Erythraean Sea
| Erythraean Sea بحر اريترا |
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Map showing the Erythraean Sea off the Horn of Africa. Drawn by James Rennell, 1799.
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| Location | Northwestern Indian Ocean |
| Coordinates | 12°0′N 55°0′E / 12.000°N 55.000°ECoordinates: 12°0′N 55°0′E / 12.000°N 55.000°E |
| Type | Sea |
| Basin countries | Yemen, Somalia |
The Erythraean Sea (Greek: Ἐρυθρὰ Θάλασσα, Erythra Thalassa, "Red Sea") is the name in ancient cartography for a body of water located between the Horn of Africa and the Arabian peninsula. The name is now obsolete.
This appellation may have derived from the seasonal blooms of the red-coloured Trichodesmium erythraeum near the water's surface.
In the third century, Flavius Philostratus made this comment: "And they say that the sea called Erythra or "red" is of a deep blue colour, but that it was so named, as I said before, from a King Erythras, who gave his own name to the sea in question."
The name "Erythraean Sea" has been or is still used for the following places:
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