Where Do The Seas Around Turkey Come From?

Just looking at the map is enough to understand what a unique geography the country we live in has. While most countries have only one access to the sea Turkey is surrounded by seas on three sides and has access to four different seas. Mediterranean, Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea; It has been given importance and named by the civilizations that have lived here throughout history as it is today.

To answer the question of where the names of the seas around Turkey come from, it is necessary to go through the dusty pages of history. Because even though we, as Turks, gave these seas special names for ourselves, the origin of the names goes back thousands of years. Bride Where do the names of the seas around Turkey, namely the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, the Aegean Sea and the Sea of ​​Marmara, come from? Let’s examine all the details.

Seas in Turkey and their names:

• Mediterrenian
• Black Sea
• Aegean Sea
• Marmara Sea

The sea in the west: Mediterranean

• The English Mediterranean Sea
• Latin from mediterraneus
• Greek Mesogeios
• Arabic El Bahre-l Abyedu’l-Mutavassit
• Persian in the Ottoman period Bahr-i Sefid
• Name given by the Romans Mare Nostrum

Since the Mediterranean has coasts to many different countries and these countries are the gateway to the ocean, adopted by many different cultures had special names. The Arabic Mediterranean equivalent of El Bahre-l Ebyedu’l-Mutavassit white sea in the middle means. Mare Nostrum, the name given to the Mediterranean by the Romans. our sea means.

Let’s come to the names of Bahr-i Sefid and the Mediterranean. For the ancient Turks, the color blue symbolized the east, the white color symbolized the west, the red color symbolized the south and the black color symbolized the north. in ancient times Since the Aegean and the Mediterranean are seen as a single sea, This sea was called Bahr-i Sefid, which means Mediterranean again in the Ottoman period, and it remained as the Mediterranean in Turkish.

The sea in the north: Black Sea

• The English Black Sea
• Name in first written source Ahshena
• Greek Pelagos o Ponticon and Pontus Euxinus
• Latin in Romans Mare Euxinum, Mare Sarmaticum and Pontus Tauricus
• Medieval Arabs Byzantine Sea, Trabzon Sea, Slavic Sea and Pontic Sea
• Name given by Marco Polo Greek Sea
• Persian in the Ottoman period Bahr-i Black
• after the 14th century Black Sea

The Greek name of the Black Sea, which fascinates even those who look at it from the shore with its angry waves, comes from Greek mythology. this sea god of earth in greek mythology It was named after Pontus, the god of the seas, who was the son of Gaia. Pontus Axeinus is also called inhospitable sea also means.

The name Bahr-i Siyah and Black Sea is just like the names Mediterranean and Bahr-i Sefid. It comes from the color symbolization according to the direction in ancient Turks. After about the 14th century, the name Black Sea became widespread in western languages, and today it began to be called the Black Sea in English.

Sea of ​​Islands: Aegean Sea

• The English Aegean Sea
• Greek Aigaion Pelagos
• During the Ottoman period Islands Sea and Between the Islands

The name of the Aegean Sea comes from Aegeus, one of the characters in Greek mythology. The story is as follows, King Minos of Crete, whose son was killed, demands sacrifices to the Minotaur, who is half human and half bull. The King of Athens, Aegeus, does not allow this and sends his son to kill the Minotaur. Successfully completing the task, the son accidentally raises a black flag on his way back. Seeing the black flag Aegeus thinks his son has failed and throws himself into the sea. and from that day on it is called the Sea of ​​Aegeus.

For the Turks who met the Aegean Sea in 1081, a special name was not given because this sea and the Mediterranean were a whole. However When we look at Piri Reis’ book, Kitab-ı Bahriye, dated 1519, We see that this place is called the Sea of ​​Islands. Likewise, in Katip Çelebi’s work named Tuhfetü’l-Kibar Fi Esfari’l-Bihar, dated 1656, we see that this place is called Inter-Islands.

The sea named after the island: Marmara Sea

• The English Sea of ​​Marmara
• Greek Propontis

Propontis, the name given to the Sea of ​​Marmara by the Greeks, is a combination of the words pro and pontis. Pro beforeif pontus sea means. Because they sailed to the Black Sea using the Sea of ​​Marmara They are thought to have given this name.

The name of the Sea of ​​​​Marmara comes from the Greek word Mármaron, which means marble. However Mármaron is not the name for the sea, but for the island here. In other words, the name of Marmara Island, which is connected to Balıkesir today, was first given, and then this name began to be used as the Sea of ​​Marmara.

the seas around Turkey. Where do the names of the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Aegean Sea and Marmara Sea come from? We answered the question and talked about the historical journey of these names. What we tell are only stories from thousands of years ago. Maybe there are many stories that disappeared before they reached us.