# How did the Red Sea get it's name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 8, 2001, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986 "2001-01-08T13:25:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cynical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5fc32e/32.png) [@Cynical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cynical1)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/1 "2001-01-08T13:25:02Z")
My kid asked me this one and as the family know-it-all (OK - The family smartass - Close enough!) I don’t want to disappoint him. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/2 "2001-01-08T13:30:45Z")
It gets its name from the fact that it sometimes has algae blooms, which turn the the water reddish when they die. ---
**Author:** ![Carina42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Carina42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carina42)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/3 "2001-01-08T13:47:05Z")
I once did a search on this, and the best explanation I found was it was translated through several languages, and the original Egyptian term was actually “Sea of Reeds.” By the time the Bible and other ancient writings got through being translated into various European languages, it somehow ended up being the Red Sea in English. Now I’m curious, is it La Mere Rouge, in French? ---
**Author:** ![Guy\_Propski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/5e9695/32.png) [@Guy\_Propski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guy_Propski)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/4 "2001-01-08T14:12:49Z")
Carina, the Sea of Reeds and the Red Sea are two different bodies of water. JeffB’s answer is the correct one. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/5 "2001-01-08T15:03:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guy Propski \* > \*\*Carina, the Sea of Reeds and the Red Sea are two different bodies of water. JeffB’s answer is the correct one. \*\* Then why is the Hebrew name for the Red Sea _Yam Soof_, or “Reed Sea”? I can assure you, the Hebrew name is older than the English one. Besides, the Red Sea is clear, warm, calm and the home of some kick-ass coral reefs - but it does not have any reddish algae. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/6 "2001-01-08T15:54:18Z")
Because Cecil said the Red Sea isn’t the Sea of Reeds, that’s why. I was always told because of the deaths in it… Oh yeah, and isn’t it the Nile that turns red like that? ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/7 "2001-01-08T16:07:40Z")
“Reddish algae” would be a neat explanation, except that there isn’t any. The name actually comes from the redddish color of the desert cliffs along its shores. ---
**Author:** ![starfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@starfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starfish)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/8 "2001-01-08T16:23:30Z")
I had heard the red algae reason. I don’t think it means the water stays red. I thought the Red Sea was just prone to “red tide” algae blooms like you get along the Gulf of Mexico. If you want to trust Captain Nemo, in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, he uses red algae as the reason for the Red Sea name. Although he also has an underwater tunnel between the Red Sea and the Meriterainian Sea, so he may not always be right. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gone\_The\_Sun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Gone\_The\_Sun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gone_The_Sun)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/9 "2001-01-08T21:10:18Z")
Red Sea The sea so called extends along the west coast of Arabia for about 1,400 miles, and separates Asia from Africa. It is connected with the Indian Ocean, of which it is an arm, by the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb. At a point (Ras Mohammed) about 200 miles from its nothern extremity it is divided into two arms, that on the east called the AElanitic Gulf, now the Bahr el-'Akabah, about 100 miles long by 15 broad, and that on the west the Gulf of Suez, about 150 miles long by about 20 broad. This branch is now connected with the Mediterranean by the Suez Canal. Between these two arms lies the Sinaitic Peninsula. The Hebrew name generally given to this sea is _Yam Suph_. This word _suph_ means a woolly kind of sea-weed, which the sea casts up in great abundance on its shores. In these passages, Ex. 10:19; 13:18; 15:4, 22; 23:31; Num. 14:25, etc., the Hebrew name is always translated “Red Sea,” which was the name given to it by the Greeks. The origin of this name (Red Sea) is uncertain. Some think it is derived from the red colour of the mountains on the western shore; others from the red coral found in the sea, or the red appearance sometimes given to the water by certain zoophytes floating in it. In the New Testament (Acts 7:36; Heb. 11:29) this name is given to the Gulf of Suez. This sea was also called by the Hebrews Yam-mitstraim, i.e., “the Egyptian sea” (Isa. 11:15), and simply Ha-yam, “the sea” (Ex. 14:2, 9, 16, 21, 28; Josh. 24:6, 7; Isa. 10:26, etc.). The great historical event connected with the Red Sea is the passage of the children of Israel, and the overthrow of the Egyptians, to which there is frequent reference in Scripture (Ex. 14, 15; Num. 33:8; Deut. 11:4; Josh. 2:10; Judg. 11:16; 2 Sam. 22:16; Neh. 9:9-11; Ps. 66:6; Isa. 10:26; Acts 7:36, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/10 "2001-01-08T23:04:01Z")
The mountains on the _eastern_ shore are indeed reddish. They are in the land of Edom - which in Hebrew is “red”. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/11 "2001-01-09T02:13:58Z")
Hrm, well, I haven’t been to Saudi Arabia, but the mountains in Sinai and in the southern part of Israel are both reddish. Not that it matters, as the correct answer is the Yam Suf/Sea of Reeds one. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/12 "2001-01-09T02:17:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by curwin \* > \*\*The mountains on the _eastern_ shore are indeed reddish. They are in the land of Edom - which in Hebrew is “red”. \*\* Curwin - isn’t Edom further north, across from the Dead Sea? ---
**Author:** ![quixotic78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3ab097/32.png) [@quixotic78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quixotic78)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/13 "2001-01-09T03:20:39Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1\_035b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_035b.html) > [@](#): > > \*\*Despite the lack of primary source material, there have been innumerable efforts over the years to relate biblical places and events to their historical counterparts, with mixed success. To this day there remains wide disagreement as to the precise identity of such basic landmarks as the Sea of Reeds (it certainly wasn’t the Red Sea) and Mount Sinai. \*\* And there you have it, from the master, as **Speaker for the Dead** already said. Quix ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/14 "2001-01-09T09:14:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by curwin \* > > \*\*The mountains on the _eastern_ shore are indeed reddish. They are in the land of Edom - which in Hebrew is “red”. \*\* > > Curwin - isn’t Edom further north, across from the Dead Sea? \*\* Here’s the quote from the Brittanica: > [@](#): > > ancient land bordering ancient Israel, in what is now southwestern Jordan, between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba [http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/6/0,5716,32566+1+32019,00.html?query=edom](http://www.britannica.com/bcom/eb/article/6/0,5716,32566+1+32019,00.html?query=edom) ---
**Author:** ![Cynical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5fc32e/32.png) [@Cynical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cynical1)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/15 "2001-01-09T13:02:46Z")
I guess if I want the final answer on this I will just have to wait on Cecil. (Are you listening?) ---
**Author:** ![Carina42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Carina42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carina42)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/16 "2001-01-09T13:39:23Z")
Actually, there is still alot of dissent on the location of the “Sea of Reeds”. Some erudite sources claim it is indeed the Red Sea…I’m not sure there is a definitive answer. I did a quick search again, and got confused. There was even some arcane reference to the Red Sea actually being the blood flowing through our bodies, and the name being merely allegorical and not specifically referring to what we now call the Red Sea. I have been there twice, most recently last June. As I recall, all the mountains & desert along that coast were a moonscapey-looking grey brown. So far the best snorkelling I’ve ever experienced. ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/17 "2001-01-09T14:06:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Carina42 \* > **Actually, there is still alot of dissent on the location of the “Sea of Reeds”. Some erudite sources claim it is indeed the Red Sea…I’m not sure there is a definitive answer. I did a quick search again, and got confused. There was even some arcane reference to the Red Sea actually being the blood flowing through our bodies, and the name being merely allegorical and not specifically referring to what we now call the Red Sea.** I was just getting ready to post this same point. Some conjecture that the body of water called _Yam Soof_ “Reed Sea” (thank, **Alessan** ) in the book of Exodus is not the same body of water we call the Red Sea today. Here’s [one site](http://www.bibletexts.com/terms/redsea.htm) that talks about it. I also saw this of an [url=“[http://www.tourism.egnet.net/attraction/cities/red\_sea/redsea.htm](http://www.tourism.egnet.net/attraction/cities/red_sea/redsea.htm)”]Egyptian tourism site[/ulr]: > [@](#): > > Its mineral-rich red mountain ranges inspired the mariners of antiquity to name the sea Mare Rostrum, or the Red Sea. I don’t know how far back the name “Red Sea” (in whatever language) goes back. I’d be curious to find out the name in Arabic. It’s possible that _Yam Soof_ got applied to the Red Sea at a later point. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/18 "2001-01-09T17:10:26Z")
The Arabic name for the Red Sea is \*Bahr al-Qulzum. \* Unfortunately, I have no idea what _qulzum_ means in Arabic, if it means anything at all other than being a proper name. (I’m writing from work and I would have to get home to look it up in my Arabic dictionary.) Our use of the name “Red Sea” is a translation from the ancient Greek _Pontos Erythraios_. > [@](#): > > Not that it matters, as the correct answer is the Yam Suf/Sea of Reeds one. Excuse me, **Kyla** , but how do you get from Hebrew _suph_ (aquatic plant biomass) to Greek _erythraios_ (red)? The Greek name as a translation from Hebrew _Edom_ makes the most sense of all. In Hebrew, the root _aleph-daleth-mem_ means both ‘red’ and ‘earth’ – as such, it provided the name of Adam\* as well as Edom. It makes sense as a name for a red earth land. The brownish cliffs along the shore of the Red Sea sure look reddish in the sunset! Also (and there have been some threads here about color naming/color perception), in many ancient languages there is no word for “brown”, so the word for “red” is applied to brown things. For example, in Malay the words for “brown rice” and “brown sugar” are _beras merah_ and _gula merah_. _Merah_ means ‘red’. \*In Kabbalistic symbolism, the letter _aleph_ represents the element Air. The Hebrew word _dam_ means ‘blood’. The iron in blood’s hemoglobin turns red through oxidation, through breath of air, and Adam was formed of the earth plus the breath of God, the breath of life (_neshamah_) making his blood red, making him a living man of red earth. (Coincidentally, _dam_ is Persian for ‘breath’). ---
**Author:** ![Centerline](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/94ad74/32.png) [@Centerline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Centerline)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/19 "2001-01-09T20:04:15Z")
I defintely agree. When I was there many years ago, the reflection of the surrounding desert through the water made the water reddish, regardless of the historical naming defivatives. The name RED is appropriate. You got to be there to see it yourself. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2001, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986/20 "2001-01-14T20:34:48Z")
Qulzum is an old name for the city that is known today as Suez. If you look at a map of the Read sea, you’ll notice that the Sinai peninsula divides it into two forks: the Gulf of Aqaba on the east, and the Gulf of Suez on the west. So, if you were intening to traverse the Suez canal, going into the Gulf of Aqaba would be most unforktunate. But anyway. . . The word Qulzum may not be Arabic. It might be only an Arabic version of a previously named city (much the same as Memphis is a Greek corruption of the Egyptian name of the same city). So, “Bahr al-Qulzum” is really just another name for “Gulf of Suez,” just using an older name of the city. So, if the previously mentioned information is correct, “Bahr al-Qulzum” includes both the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-the-red-sea-get-its-name/48986.md?page=2)