Gulf of Aqaba

“ It is a great contrast with the “Hill of the Fort,” the Pharaohnic rock, this lump some eighty feet high, built of Secondary gypsum and yellow serpentine like the coast behind it. Gleaming deadly white, pale as a corpse in the gorgeous sunshine, and utterly bare, except for a single shrub, it is based upon a broad, dark-coloured barrier-reef. Local tradition here places the Kasr el-Bedawíyyah, “Palace of the Bedawi Woman (or Girl) ,” but we saw neither sign of building nor trace of population in the second island which the Gulf el-‘Akabah owns. ”

“ The margin of the Red Sea itself consists, on the Arabian side, of a strip of low plain backed by ranges of barren hills of coral and sand formation, and here and there by mountains of considerable height. The greater elevations are for the most part formed of limestones, except in the south, where they are largely volcanic. The coasts of the Gulf of Akaba are steep, with numerous coral reefs on both sides. On the African side there are in the north wide stretches of desert plain, which towards the south rise to elevated tablelands, and ultimately to the mountains of Abyssinia. ”

“ The old story; the Gulf Stream with its millions of units of heat forced northward by wind pressure, and accelerated eastward by the equatorial velocity it starts out with, our insular position bathed in oceanic waters, holding immense deposits of the sun’s heat; the open seas north of us; the great furnace stores of heat in Africa, like a nearby factory heating our thin coasts. That is common knowledge—but these accidents of position, these migratory tides are holding in check invincible tendencies. ”

“ We afterwards traced this main feature of the 'Akabah Gulf as far south as the Wady Hamz. It is composed of the sulphates of lime—alabaster, gypsum, and the plaster with which the Tertiary basin of Paris supplies the world; and of the carbonates of lime—marble, chalk, kalkspar, shells, and eggs. The broken crests of the Jibál el-Hamrá, the red hills backing Makná,33 and the jagged black peaks of their eastern parallel, the Kalb el-Nakhlah, look like plutonic reefs or island-chains emerging from the Secondary sea. ”

“ It may fairly be supposed that the Hebrew-Phœnician fleet would not put to sea from the Arab emporium, where it was refitting, until the end of January of the year 2; for in the months of January, February, and March, fine clear weather prevails in the Gulf of Aden, and it is at this season that the Arabs carry on trade in the Gulf of Aden in their dhows, measuring from 50 to 300 tons burthen. By starting at this season the fleet would enter the north-east monsoon with fine clear weather, and reach Sofala in March or April, with the cessation of the north-east monsoon. ”

“ This is the case with all the harbours on the east-coast of the Red Sea, while those on the west are deep, without any banks or bars before them, which is probably owing, as I have already said, to the violence of the north-west winds, the only constant strong winds to be met with in this Gulf. These occasion strong currents to set in upon the east-coast, and heap up the land and gravel which is blown in from Arabia. ”

“ The whole northern coast of Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia, apart from numerous wave-worn beaches, is completely rock-bound, forbidding all approach. Even the artificial harbours like that of Algiers are maintained with difficulty. At the east end of this long stretch of coast comes at last the welcome haven offered by the Gulf of Tunis which runs inland at the mouth of the depression between the Tell Atlas and the Sahara Atlas (p. 320) , and on which the Medjerda and other streams and several important roads converge. ”

“ As we approached the ugly gape of the formidable Gulf, the waves increased in size, and coursed to all directions, as if distorted by the sunken reefs. The eastern jamb is formed by Tírán Island; the western by the sandy Ras Nasráni, whose glaring tawny slope is dotted with dark basaltic cones, detached and disposed like great ninepins. Beyond this cape the Sinaitic coast, as far as Ras Mohammed, the apex of the triangle, is fretted with little indentations; hence its name, El–Shurúm—“the Creeks.” ”

“ The Gulf Stream whipped into violent activity by the south east trade winds beats impetuously upon the islands of the West Indies, washes the beaches of Central America, and whirls its spinning tides within the Gulf of Mexico, and then, repulsed by the continuous shore lines of North America, returns to Europe bearing its mantle of verdure to be thrown over the hills, the capes, the valleys the western edges and islands of the Old World. ”

“ The rapid northern spring raises its waters and loosens the ice simultaneously; when the waters of the Gulf are at their usual level, the accumulated ice and water find an easy outlet down the broad and rapid Neva. But let a strong west wind heap up the waters of the Gulf just as the breaking up of Lake Ladoga takes place, and the waters from above and from below would suffice to inundate the whole city, while all its palaces, monuments, and temples would be crushed between the masses of ice, like “Captain Ahab's” boat in the ivory jaws of “Moby Dick.” ”

“ The Coast Region.—Egypt has a coast-line of over 600 m. on the Mediterranean and about 1200 m. on the Red Sea. The Mediterranean coast extends from the Gulf of Sollum on the west to Rafa on the east. From the gulf to the beginning of the Delta the coast is rock-bound, but slightly indented, and possesses no good harbourage. The cliffs attain in places a height of 1000 ft. They are the termination of a stony plateau, containing several small oases, which southward joins the more arid and uninhabitable wastes of the Libyan Desert. ”

“ An extinct volcano occurs at Aden, and volcanic rocks are found at other places near the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb. Throughout the whole of Arabia, so far as is known, the sedimentary beds show no signs of any but the most gentle folding. Faulting, however, is by no means absent, and some of the faults are of considerable magnitude. The Gulf of Akaba is a strip of country which has been let down between two parallel faults, and several similar faulted troughs occur in the Sinai peninsula. The Red Sea itself is a great trough bounded by faults along each side. ”

“ The Laeanitic Gulf, the present Gulf of al-ʻAḳaba, extends from the island of Nessa about one hundred and eighty kilometers to the north, and its average width is eighteen kilometers. Not much is left of the Nabataean villages once situated near it. Only the small palm groves on the coast, the valley dikes for irrigation, and the low garden walls inland show that peasants once worked there. The position of the territory of the Bythemani cannot be fixed precisely from the statements of Agatharchides. ”

“ But the cold water which underruns the Gulf Stream is probably furnished by the arctic waters which move down Davis Strait and the east coast of Greenland. The Gulf Stream, as it widens and becomes more shallow, is, through its exposure to the westerly winds, gradually converted into a drift current; and in this way its surface waters are forced over abreast the shores of Western Europe, where it imparts its warmth to a wide region, and also causes a high sea-level. ”

“ This is the only harbour on the western coast of the gulf of Akaba, which affords safe anchorage for large ships, though, by lying close in shore, small vessels might, I believe, find shelter in several of the bays of this gulf. At Sherm there are two deep bays little distant from each other, but separated by high land, in both of which, ships may lie in perfect safety. On the shore of the southern bay stands the tomb of a Sheikh, held in veneration by the Bedouins and mariners: a small house has been built over it, the walls of which are thickly hung with various offerings by the Bedouins ”

“ He discovered that there was a mountain north of the Gulf of Akaba having an elevation of 3,450 feet, and since this was 220 feet higher than Monte Lauro, in Sicily, on which the Ark had grounded, he counted on it as a gage which would serve his purpose.
So they passed almost directly over Suez, and about 120 miles farther east they found the mountain they sought, rising to the west of the Wadi el Arabia, a continuation of the depression at whose deepest point lay the famous "Dead Sea," so often spoken of in the books of former times. ”

“ South of the Lake Tsad the country is fertile, and only here and there are there wide, sandy deserts reminding one of the waterless, sterile regions of Azawagh and Taganet in the Great Sahara, that arid, monotonous, and almost impassable gulf that separates the regions of Sokoto, Bornu, Baguirmi and Gando from the European civilisation of Northern Algeria. ”

“ While the Gulf Stream largely benefits the globe, it is at the same time the proximate cause of shipwreck and disaster, from the storms which it creates, in consequence of the irregularity of its temperature, and that of the neighbouring regions, both in air and water. Perhaps nowhere is a more terrific sea found than when a heavy gale meets the Gulf Stream, when running at its maximum rate. Many a ship has gone down beneath its waters. ”

“ The settlement of Maʻân is situated at the junction of important transport routes. On its eastern side runs the best natural transport route uniting southwestern Arabia with Damascus and the Phoenician harbors. From it there branches off in a southwesterly direction the most convenient road to the former harbor of Elath, now comprising the settlement of al-ʻAḳaba on the Red Sea gulf of the same name. To the west there runs an important caravan route to Gaza and northern Egypt ”

“ If you are not afraid of being known, there is a low black island on the Arabian coast called Camaran, it is in lat. 15° 39', and is distinguished by a white house, or fortress, on the west end of it, where you will procure excellent water, in greater plenty than at Azab; but no provisions, or only such as are very bad. If you should not wish to be seen, however, on the coast at all, among the chain of islands that reaches almost across the Gulf from Loheia to Masuah, there is one called Foosht, where there is good anchorage ”

“ There issues continually from the ocean at the equator, as the earth revolves, a current of water considerably warmer than that which bathes our shores. This current becoming sensible first in the Gulf of Mexico, is called the Gulf Stream; it passes obliquely across the Atlantic, floating on the colder water of the ocean, which tends in a direction nearly opposite to replace it, and thus diffuses over the coasts of North America and Europe the heat which it had absorbed within the torrid zone. ”

“ The country between the Nile and the Arabian Gulf is Arabia, and at its extremity is situated Pelusium. But the whole is desert, and not passable by an army. The isthmus between Pelusium and the recess of the Arabian Gulf near Heroopolis is 1000 stadia; but, according to Poseidonius, less than 1500 stadia in extent. Besides its being sandy and without water, it abounds with reptiles, which burrow in the sand. ”

“ The resistance of the Gulf does not form the bars, though it exerts an influence. The immense volume and force of water ejected from the river receives no immediate repellent action from the Gulf, but extends into it many miles without the least signs of disturbance, as may be plainly discovered even in the most casual observation. It is known as well that the water of the river remains perfectly palatable at a very close proximity to the sea. This is a very good evidence of the superior force of the river's current. ”

“ So far are the parts lying beyond this region, which we have spoken of as an isthmus extending from the Arabian Gulf to the Erythræan Sea [Pg 223] from being inhabited, that even the parts which run up further to the north are a desert of sand. Moreover, men setting forth from the Arabian Gulf in Egypt, after having sailed round the greater part of Arabia to reach the sea which washes the shores of Persis and Sousa, have returned, after sailing as far along the coast of Arabia as the water they had on board lasted them, and no further. ”

“ PERSIAN GULF.—From the charts lately published on a large scale by the East India Company, it appears that several parts, especially the southern shores of this gulf, are fringed by coral-reefs; but as the water is very shallow, and as there are numerous sandbanks, which are difficult to distinguish on the chart from reefs, I have not coloured the upper part red. Towards the mouth, however, where the water is rather deeper, the islands of Ormuz and Larrack, appear so regularly fringed, that I have coloured them red. There are certainly no atolls in the Persian Gulf. ”

“ Then night fell in the midst of a heavy silence occasionally broken by the calls of pelicans and nocturnal birds, by the sound of surf chafing against rocks, or by the distant moan of a steamer churning the waves of the gulf with noisy blades. ”

“ Clearly, no longer can a dictator count on East-West confrontation to stymie concerted United Nations action against aggression.
A new partnership of nations has begun, and we stand today at a unique and extraordinary moment. The crisis in the Persian Gulf, as grave as it is, also offers a rare opportunity to move toward an historic period of cooperation. Out of these troubled times, our fifth objective—a new world order—can emerge: A new era—freer from the threat of terror, stronger in the pursuit of justice and more secure in the quest for peace. ”