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Serbonian Bog ( el, Σιρβωνίδος λίμνη, Sirbōnidos limnē, la, Sirbonis Lacus, ar, مستنقع سربون, Mustanqaʿ Sirbūn) was an area of
wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
in a
lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') a ...
lying between the eastern
Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...
, the Isthmus of Suez, Mount Casius, and the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...
in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
, with Lake Sirbonis at its center. The lagoon still exists, and is the second-largest in
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. The bog is used as a
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wit ...
in English for an inextricable situation.


Sirbonis in classical sources

As described by
Herodotus Herodotus ( ; grc, , }; BC) was an ancient Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria ( Italy). He is known f ...
,
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
and other ancient geographers and historians, the Serbonian Bog was a mix of genuine sand bars,
quicksand Quicksand is a colloid A colloid is a mixture in which one substance consisting of microscopically dispersed insoluble particles is suspended throughout another substance. Some definitions specify that the particles must be dispersed in a ...
,
asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term a ...
(according to Strabo) and pits covered with
shingle Shingle may refer to: Construction *Roof shingles or wall shingles, including: **Wood shingle ***Shake (shingle), a wooden shingle that is split from a bolt, with a more rustic appearance than a sawed shingle ***Quercus imbricaria, or shingle oak ...
, with a
channel Channel, channels, channeling, etc., may refer to: Geography * Channel (geography), in physical geography, a landform consisting of the outline (banks) of the path of a narrow body of water. Australia * Channel Country, region of outback Austral ...
running through it to the lake. This gave the wetlands the deceptive appearance of being a lake surrounded by mostly solid land. The place is also called ( el, Σιρβωνίς, Sirbōnis or el, Σίρβων, Sirbōn in Greek. The term ( el, λίμνη , limnē) in its name can mean "lake", but more usually means a "marshy lake" or
mere Mere may refer to: Places * Mere, Belgium, a village in East Flanders * Mere, Cheshire, England * Mere, Wiltshire, England People * Mere Broughton (1938–2016), New Zealand Māori language activist and unionist * Mere Smith, American televisi ...
. The Serbonian Lake is identified as
Lake Bardawil Lake Bardawil ( ar, بحيرة البردويل ''Buḥayrat al-Bardawīl'' or سبخة البردويل ''Sabḵat al-Bardawīl''), is a large, very Salinity, saline lagoon nearby the protected area of Zaranik (also known for diversities of inse ...
(''Sabkhat al Bardawil''), on the Sinai Peninsula's north coast. According to
Diodorus Siculus Diodorus Siculus, or Diodorus of Sicily ( grc-gre, Διόδωρος ;  1st century BC), was an ancient Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history ''Bibliotheca historica'', in forty books, fifteen of which su ...
, most of the army of the
King of Persia This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
was lost there after his successful taking of
Sidon Sidon ( ; he, צִידוֹן, ''Ṣīḏōn'') known locally as Sayda or Saida ( ar, صيدا ''Ṣaydā''), is the third-largest city in Lebanon. It is located in the South Governorate, of which it is the capital, on the Mediterranean coast. ...
in his attempt to restore Egypt to Persian rule.


Uses

Beginning with
Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...
, who used it in his description of
Hell In religion and folklore, hell is a location in the afterlife in which evil souls are subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture, as eternal punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hell ...
, the term ''Serbonian Bog'' is applied metaphorically in English to any situation in which one is entangled from which extrication is difficult.


Philosophy & Political Science

Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
used it in his Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790):
"The whole of the power obtained by this revolution will settle in the towns among the burghers and the monied directors who lead them. ... Here end all the deceitful dreams and visions of the equality and rights of men. In 'the Serbonian bog' of this base oligarchy they are all absorbed, sunk, and lost for ever."


Economics

Milton's description was quoted as the epigraph to the chapter "Markets with non-convex preferences and production" presenting "Quasi-equilibria in markets with non-convex preferences" by Ross Starr in the textbook ''General Competitive Analysis'' by Kenneth J. Arrow and Frank H. Hahn.


Law

In his published opinion in ''In re Dow'', 213 F. 355 (E.D.S.C. 1914), Judge Smith wrote regarding judicial interpretations of the racial prerequisite in the early U.S. naturalization statute: "All of which foregoing discussion may seem wholly out of place in a reasoned legal opinion as to the construction of a statute, except as illustrating the Serbonian bog into which a court or judge will plunge that attempts to make the words 'white persons' conform to any racial classification."
United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
Justice
Benjamin N. Cardozo Benjamin Nathan Cardozo (May 24, 1870 – July 9, 1938) was an American lawyer and jurist who served on the New York Court of Appeals from 1914 to 1932 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1932 until his dea ...
used it in a dissenting opinion, stating:
"The attempted distinction between accidental results and accidental means will plunge this branch of the law into a Serbonian Bog."
Justice Dimmick used it in his dissenting opinion in ''State v. Cameron'', 674 P.2d 650 (Wash. 1983). "In ''Crenshaw'' we began the odyssey. Today's majority opinion now leads us further into the Serbonian bog. The Cardozo statement was echoed by another Supreme Court Justice,
Sandra Day O'Connor Sandra Day O'Connor (born March 26, 1930) is an American retired attorney and politician who served as the first female associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1981 to 2006. She was both the first woman nominated and th ...
:
"We recognise that any standard requiring Courts to distinguish causes that are "accidents" from causes that are "occurrences" requires drawing a line, and we realise that "reasonable eoplemay differ widely as to the place where the line should fall"... We draw this line today only because the language of Article 17 and 18 requires it, and not because of any desire to plunge into the "Serbonian Bog" that accompanies attempts to distinguish between causes that are accidents and injuries that are accidents... Until Article 17 of the Warsaw Convention is changed by the signatories, it cannot be stretched to impose carrier liability for injuries that are not caused by accidents."
United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
Judge Joseph E. Irenas stated in another opinion:
Tipping the scales at nearly 157 pages, the complaint hardly comports with the principles of brevity......In addition to being overly long, the complaint is inconsistent and confusing, causing this Court to expend much valuable time in an effort to discern its meaning......There is a strong argument that portions of the complaint fail to comply with the strictures of Fed. R. Civ. and might afford this Court a sufficient basis for dismissal. However, a dismissal without prejudice under Fed. R. Civ. P. 8(a) would only lead to a new filing and needlessly increase the amount of time and money already expended. Thus, the Court will plunge into the complaint's "Serbonian Bog" and deal with the pending Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motions on the merits.
Justice Breyer Stephen Gerald Breyer ( ; born August 15, 1938) is a retired American lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1994 until his retirement in 2022. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton, and repl ...
used it in a dissenting opinion in ''Texas v. Cobb'', 532 U.S. 162, 186 (2001). Judge
William H. Pauley III William Henry Pauley III (August 14, 1952 – July 6, 2021) was a United States federal judge, United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was noted for issuing the opinion in ''ACLU ...
(2004): "This court declines the City's invitation to wander into a Serbonian bog before a state court has had the opportunity to illuminate the path."James Davis
"Attention Cyclists!"
/ref>


Notes


References

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