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Rasamabes

Modern name
Ra's al-Makhbaz, Farwa Island
Modern country
Libya
Rasamabes refers to a sandbar called Farwa Island, a thin strip of land protecting a large lagoon just to the east of the Tunisian-Libyan border, or a site on the Libyan mainland closest to it. Originally an island, it has been turned into a peninsula by a relatively recent manmade causeway. A relatively minor natural feature, it appears much more frequently on Sfera maps than the large island of Djerba, which is only labeled as such in 3 manuscripts; it is therefore possible that the many references to Rasamabes are actually intended to point to Djerba. Campbell #1656.
Coordinates
33.1, 11.75

The toponym Rasamabes appears in La Sfera in the following places:

Click on any citation to view it in context in the edition.

Map of the location P111

Variant spellings of Rasamabes in Sfera manuscripts

Variant Manuscripts
Ilasamabes Cap1
ilasamabes Marc2
ra / samabes Ricc1
Ramabes Pad1
Rasabes Clas2
Rasama besse Fo
rasamabes Laur3, Laur5, Per2, Ricc15, Yale4
Rasamabes Bal, Fn9, Marc1, Ricc17
rasamabese Wie1
Rasamabessa He2
Rasamabesse He3, Parm2
rasamabesse NB
rasamabet ME2
rassamabes Par1
rassamabesse Ricc8
Resamabes Magl2
resamabes Pnc5
s[...]beso Pal8
Suggested citation
Beneš, Carrie. “Rasamabes.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, February 10, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/rasamabes/.