The Mediterraneo, the sea of seas, was named by the Greeks according to its many properties: Hals is salt, that is, sea as matter; Pelagos is the open sea, that is, the sea as an image; Pontos is sea as an open space and also a bond or a communication route; Thalassa is a general notion and is related to the sea as an experience; Kolpos means bosom or shelter and refers to a closed maritime space, nestled in gulfs or bays.
The name Mediterranean means "in the middle of the earth" as it was an important route for merchant and travellers of ancient times. It was an ideal stage for the development of human civilization - a crossroads of peoples, cultures, languages, religions - that made it the beating heart of the ancient world’s societies (e.g. Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Phoenician, Macedonian, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Roman, to mention but a few).
