Editing Red Sea (section)

== Name ==
Red Sea has names in many languages of the region:

* {{langx|ar|البحر الأحمر|translit=al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar|label=[[Modern Standard Arabic]]}}; {{langx|ar|بحر القلزم|translit=Baḥr al-Qulzum|links=no|label=Medieval [[Arabic]]}};
* {{Langx|he|הַיָּם הָאָדוֹם|translit=hayYām hāʾĀḏōm}}; {{Langx|hbo|יַם-סוּף|translit=[[Yam Suph|Yam Sūp̄]]}}
* {{langx|cop|ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ|Phiom Enhah}}, or {{langx|cop|ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ|Phiom ǹšari|label=none}}
* {{langx|ti|ቀይሕ ባሕሪ|Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī}}
* {{Langx|so|Badda Cas}}
* {{langx|aa|Qasa Bad}}.

The English term ''Red Sea'' is a direct translation of the [[Ancient Greek]] ''Erythrà Thálassa'' ({{lang|grc|Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα}}). The sea itself was once referred to as the [[Erythraean Sea]] by Europeans. As well as ''Mare Rubrum'' in [[Latin]] (alternatively ''Sinus Arabicus'', literally "Arabian Gulf"), the Romans called it ''Pontus Herculis'' (Sea of Hercules).<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Phillips |first1=Carl |last2=Villeneuve |first2=François |last3=Facey |first3=William |date=2004 |title=A Latin inscription from South Arabia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41223821 |journal=Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies |volume=34 |pages=239–250 |jstor=41223821 |issn=0308-8421 |access-date=2 June 2023 |archive-date=2 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602143002/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41223821 |url-status=live }}</ref> Other designations include the Arabic {{langx|ar|البحر الأحمر|Al-Baḥr Al-Aḥmar|label=none}} (alternatively {{langx|ar|بحر القلزم|Baḥr Al-Qulzum|the Sea of [[Clysma]]|label=none}}); the Coptic {{langx|cop|ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ̀ⲛϣⲁⲣⲓ|Phiom ̀nšari|label=none}}; the [[Syriac language|Syriac]] {{langx|syc|ܝܡܐ ܣܘܡܩܐ|Yammāʾ summāqā|label=none}}; the Somali {{lang|so|Badda Cas}}; and the Tigrinya {{langx|ti|ቀይሕ ባሕሪ|Qeyyiḥ bāḥrī|label=none}}. The name of the sea may signify the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured ''[[Trichodesmium|Trichodesmium erythraeum]]'' near the water's surface.<ref name="britannica">{{Cite encyclopedia |title=Red Sea {{!}} sea, Middle East |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica Online Library Edition |publisher=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Red-Sea |access-date=14 January 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230123232055/https://www.britannica.com/place/Red-Sea |archive-date=23 January 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref><!-- Some{{Who|date=October 2009}} suggest that it refers to the mineral-rich red [[mountain]]s nearby, which are called Harei Edom ({{langx|he|הרי אדום|links=no}}). ''[[Edom]]'', meaning "ruddy complexion", is also an alternative [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] name for the red-faced biblical character [[Esau]] (brother of [[Jacob]]), and the nation descended from him, the [[Edomites]], which in turn provides yet another possible origin for ''Red Sea''.{{Citation needed|date=February 2007}} --> A theory favored by some modern scholars is that the name ''red'' is referring to the direction south, just as the [[Black Sea]]'s name may refer to north. The basis of this theory is that some [[Pre-Indo-European languages|Asiatic languages]] used color words to refer to the [[5 cardinal point|cardinal directions]].<ref name="ChiTra">{{Cite web |title=How the Red Sea Got its Name |url=http://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/blog/how-the-red-sea-got-its-name-180950850/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926131326/https://www.smithsonianjourneys.org/blog/how-the-red-sea-got-its-name-180950850/ |archive-date=26 September 2019 |access-date=20 July 2015}}</ref> [[Herodotus]] on one occasion uses Red Sea and Southern Sea interchangeably.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schmitt |first=Rüdiger |date=1996 |title=Considerations on the Name of the Black Sea |journal=Hellas und der griechische Osten |publisher=Saarbrücken |pages=219–224}}</ref>

The name ''[[Yam Suph]]'' ({{langx|he|ים סוף|lit=Sea of Reeds|links=no}}) is of biblical origin.

The name in Coptic {{Lang|cop|ⲫⲓⲟⲙ 'ⲛϩⲁϩ}} ''Phiom Enhah'' ("Sea of Hah") is connected to [[Egyptian language|Ancient Egyptian]] root ''ḥ-ḥ'' which refers to water and sea (for example the names of the [[Ogdoad (Egyptian)|Ogdoad]] gods [[Heh (god)|Heh and Hauhet]]).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Vycichl |first=Werner |title=Dictionnaire Etymologique de La Langue Copte |publisher=Peeters |year=1983 |location=Leuven |pages=320}}</ref>

Historically, it was also known to western geographers as ''Mare Mecca'' (Sea of Mecca), and ''Sinus Arabicus'' (Gulf of Arabia).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arabia |url=http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2919/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605202421/http://www.wdl.org/en/item/2919/ |archive-date=5 June 2013 |access-date=11 August 2013 |publisher=World Digital Library}}</ref> Some ancient geographers called the Red Sea the Arabian Gulf<ref>{{Cite book |last=Michael D. Oblath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c5ya9QVCpIkC&q=Red+sea+as+Arabian+gulf&pg=PA53 |title=The Exodus itinerary sites: their locations from the perspective of the biblical sources |publisher=Peter Lang |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8204-6716-0 |page=53 |access-date=19 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210065000/https://books.google.com/books?id=c5ya9QVCpIkC&q=Red+sea+as+Arabian+gulf&pg=PA53 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> or Gulf of Arabia.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hill |first1=Andrew E. |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/9780520943728-073 |title=A survey of the Old Testament |last2=Walton |first2=John H. |date=2009 |publisher=Zondervan |isbn=978-0-310-28095-8 |edition=3 |location=Grand Rapids, Mich |pages=32|doi=10.1525/9780520943728-073 |s2cid=242765347 }}</ref>

The association of the Red Sea with the [[Bible|biblical]] account of the Israelites [[crossing the Red Sea]] is ancient, and was made explicit in the [[Septuagint]] translation of the [[Book of Exodus]] from [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] to [[Koine|Koine Greek]] in approximately the third century BC. In that version, the ''[[Yam Suph]]'' ({{langx|he|ים סוף|lit=Sea of Reeds}}) is translated as ''Erythra Thalassa'' (Red Sea).

The Red Sea is one of four seas named in English after common [[color term]]s – the others being the [[Black Sea]], the [[White Sea]] and the [[Yellow Sea]]. The direct rendition of the Greek ''Erythra thalassa'' in Latin as [[Mare Erythraeum]] refers to the north-western part of the [[Indian Ocean]], and also to a region on [[Mars]].