The Seven Seas From The Ancient Greek, Arabian & Medieval European Points of View – Brilliant Maps

In
modern
times,
the
term
seven
seas
is
synonymous
with
the

seven
oceans
of
the
world:
Arctic,
North
Atlantic,
South
Atlantic,
North
Pacific,
South
Pacific,
Indian,
and
Southern
oceans.

However,
that
has
not
always
been
the
case.

The
3
maps
below
created
by

reddit
user
DwizKhalifa
show
how
the
term
seven
seas
has
been
used
by
different
people
at
different
times.

Seven
Seas
According
To
The
Ancient
Greeks

According
to
the
ancient
Greeks
the
Seven
Seas
were:

On
the
map:

• Mediterranean
  Sea
• Adriatic
  Sea
• Black
  Sea
• Caspian
  Sea
• Red
  Sea
• Persian
  Gulf
• Arabian
  Sea

Ranked
by
Approximate
modern
day
Surface
Area
(Largest
to
Smallest)

1. Arabian
   Sea:
   ~3,860,000
   km²
2. Mediterranean
   Sea:
   ~2,500,000
   km²
3. Red
   Sea:
   ~438,000
   km²
4. Black
   Sea:
   ~436,000
   km²
5. Caspian
   Sea:
   ~371,000
   km²
6. Persian
   Gulf:
   ~251,000
   km²
7. Adriatic
   Sea:
   ~139,000
   km²

Seven
Seas
According
To
Arabian
Sources

According
to
the
Arabs
the
Seven
Seas
were:

The
seven
seas
as
labeled
on
the
map
are:

• Persian
  Gulf
• Arabian
  Sea
• Bay
  of
  Bengal
• Strait
  of
  Malacca
• Singapore
  Strait
• Gulf
  of
  Thailand
• South
  China
  Sea

Ranked
by
Approximate
Modern-Day
Surface
Area
(Largest
to
Smallest)

1. 
   Arabian
   Sea:
   ~3,860,000
   km²
2. 
   South
   China
   Sea:
   ~3,500,000
   km²
3. 
   Bay
   of
   Bengal:
   ~2,170,000
   km²
4. 
   Gulf
   of
   Thailand:
   ~320,000
   km²
5. 
   Persian
   Gulf:
   ~251,000
   km²
6. 
   Strait
   of
   Malacca:
   ~65,000 
   km²*
7. 
   Singapore
   Strait:
   *Significantly
   smaller
   than
   the
   others*

*Note:
Straits
are
usually
measured
by
length
and
average
width
rather
than
total
surface
area.
Figures
above
are
approximate
references.

Seven
Seas
According
To
Medieval
Europeans

And
finally
according
to
the
medieval
Europeans:

The
seven
seas
as
labeled
on
the
map
are:

• Baltic
  Sea
• North
  Sea
• Atlantic
  Ocean
• Mediterranean
  Sea
• Black
  Sea
• Red
  Sea
• Arabian
  Sea

Ranked
by
Approximate
Modern-Day
Surface
Area
(Largest
to
Smallest)

1. 
   Atlantic
   Ocean:
   ~106,000,000
   km²
2. 
   Arabian
   Sea:
   ~3,860,000 
   km²
3. 
   Mediterranean
   Sea:
   ~2,500,000 
   km²
4. 
   North
   Sea:
   ~750,000
   km²
5. 
   Red
   Sea:
   ~438,000 
   km²
6. 
   Black
   Sea:
   ~436,000
   km²
7. 
   Baltic
   Sea:
   ~377,000
   km²

Note:
The
“Atlantic”
here
is
counted
as
one
of
the
Seven
Seas
(as
it
was
in
many
medieval
European
accounts),
although
it
is
an
ocean.
Modern
surface-area
figures
are
approximate.

And
finally,
in
case
you
were
wondering
about
the
sources
used
for
these
maps
DwizKhalifa
has
you
coverd:

Here’s
one that
covers
quite
a
few
iterations
of
“the
Seven
Seas,”
and
I
find
the Wikipedia
article helpful
especially
for
elaborating
on
the
Arabian
list
(including
a
pretty
interesting
excerpt).
Another
source
can
be
found here (which,
as
a
another
redditor
pointed
out,
is
one
of
several
I
found
that
has
a
slightly
different
list
for
Greek
sources),
but
I
ended
up
drawing
from this
one by
the
Library
of
Congress.

Of
course,
most
of
these
pages
themselves
just
say,
“Greek
literature”
and
whatnot.
But
the
justification
for
that
level
of
broadness
is
that,
well,
these
three
lists
in
particular
were
so
commonly
given
in
literature
of
their
time
and
place
that
there
is
no
one
single
“source”
to
cite
from
the
periods
in
question.
They
were,
seemingly,
nearly
ubiquitously
acknowledged
in
their
cultures.
Which
is
why
it’s
all
the
more
interesting
to
me
that
there
still
arised
such
a
diversity
of
lists
over
the
ages
in
spite
of
that.

What
do
you
think?

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Author: Brilliant Maps