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The Nomenclature of the Persian Gulf

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The Nomenclature of the Persian Gulf The Nomenclature of the Persian Gulf H. Malmirian (Direclor, National Geographical Organization, Iran) The geographers have observed some principles in denominating territories and seas, to the effect that tribal and ethnic names of each region are applied fOT their territories , and as such, the names of most rivers reflect their colors and the names of most mountains are designated because of their similarities with the other objects or phenomena As to denomination of the seas, this principle is more vigrous]y foUowed and nearly all seas around the world are named after the countries and regions situating on their vicinity such as Indian Ocean, Gulf of Mexico , China Sea, North Sea, etc. These are some instances of this type of nomenclature. The ancient Persians, the principal settlers of the southern part of the Islamic Republic of Iran, before any other Aryan ethnic group established relationship with the west and for this reason, the Greeks for the first time referred to the sea situated in the South of I.R. of Iran as "The Persian Gulf ". Hence , we clearly see in this denomination that the element of nationality or ethnicity and the Persian or Arabic language factor had no effect. On the contrary, it was merely a reflection of linguistic reality propounded by the . great scholars of that time and used in the whole perioos of past. In this ankle, by relying on the valid historical documents , I will try to present a comprehensive but concise review in connection with the nomenclature of the Persian Gulf in B.C. and A.D. periods as well as the Islamic periods. According to the well - preserved documments of many historions, before the establishment of the Persian State (6th century B.C'), ethnic groups including the Dravidians, Semites and pro- Elamites were the initial settlers of the areas along Makran , Bandir and the head of the Persian Gulf respectively)) . The Dravidians were the aborigines, the Semites were comprised of Assyrians, Babylonians, Arabs, Phoenicians, Hebrews and 1) Sir Arnold T. Wilson, "The Persian Gulf', (London 1928), P. 25. - 88- Moabites (descendents of Moab tribe who lived in the East of Dead Sea), the pro- Elamites were the Elamites who had migrated to the Iranian Plateau, Syria and Egypt earlier than 4000BC.2) Ethnic groups such as the Elamites, the Semites . Akkadians, and Babylonians were the early inhabitants nhabitants on the coast of Persian Gulf and their main task of livelihoOO was seafaring. Therefore, in order to obtain the oldest maps of the Persian Gulf we must search into the history of these ethnic groups and make a thorough study of their antiquities. But since in that period of history , man still knew nothing of the spherici ty of the earth and essentially had no knowledge of plotting a map with a relative correctness, the seafaring was very simple and limited only to the coastal waters. Therefore, the seafarers navigated on their personal experiences and these ; experiences of repeated seagoings resulted in using the maps that were fixed in their minds. In view of above - mentioned accounts. searching into the ancient hi story of mankind we are unable to find a correct map of the Persian Gulf that could meet the standard of today's modem maps. On the whole, even though we have Quite access to the maps left from the ancient periods but most of these maps shown theorical aspects and drawn without considering the true geometry of the earth. Here, I bring to your attention some of these authentic " maps penned by the greatest, most famous scholars of the ancient times dating as far hack as the 4th century E.G. The Early Historical Period Before migration of Aryans to We Persian Plateau and establishing their domination. Assyrian in their inscriptions called this sea "Nar Marratu"meaning "bitter ri ver'" and this is the Persian Gulf's most ancient name3). 1) According to the archaeological foundings, the Babylonians in their world map, the most ancient existing map recorded upon the order of a Babylonian's king on a baked clay tablet in the sixth century B.C (fig.noI). depicts the known world of their time. They thought the earth as flat and round surrounded 2) ibid .. pp. 26,29,33. 3) Atlas Historique L'antiqiite Cart n, Presses Universitaire. Paris. 1955. - 89- by the salty and bitter waters. In this map, the entire known area of the world in those days was limited to Babylon, Assyria and the lands surrounding them. The Euphrates flows between these two realms southward to the Persian Gulf. Hence, we could conclude that the Babylonian had very limited geographical perception of the surrounding earth beyond their living areas. 2) Homere, in his World Map, in ninth century Be (fig.no2), in accordance with prevailing hypotheses of that period, thought the earth as flat and round surrounded by huge waters. In this map, the boundaries of the East -lI_ Mediterranean, Greece. Asian Minor Peninsula and Phoenician coastal areas were depicted roughly correct. 3) Akkadian called the Persian Gulf "Tamtu Spalitu " meaning the lower sea versus "Tamtu Elenitu" meaning the upper sea, which was used for the Mediterranean4). ' .. 4) A world map drawn .by Herodotus (5th century B.C) , the famous t historian, has survived, which divides the world in two main portions, namely ~ Asia and Europe, and upon which the Red Sea is called Arabian Gulf, • precluding any confusion with the Persian Gulf. • This map depicts the today's recognized world better than the previous 1 maps. The Mediterranean, its North and South coasts as well as Arabian Peninsula and a part of west Asian were crudely drawn. In this map, the two rivers of Tigris and Euphrates and the Persian Gulf were depicted incorrectly with a little accuratian. Some Greek writers, inter alios, Herodotus in the fifth century BC, called all the seas in the Southwest of Asia, including the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, en masse, "he Erythra Thalassa or the Erythraen Sea" or "Mare Erythraen"5) in Latin language. As to the origin of the name, some have suggested that it refers to the red clays in those seas, which is doubtful. Others believed it was the name of the son of a Greek notable, or a Persian prince which.is again unverifiable. We may also mention here that for some unknown reasons Chau-ju-klia, a medieval Chinese writer, has called. the 4) First appears on a tablet of Sargon of Akkad (2872 E.C). See Sir Arnold Wilson "The Persian Gulf" (Oxford: 1928), The "Gulf is specifically named in the historical text of Lugal Zagesi; king of Uruk (2340-2316 B.C,) where it is said that then from the Lower Sea by the Tigris and Euphrates, as far as the Upper Sea (the god Enlil] provided him with clear routes," C. Edmund Bosworth, "The Nomenclature of The Persian Gulf' in the Persian Gulf States": A General Survey, G. Ed.Alvin ]. Cottrel, (Baltimore: 1980), P.xviti. 5) Herdotus iv, 40 - 90- Persian Gulf the "Green Sea"6). f. i1 The Second Period This era starts with the establishment of Achaemenians, who created a strong navy and merchant shipping for Persia. 5) In the fifth century Be, Darius the Great of the Achaemenian Dynasty called the Persian Gulf "Draya: tya: haca parsa: Aitiy" , meaning, "The sea which goes from Persia.''7) 6) In the second century AD, another Greek historian "Flavius Arrianus" in his famous book "Anabasis"8) pertaining to "Military Adventure of Alexander in IS India", recounting the seafaring of Nearchus, the Alexander's Macedonian y admiral, who. upon his king 's orders, sailed from lndia, via the delta of the f, Indus. through the Gulf of Oman and the Persian GUlf. reaching the entry of Euphrates , has called the Persian Gulf "Persiconkaitas" - literally meaning ,s "Persian Gulf". 7) Strabo. the renown Greek geographerlhistorian (64163 B.C - after 23AD) "'0 whose erudition brought him considerable fame, compiled an opus in 67 volumes coveting the geography of world of his time. Making great use of his time's fables and the accounts left behind by Herodotus and others , he drafted a til world map on which the lands were represented as a large island located amid If unbounded oceans , from which the Caspian Sea and the Persian Gulf derived. !II In his works, using repeatedly the term of the Persian Gulf, he particularly e, emphasised that the Arabs geographically situated between Arabian Gulf (Red is Sea) and the Persian Gulf.J). a 8) Claudius Ptolemaeus, the celebrated. Greco - Egyptian mathematician! )f astronomer in the second centwy in hi s book of geography written in the Latin 1e language, repeatedly called this sea "Persicus Sinus" meaning Persian Gulf. T his tenn in the Latin book are often called HSinus Persicus"lO) and in the 6) Edmund C. Bosworth,op.cit. p. XUl. 7) Roland G.Kent, ~Old Persian Texts" journal tor Near Eastern Studies, vou. Oct.1942,no.4,p.419. 8) Arriani, Anabasis et India etc., (Paris, 1005). 9) Geographie de Strabo, traduction du green Francais, (Paris, 1805), Deuxieme livre. pp.357-362. 10) Sunbury, op,cit.votIl Map of the World, p.578 . A1 so ~ see geog raphy of - 91 - I'I geographical book of Latin, "Mare Persicus" meanmg Pars Sea ...... Persian Gulf. His main work is the Almagest in which the Ptolemaic system, based on a geocentric view of the universe, is expounded. He was the first to compile an atlas of the earth, including 36 maps of various regions, as well as a world map and a comprehensive index.
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