|publisher=Getty Publications }}</ref> It means 'in the middle of land, inland' in [[Latin language|Latin]], a compound of ''medius'' ("middle"), ''terra'' ("land, earth"), and ''-āneus'' ("having the nature of").

The modern Greek name {{lang|grc|Μεσόγειος Θάλασσα}} (''mesógeios''; "inland") is a [[calque]] of the Latin name, from {{lang|grc|μέσος}} (''mésos'', "in the middle") and {{lang|grc|γήινος}} (''gḗinos'', "of the earth"), from {{lang|grc|γῆ}} (''gê'', "land, earth"). The original meaning may have been 'the sea in the middle of the earth', rather than 'the sea enclosed by land'.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2366422|title=entry μεσόγαιος |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091202133428/http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D |archive-date=2 December 2009 |publisher=[[Liddell & Scott]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite OED|Mediterranean|115766}}</ref>

[[Ancient Iranian peoples|Ancient Iranians]] called it the "Roman Sea", and in [[Classical Persian texts]], it was called ''Daryāy-e Rōm'' (دریای روم), which may be from [[Middle Persian]] form, ''Zrēh ī Hrōm'' (𐭦𐭫𐭩𐭤 𐭩 𐭤𐭫𐭥𐭬).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parsi.wiki/fa/wiki/247689/%d8%af%d8%b1%db%8c%d8%a7%db%8c-%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%85|title="دریای روم" entry|last=Dehkhoda|first=Ali Akbar|website=Parsi Wiki|access-date=29 November 2019|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522152841/https://www.parsi.wiki/fa/wiki/247689/%d8%af%d8%b1%db%8c%d8%a7%db%8c-%d8%b1%d9%88%d9%85|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Carthaginians]] called it the "Syrian Sea". In ancient [[Syrian]] texts, [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] epics and in the Hebrew [[Bible]], it was primarily known as the "Great Sea", הים הגדול ''HaYam HaGadol'', ([[Book of Numbers|Numbers]]; [[Book of Joshua]]; [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]]) or simply as "The Sea" ([[Books of Kings|1 Kings]]). However, it has also been called the "Hinder Sea" because of its location on the west coast of the [[Syria (region)|region of Syria]] or the [[Holy Land]] (and therefore behind a person facing the east), which is sometimes translated as "Western Sea". Another name was the "Sea of the [[Philistines]]", ([[Book of Exodus]]), from the people inhabiting a large portion of its shores near the [[Israelites]]. In [[Modern Hebrew]], it is called הים התיכון ''HaYam HaTikhon'' 'the Middle Sea'.<ref name="melitensia" /> In [[Persian language|Classic Persian]] texts was called Daryāy-e Šām (دریای شام) "The Western Sea" or "Syrian Sea".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.parsi.wiki/fa/wiki/247707/%d8%af%d8%b1%db%8c%d8%a7%db%8c-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d9%85|title="دریای شام" entry|last=Dehkhoda|first=Ali Akabar|website=Parsi Wiki|access-date=29 November 2019|archive-date=22 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200522152842/https://www.parsi.wiki/fa/wiki/247707/%d8%af%d8%b1%db%8c%d8%a7%db%8c-%d8%b4%d8%a7%d9%85|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Modern Standard Arabic]], it is known as ''{{Transliteration|ar|ALA|al-Baḥr [al-Abyaḍ] al-Mutawassiṭ}}'' ({{lang|ar|البحر [الأبيض] المتوسط}}) 'the [White] Middle Sea'. In Islamic and older Arabic literature, it was ''Baḥr al-Rūm(ī)'' ({{lang|ar|بحر الروم}} or {{lang|ar|بحر الرومي}}) 'the Sea of the Romans' or 'the Roman Sea'. At first, that name referred only to the eastern Mediterranean, but the term was later extended to the whole Mediterranean. Other Arabic names were ''Baḥr al-šām(ī)'' ({{lang|ar|بحر الشام}}) ("the Sea of Syria") and ''Baḥr al-Maghrib'' ({{lang|ar|بحرالمغرب}}) ("the Sea of the West").<ref name="eoi">"Baḥr al-Rūm" in ''Encyclopedia of Islam'', 2nd ed</ref><ref name="Seirinidou2017"/>

In [[Turkish language|Turkish]], it is the ''Akdeniz'' 'the White Sea'; in Ottoman, {{lang|ota|ﺁق دڭيز}}, which sometimes means only the [[Aegean Sea]].<ref>Diran Kélékian, ''Dictionnaire Turc-Français'', Constantinople, 1911</ref> The origin of the name is not clear, as it is not known in earlier Greek, Byzantine or Islamic sources. It may be to contrast with the [[Black Sea]].<ref name="eoi"/><ref name="melitensia">{{cite journal|journal=Hyphen|last=Vella|first=Andrew P.|date=1985|title=Mediterranean Malta|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Hyphen/Hyphen.%204(1985)5/02.pdf|volume=4|issue=5|pages=469–472|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170329163002/http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Hyphen/Hyphen.%204%281985%295/02.pdf|archive-date=29 March 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[[Özhan Öztürk]] claims that in Old Turkish ''ak'' also means "west" and that ''Akdeniz'' hence means "West Sea" and that ''Karadeniz'' (Black Sea) means "North Sea". [[Özhan Öztürk]]. {{cite book|url=http://www.karalahana.com/makaleler/kitap/pontus-antik-cagdan-gunumuze-karadeniz-etnik-siyasi-tarihi.htm |title=Pontus: Antik Çağ'dan Günümüze Karadeniz'in Etnik ve Siyasi Tarihi Genesis Yayınları |place=Ankara |publisher=Genesis Kitap |year=2011 |pages=5–9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915062836/http://www.karalahana.com/makaleler/kitap/pontus-antik-cagdan-gunumuze-karadeniz-etnik-siyasi-tarihi.htm |archive-date=15 September 2012}}</ref> In Persian, the name was translated as ''Baḥr-i Safīd'', which was also used in later [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]].<ref name="eoi"/> Similarly, in 19th century Greek, the name was {{lang|grc|Άσπρη Θάλασσα}} (''áspri thálassa''; "white sea").<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu/lizardtech/iserv/calcrgn?cat=Asia&item=/Asia1870m.sid&style=default/view.xsl |title=Map of the Mediterranean and North Africa |access-date=22 August 2023 |archive-date=23 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823025838/http://cartweb.geography.ua.edu/lizardtech/iserv/calcrgn?cat=Asia&item=/Asia1870m.sid&style=default/view.xsl |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aa.tufs.ac.jp/fsc/gis/ottomanmaps/maps/ottoman02/img_l.jpg |title=Map of the Ottoman Empire |access-date=22 August 2023 |archive-date=1 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801215428/http://www.aa.tufs.ac.jp/fsc/gis/ottomanmaps/maps/ottoman02/img_l.jpg |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to Johann Knobloch, in [[classical antiquity]], cultures in the [[Levant]] used colours to refer to the cardinal points: black referred to the north (explaining the name [[Black Sea]]), yellow or blue to east, red to south (e.g., the [[Red Sea]]) and white to west. That would explain the [[Bulgarian language|Bulgarian]] ''Byalo More'', the Turkish ''Akdeniz'', and the Arab nomenclature described above, {{Abbr|lit.|literal translation}} "White Sea".<ref>Johann Knoblock. ''Sprache und Religion'', Vol. 1 (Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, 1979), 18; cf. {{cite encyclopedia |article=Black Sea |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/black-sea |encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Iranica |series= Vol. IV, Fasc. 3 |pages=310–313 |year=1989 |access-date=31 August 2018 |archive-date=5 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220205070511/https://iranicaonline.org/articles/black-sea |url-status=live }}</ref>