As Sallum

History

Local people are mentioned in some Roman accounts of Catabathmus Maior/Magnus (referring to the local, obstructive ridge to east–west land trade, ʿAqaba as-Sallūm or more commonly today ʿAqaba al-Kabīr, literally 'the great pass.' It may have been Plynos Limen and Tetrapyrgia mentioned in less context-clear early courses. Sallum was the origin for many eastward migrations to Egypt Eyalet and Bilad al-Sham. During the 19th century, one family migrated first to Tafilah in southern Jordan, and thence to the region of Jaffa. They settled in ancient village of Mulabbis, and lived there for several generations until the establishment of Petah Tikva, the first Zionist colony, in 1878. Sallum was part of the Eyalet then Vilayet of Tripolitania, 1551–1911, the year before its fall mainly to Italy. That year, during the Italo-Turkish War, an Anglo-Egyptian force took it over, relieving its garrison, to prevent it from falling into Italian hands. When the border between Italian Libya and Egypt was settled by treaty in 1925, Sallum was placed on the Egyptian side. During the Senussi Campaign of World War I, Sallum was captured by the Senussi in November 1915 with Ottoman and German assistance. It was re-taken by the British in March 1916. In December 1941, during Operation Crusader in World War II (and the two other operations affecting nearby Halfaya Pass), Sallum was the location of fighting between the British Empire with allied Commonwealth forces against German with Italian forces; the latter were retreating from gains they had made deeper into Egypt. The Halfaya Sollum War Cemetery was established by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission to inter over 2,000 soldiers who died in the region. On July 21, 1977, Libya attacked Sallum, initiating the first clash in the…