Gulf of Gabès: Difference between revisions

[[Image:Gulf of Gabes NASA.jpg|thumb|280px|GabeGulf canof beGabès seen from space]]

The '''GolfGulf of Gabès''' (also ''Cabès, Cabes, Gaben, Gaps'',<ref>see e.g.: ''Cabès'' in

''Gaps'' in Charles Anthon, ''A classical dictionary: containing an account of the principal proper names mentioned in ancient authors'', 1842, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kzEoAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1279&dq=Gaps+Syrte&hl=en&ei=XFCDTf3fOIrP4gbfw53VCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CDYQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Gaps%20Syrte&f=false p. 1279].</ref> {{lang-ar|خليج قابس}} {{transl|ar|''ḫalīǧ qābis''}}, also known as ''Lesser Syrtis'' (from [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|[[:wikt:Σύρτις|Σύρτις]]}}), ''Syrtis Minor'' (Latin), contrasting with the [[Greater Syrtis]] in Libya) is a [[headlands and bays|gulf]] on [[Tunisia]]'s east [[coast]] in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], off [[North Africa]]. The gulf roughly spans the coast from modern day the town of [[Mahrès]] in Sfax [[Sfax|Gouvernorate]] to [[Djerba]]. At the head of the gulf is the city of [[Gabès|Gabès (Ghannouche)]] where the [[tide]]s have a large girthrange of up to 2.1 meters at [[spring tide]]s.<ref name="NGIA-102">[[National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency]] (2002) [http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/websites/pollux/pollux.nss.nima.mil/NAV_PUBS/SD/pub131/131sec08.pdf Section 8: Tunisia&ndash;Cap Serrat to Ras Ajdir"] ''Sailing Directions (Enroute) for Western Mediterranean'' (tenth edition) National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, Bethesda, Maryland, page 102</ref> Both Gabès and Sfax are major [[port]]s on the gulf, supporting [[sea sponge|sponge]] and [[tuna]] [[fisheries]], with Gabès being the [[economic]] and administrative center.

The Latin name ''NewellSyrtis MajorMinor'' is used by [[Pliny the Elder]],<ref>''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]]'' [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137%3Abook%3D5%3Achapter%3D4 Book V, Chapter 4 — The Syrtes]</ref> quoting an earlier description in [[Polybius]] [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Plb.%201.39&lang=original 1.39.2], who uses the equivalent {{lang-grc|ἡ μικρὰ Σύρτις}} (elsewhere also {{lang|grc|Σύρτις ἡ μικρὰ, Σύρτις ἡ μικροτέρα, ἡ μικροτέρα Σύρτις}}).