Dardanelles

The Dardanelles, also known as the Hellespont or Strait of Gallipoli, is a narrow strait that separates the Balkan peninsula from Asia Minor and Europe from Asia. Technically the Dardanelles is the section of the strait that connects the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara, while the Bosphorus connects the Sea of Marmara to the Black Sea. Together, the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus are known as the Turkish Straits; because they allow navigation between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, these were crucial pathways for transcontinental commerce in the Middle Ages, particularly in the 14th and 15th centuries after Mamluk expansion restricted Silk Road trade through the Levant. The Sfera manuscripts label the Dardanelles with a variety of toponyms, including variations on Hellespont (e.g. elisponto), Turkish Strait (e.g. stretto chanale di torchia), and Strait of Constantinople (e.g. stretto di costantinopolli). We assume that the two manuscripts where the Dardanelles are labeled as Archipelago are simple errors.