 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (August 2012) |
31°30′N 25°11′E / 31.500°N 25.183°E Halfaya Pass (Arabic: ممر حلفيا, romanized: Mamarr Ḥalfayā Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [ma.marr ħal.fæyaː] ) is in northwest Egypt, 11.5 kilometres east of the border with Libya and 7.5 kilometres south of the other, more major pass in the ridge today. A 600 feet (180 m) high, narrow escarpment extends south then southeastwards for a total of 55 kilometres (34 mi) from a short distance east of the border. It hems in east-facing small harbour town of as-Salum, continuing as an east-facing sea cliff further north. Land to the east is lower than that to the west and the east side has steep slopes.
The pass is centred 1.6 miles (2.6 km) inland from the closest part of the shore. It makes for a subtle wind gap in the escarpment for the east-west land route. It made for the southern Mediterranean coastal road useful to Mediterranean civilizations until the pass at as-Salum was enlarged after World War II.
Among veterans of Allied forces from 15 June 1941 and thereafter it was nicknamed Hellfire Pass.
The escarpment is known as Akabah el-Kebir "great ascent". To El-Edrisi it was known as ʿAqaba as-Sallūm "graded ascent", whence the modern name of the gulf/bay and the town of Salum. To ancient Rome it was known as Catabathmus Magnus, in the peak of whose empire it divorced Aegyptus from Marmarica. The range was seen as a demarcator of Africa and Asia in some Hellenistic geography.[citation needed]