Sallum ( ar, السلوم, translit=as-Sallūm various transliterations include ''El Salloum'', ''As Sallum'' or ''Sollum'') is a harbourside

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

or town in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...

. It is along the Egypt/Libyan short north–south aligned coast 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 north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

in the far northwest corner of Egypt. It is, geodesically, east of the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political bo ...

with

Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Su ...

, and from the notable port of

Tobruk Tobruk or Tobruck (; grc, Ἀντίπυργος, ''Antipyrgos''; la, Antipyrgus; it, Tobruch; ar, طبرق, Tubruq ''Ṭubruq''; also transliterated as ''Tobruch'' and ''Tubruk'') is a port city on Libya's eastern Mediterranean coast, near t ...

, Libya. Sallum is mainly a Bedouin community of the families of merchants, fishermen and herdsmen. It has little tourist activity and few organized historical curiosities. It is a key trading center for the local Bedouin community. It has a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery and is north of Halfaya Pass. Sallum is on its own pass, improved since World War II, has become the main pass ascending the related ridge, which obstructs east–west trade. The ridge extends away from its northern part, east-facing sea cliffs, south by , there turning increasingly east. This escarpment is the , once called the , such as in the 12th century – a descriptor meaning graded (evened out) ascent, then making the name of the town. There are no other roadworthy passes nearby. Sallum was a small ancient Roman port. Some Roman wells remain locally. Sometimes called Baranis, it should not be confused with the medieval-noted branch of the Berbers, the al-Baranis. At its southern end scattered homes mark out the end of the Northern coast of Egypt. Amenities include a post office and a National Bank of Egypt branch.

History

Tripolitania_Eyalet,_Ottoman_Empire_(1795)

Early settlement

Local people are mentioned in some Roman accounts of Catabathmus Maior/Magnus (referring to the local, obstructive ridge to east–west land trade, , or more commonly today ). It may have been Plynos Limen and Tetrapyrgia mentioned in less context-clear early courses. Sallum was the origin for many eastward migrations to

Egypt Eyalet The Eyalet of Egypt (, ) operated as an administrative division of the Ottoman Empire from 1517 to 1867. It originated as a result of the conquest of Mamluk Egypt by the Ottomans in 1517, following the Ottoman–Mamluk War (1516–17) and the ...

and

Bilad al-Sham Bilad al-Sham ( ar, بِلَاد الشَّام, Bilād al-Shām), often referred to as Islamic Syria or simply Syria in English-language sources, was a province of the Rashidun, Umayyad, Abbasid, and Fatimid caliphates. It roughly correspon ...

. During the 19th century, one family, migrated first to Tafilah in southern

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Ri ...

, and thence to the region of Jaffa. They settled in ancient village of Mulabbis, and lived there for several generations until the establishment of

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva ( he, פֶּתַח תִּקְוָה, , ), also known as ''Em HaMoshavot'' (), is a city in the Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Jews of the Old Yishuv, and became a permanent s ...

, the first

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

colony, in 1878

Sovereignty and battles

Sallum was part of the Eyalet then Vilayet of Tripolitania, 1551–1911, the year before its fall mainly to Italy. That year, during the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish or Turco-Italian War ( tr, Trablusgarp Savaşı, "Tripolitanian War", it, Guerra di Libia, "War of Libya") was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911, to 18 October 1912. As a result ...

, an Anglo-Egyptian force took it over, relieving its garrison, to prevent it falling into Italian hands. When the border between

Italian Libya Libya ( it, Libia; ar, ليبيا, Lībyā al-Īṭālīya) was a colony of the Fascist Italy located in North Africa, in what is now modern Libya, between 1934 and 1943. It was formed from the unification of the colonies of Italian Cyrenaica a ...

and Egypt was settled by treaty in 1925, Sallum was left on the Egyptian side. During the Senussi Campaign of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, Sallum was captured by the

Senussi The Senusiyya, Senussi or Sanusi ( ar, السنوسية ''as-Sanūssiyya'') are a Muslim political-religious tariqa ( Sufi order) and clan in colonial Libya and the Sudan region founded in Mecca in 1837 by the Grand Senussi ( ar, السنوس ...

in November 1915 with Ottoman and

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

assistance. It was re-taken by the British in March 1916. In December 1941, during

Operation Crusader Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) against the Axis forces (Ge ...

(and the two other operations affecting nearby Halfaya Pass) Sallum was the location of fighting between the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading post ...

and allied

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with " republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

forces against

forces; the latter were retreating from gains they had made deeper into Egypt. The Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery was established by the

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mi ...

to inter over 2,000 soldiers who died in the region. On July 21, 1977, Libya attacked Sallum, initiating the first clash in the Libyan-Egyptian War.

Solar eclipse

Sallum was a destination in the total solar eclipse on March 29, 2006 among expeditions." Valoria La Buena annular eclipse expedition" (report), Solar Physics Group, Astrophysics Lab, University of Rome, January 10, 2007, webpage (mostly Italian)
ICRA-solar
mentions Sidi Barrani observation area.

Climate

Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate, like almost all of Egypt, as

hot desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About o ...

(''BWh''). However, typically for the northern coast, Sallum has its temperatures moderated by blowing winds from the

Notes

External links

*Photograph of twilight Sidi Barrani

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of the Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six mo ...

(Oct. 2005, copyright 2005-2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület)
Hungarian-foto Sidi-twilight
(540x345, 38 KB). *Photograph of

at Sidi Barrani (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005-2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület)
Hungarian-foto Sidi-eclipse
(9 kb). *Photograph of Sidi Barrani observers (Oct. 2005, copyright 2005-2007 Magyar Csillagászati Egyesület)
Hungarian-foto Sidi-people
(50 kb). {{Authority control Egypt–Libya border crossings Populated places in Matrouh Governorate