Red Sea
- Ancient name
- Arabicus Sinus or Rubrum Mare, Arabicus Sinus/Rubrum Mare
- Modern name
- Red Sea
- Coordinates
- 19.0, 39.5
- World Historical Gazetteer
- https://whgazetteer.org/places/portal/8364326
The Red Sea tends to be easy to find on medieval maps because it is often colored red; this is true of about two-thirds of the Red Seas in the Sfera maps. All Sfera maps use a toponym like Mare rosso to label the Red Sea; while some ancient sources refer to it as Sinus Arabicus* (the Arabian Gulf), La sfera's maps only use that term to refer to the Persian Gulf. See also Arabian Sea and Indian Sea. (*Isidore of Seville, Etymologies 13.17.1).
The toponym Red Sea appears in La Sfera in the following places:
Click on any citation to view it in context in the edition.
Map of the location P112
Variant spellings of Red Sea in Sfera manuscripts
| Variant | Manuscripts |
|---|---|
| .M. rosso | Morg |
| [...]rosso | Marc1 |
| [mare rosso] | Par1 |
| [mare] rosso | Fn6 |
| M[are] Ros[s?]o | NYPL2 |
| m[are] rosso | Urb1 |
| M[are] ROSSO | Chig2 |
| M[are] Rosso | NYPL2, Ricc17 |
| M[ARE] ROSSO | Pnc5 |
| Ma[re] rosso | BL02 |
| Mar rosso | MB, Marc1, To2, Vat2 |
| mar rosso | Ashb2, Bal, Con4, Cs1, Laur3, Magl2, Med2, NYPL3, Pal8, Ricc12, Ricc15, Ricc6, Spe |
| Mar Rosso | Ricc15 |
| Mare [rosso] | Tre |
| MARE R[...] | Med3 |
| Mare ro[...] | BL01 |
| MARE ROS[...] | Pnc5 |
| MARE ROsO | Ashb3 |
| Mare ross[o] | Ricc6 |
| Mare Rosso | Fn9, He1, Med1, Par3, Par4, Pnc4, Ricc11, Ricc14, Ricc9, Urb2, Vat3 |
| mare rosso | Ashb4, Barb3, Barb4, Borg, Bos, Chig1, Con1, Con3, Fn6, Fn8, Fn9, He2, Laur5, Luc2, Med2, NB, New, Pad1, Pal5, Par1, Pnc3, Ricc13, Ricc9, Ro2, Urb1 |
| Mare rosso | Ashb7, Bal, Bos, Cap1, Con1, Con3, He1, Laur5, Luc2, Marc2, Med1, Par3, Parm2, Pnc4, Ricc14, Ricc8 |
| MARE ROSSO | BL01, Med3, Wie1 |
| MARE Rosso | Fn8 |
| mare Rosso | Fn12, Fn3, Ricc11 |
| Mare rubrum | Clas2 |
| mare rubum | Fn3 |
| marerosso | Ricc8 |
| maroso | Magl4 |
| marosso | Con4 |
| Marosso | Cap1 |
| Marre rosso | Fo |
| marroso | ME2 |
| marrosso | Ricc6 |
- Suggested citation
- Beneš, Carrie. “Red Sea.” Gregorio Dati’s La sfera = The Globe: A Digital Edition, November 13, 2026. https://la-sfera-staging-a8db029690a6.herokuapp.com/toponyms/red-sea/.