SYRTIS
These are the Great and Little Sirte, two shifting sandbanks, greatly feared by the crew of Paul’s ship (Acts 27:17) and by ancient navigators.
The Great Sirte is nowadays called the Gulf of Sidra, and occupies the southeast of the African cleft opposite Sicily.
Little Sirte, now the Gulf of Gabes, forms the southwest of this cleft.
The Great Sirte penetrates more than 200 km into the interior of Africa. Its gulf measures 425 km between Cape Misrata and the Barka plateau (Cyrenaica); It is shallow and full of moving sand.
Little Sirte does not go that far inland. From north to south, from the Kerkenna archipelago to the island of Djerba, the gulf is 110 km long. The gusts of wind and its shallow water waves make this gulf a dangerous place for navigation.