Mediterranean
Mediterranean SEA, a later name (Solin. 22:18; see Forbiger, Handb. de alt.'Geogr. 2:13 sq.) for the usual Roman title (Mare Internum) of that immense body of water between Europe, Asia, and Africa, styled by the Hebrews " the Great Sea" הִיָּם הִגָּדוֹל, Nu 34:6 sq.; Jos 1:4; Eze 47:10, etc.; likewise in the Talmud, ימא רבא; so ἡ μεγάλη θάλασσα, Hecat. Fragm. p. 349), or "the hinder (i.e. Western) sea" (הִיָּם הָאִחֲרוֹן; De 12:24; in distinction from "the forward [i.e. Eastern] sea," i.e. the Dead Sea, Zec 14:8, etc.), "sea of the Philistines" (יָם הִפּלַשׁתַּים , Ex 23:31), and also simply "the Sea" (Joshua 19:.6; as likewise in the Greek, ἡ θάλασσα, 1 Macc. 14:34; 15:11; Ac 10:6,32), and bounding Palestine o0 the west. It has, from Tyre to Ptolemais, a high and rocky shore, which farther south becomes low and sandy (Strabo, 16:758 sq.; comp. Josephus, Ant. 15:9, 6; War, 1:21, 5; see Scholz, Reise, p. 130); it makes at Mount Carmel a great bay (that of Accho or Ptolemais), but elsewhere it affords very few good harbors (chiefly those of Ceesarea, Joppa, and Gaza). Its surface lies higher than that of the Dead Sea. The ebb and flow of the tide in the Mediterranean is irregular, and noticeable only in particular localities, and unimportant on the coast of Palestine (see Michaelis, Einleit. ins A. T. 1:74, anm.). The current of the sea is regularly from south to north, and is doubly strong at the time of the Nile freshet, so as to carry the deposit of mud and sand against the southern (Philistian) shore, which accordingly is continually pushing farther and farther into the sea (see Ritter, Erdk. 2:460, 462). Under the water there are found at the coast from Gaza to Jaffa large coral reefs (Volney, Voyage, 2:246); and the sea abounds in fish. Commerce finds on it. a great sphere; but the Phoenicians and Egyptians had-nearly a monopoly of this, as the Mosaic legislation was unfavorable even to coast trading. Particular portions of this vast body of water were designated by special names, hut of these only the Adriatic (οΑ῾᾿δραίς) is distinctively named in the Bible (Ac 27:27). SEE ADRIA. Vague mention, however, is made likewise of the Egman Sea, the modern Archipelago (Ac 17:14,18), the sound between Cilicia and Cyprus (Ac 27:5), and the Syrtis of the Lybian Sea (Ac 27:17). See generally Bachiene, Palast. I, 1:87 sq.; Hamesveld, Bibl. Geogr. 1:440 sqWiner, 2:70. SEE SEA. The whole of the coast, from the Nile to. Mount Carmel, was anciently called the Plain of the Mediterranean Sea. The tract between Gaza and Joppa was simply called the Plain; in this stood the five principal cities of the Philistine satrapies -Ascalon, Gath. Gaza, Ekron or Accaron, and Azotus or Ashdod. The countries bordering on the Mediterranean were unquestionably the cradle of civilization, and they have in all ages been the scene of mighty changes and events, the investigation of which belongs to the general historian; all, however, that has relation to scriptural subjects will be found stated under the heads SEE CYRENE, SEE EGYPT, SEE GREECE, SEE SYRIA, etc., and therefore to enter into the detail here would be superfluous, as would any lengthened notice of the sea itself, the Hebrews having never been a maritime people. See Smith, Dict. of Class. Geogr. s.v. Internum Mare; M'Culloch, Dict. of Geogr. s.v. SEE PALESTINE.
