Hairpin turns on Kapsodasos to Kallikratis road

The Libyan Sea (; ; ) is the portion of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

north of the African coast of ancient ''Libya'', i.e.

Cyrenaica Cyrenaica ( ) or Kyrenaika (, , after the city of Cyrene), is the eastern region of Libya. Cyrenaica includes all of the eastern part of Libya between the 16th and 25th meridians east, including the Kufra District. The coastal region, als ...

, and

Marmarica Marmarica (, ) in Greco-Roman geography, ancient geography was a littoral area in Ancient Libya, located between ''Cyrenaica'' and ''Egypt (Roman province), Aegyptus''. It corresponds to what is now the Libya and Egypt frontier, including the t ...

(the

coast A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

of what is now eastern Libya and western Egypt, between

Tobruk Tobruk ( ; ; ) is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near the border with Egypt. It is the capital of the Butnan District (formerly Tobruk District) and has a population of 120,000 (2011 est.)."Tobruk" (history), ''Encyclop� ...

and

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

). The region of the Libyan Sea located south of Crete is also known as the South Cretan Sea ().

Name

The term Libyan Sea (Mare Libycum) was used by ancient geographers to describe the part of the Mediterranean Sea south of Crete, between Cyrene and Alexandria. It referred to the region of "Libya" in antiquity, which encompassed much of North Africa west of the Nile River. The name "Libya" (Greek: Λιβύη, Libyē) originally referred to a broader area than the modern country of Libya. In ancient times, "Libya" described the lands and peoples of North Africa, such as the Libu and Meshwesh tribes, as recorded by Greek and Roman sources. The modern usage of "Libyan Sea" continues this tradition and is commonly found in maps and travel literature.

Geography

The surface area of the Mediterranean is about 350,000 km2. The southern

coastline A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

, which borders the Libyan Sea, includes the Asterousia Mountains and Mesara Plain; this area is the locus of considerable ancient

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement including the sites of Kommos, Hagia Triada and

Phaistos Phaistos (, ; Ancient Greek: , , Linear B: ''Pa-i-to''; Linear A: ''Pa-i-to''), also Transliteration, transliterated as Phaestos, Festos and Latin Phaestus, is a Bronze Age archaeological site at modern Faistos, a municipality in south centr ...

. Not counting Crete, other islands in the Libyan Sea are Gavdos, Gavdopoula, Koufonisi, and Chrysi. To the east is the Levantine Sea, to the north the

Ionian Sea The Ionian Sea (, ; or , ; , ) is an elongated bay of the Mediterranean Sea. It is connected to the Adriatic Sea to the north, and is bounded by Southern Italy, including Basilicata, Calabria, Sicily, and the Salento peninsula to the west, ...

, and to the west the

Strait of Sicily The Strait of Sicily (also known as Sicilian Strait, Sicilian Channel, Channel of Sicily, Sicilian Narrows and Pantelleria Channel; or the ; or , ' or ') is the strait between Sicily and Tunisia. The strait is about wide and divides the Ty ...

References

Seas of the Mediterranean Sea Marginal seas of the Mediterranean {{Greece-geo-stub

Name

Geography

See also

References