Mapmakers once referred to the southern Atlantic Ocean as the Ethiopian Ocean

“The Atlantic Ocean was known as Ethiopian Ocean until the 19th century,” reads text on a graphic posted on Instagram last month.

It includes what looks like a part of an old map showing the western coastline of Africa, the ocean labelled “Aethiopian Ocean.”

The graphic’s caption adds: “Today’s southern half of the Atlantic Ocean in classical geographical works was known as Aethiopian or Ethiopian Sea or Ocean. The name remained in maps from ancient times until 19th century.” But a comment on the post points out: “Totally great, except Ethiopia is on the other side of the continent!”

And Facebook’s fact-checking system (Instagram belongs to Facebook) has flagged the post as possibly false.

Ethiopia is a country in the Horn of Africa, on the eastern side of the continent. Is it true that the Atlantic Ocean, on Africa’s west coast, was once called the Ethiopian Ocean?

An ancient name

Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in the world. Its name derives from the ancient Greek “Aethiopia”, which Europeans used to describe various parts of Africa. It is mentioned several times in both the Iliad and the Odyssey, ancient sagas said to be written by Homer more than 2,000 years ago.