March 14, 2025

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

7 seas greek

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

7 seas arabs

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

7 seas Europe

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?

Go to Source
Author: Brilliant Maps