Two mysterious legends of the origin of the name of the Red Sea
Almost every place name has a history. It has long been no secret why the Red Sea was called the Red Sea. It is the saltiest, the youngest of its kind, not a single river flows into it, and it has no equal in beauty and diversity of the underwater world. At first, the Red Sea could be called Eritrean (Eritrea is a state on the shores of the Red Sea from the East of Africa), and in the 16th century it was called Suez.
This sea is recognized as the cleanest. Rivers do not flow into it, but they are the ones that carry sand or other particles polluting the water. This is also one of the reasons why the water is the saltiest here. Secondly, high temperatures of water and air promote intensive evaporation of water, which further increases the concentration of salts.
Not surprisingly, there are many stories and legends about this sea. We present to your attention 2 of the most beautiful of them.
Legend 1. Love is red.
One young man proved that his love is bright red, like rose petals, and huge, like the sea. This happened a very long time ago, so the names of the heroes of the story, unfortunately, have not reached the present day. Then a young guy lived on the coast of the sea, he could not boast of beauty and strength. But he was gifted with a big kind heart and a sharp mind. The guy was from a poor family, worked from morning to evening, tirelessly. It so happened that at one of the holidays, where all the inhabitants of the city gathered, he saw a beautiful girl, from whom he could not take his eyes off. Subsequently, the young man found out that she was the daughter of one of the most respected people in the city. And the saddest thing is that preparations were underway for the wedding, which was to take place in a few weeks. The lover tried to throw the girl out of his head and heart, but he could not help himself. Every minute, her waist in a red cape emerged in front of him, eyes blue as the sky, looked into the very soul. Her hair the color of sand, wavy like dunes at the bottom of the sea, made it difficult to breathe. Realizing that the chances of winning the girl’s heart are very small, the guy decided on a desperate step. He began to ponder the seemingly almost unrealistic plan to conquer a woman’s heart. The girl went out to the balcony of her house every morning to admire the sunrise, which illuminated the clear water with bright rays. The sight that she saw one morning struck a young soul. The entire surface of the sea that was in the field of view turned from transparent blue to bright red. To find out what happened, the girl went down to the sea. On the shore I saw a young man in a boat who did not take his eyes off her. What happened to the water, why did its color change? It turns out that the entire surface was strewn with scarlet rose petals. The girl, fascinated by what she saw, without hesitation got into the boat, the bottom of which was also covered with flower petals, only white, and looked at the young man in surprise. The words that the guy said during the boat trip have forever remained in the girl’s heart. She fell in love with him at first sight and realized that she would not be happy without him. So no one else saw them. And rose petals swayed on the sea waves for a long time, which is why the locals called the sea Red.
Legend 2. The peppery sea.
In ancient times, a merchant lived in the city on the shore of a warm reservoir. He made his fortune by trading in spices, especially red pepper. Often a person left his home, spending time on the ship because of his profession. The merchant lived half his life, but never started a family. They did not like him in the city for his greed and anger. The whole house was stuffed with gold, jewelry and bags of spices. The merchant did not participate in the life of the city, did not help the poor, and was cruel to the defenseless. The people decided to expel him by a general meeting. They allowed him to take all the goods and sail to other shores. Out of greed, the merchant so loaded his ship that, not having time to hide behind the horizon, the ship sank. A few hours later the sea turned scarlet from a huge amount of pepper scattered.
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