- The Seven Seas is a phrase that has been in use for over 4,000 years, with each civilisation interpreting the seven seas differently. Today the idiom ‘to sail the seven seas’ means to sail all the seas and oceans of the world.
- It was first mentioned in c.2,300 BCE by the Sumer Civilisation and continued to be used in Ancient India and by the Ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Arabs, the Medieval European States and is still in use today.
Sumer Civilisation (c.4,500-c.1900 BCE)
- The first mention of the phrase ‘Seven Seas’ dates back to 2,300 BCE. The Sumer Civilisation in Mesopotamia mentions the Seven Seas in Hymn 8 of the Enheduanna dedicated to the Goddess Inhanna, They linked the seven classical planets in astronomy to the seven seas they knew.
Ancient Greece
- Today, we know the expression from the Ancient Greeks.
- The Seven Seas were: the Aegean, the Adriatic, the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the Caspian Sea and the Persian Sea (Persian Gulf).
Ancient Rome
- The Seven Seas was known to the Romans as ‘Septem Maria’.
- Pliny the Elder mentioned Septem Maria as the lagoons where the River Po discharged into the Adriatic Sea. (Historia Naturalis Chap. 16.)
Arabian Culture
- The Seven Seas were, the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, Strait of Malacca, Singapore Strait and the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.
Medieval Period
- The Seven Seas were, the North, Baltic, Atlantic, Mediterranean, Black, Red and Arabian Seas.
After 1492 CE
- The Seven Seas were, the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific, Mediterranean, Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Today
- The Seven Seas are, the N. Atlantic, S. Atlantic, N. Pacific, S. Pacific, Arctic Sea, Southern Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
The Seven Seas of the Lagoons in the River Po, Italy