Quicksands

The Quicksands (Greek Syrtis) were two large, treacherous sandbanks off the North African coast in the Gulf of Sidra (modern Libya), feared by ancient sailors for their shallow, shifting waters. Acts 27:17 records that when the ship carrying Paul from Caesarea to Rome was caught in the storm called Euroclydon (a violent northeastern wind), the sailors feared they would run aground on the Syrtis and took emergency measures — letting down the sea anchor and driving before the wind. The Syrtis Major and Syrtis Minor were legendary hazards in classical antiquity; Virgil, Horace, and other Roman writers used the Syrtis as a proverbial image of extreme danger. Paul's eventual shipwreck occurred at Malta rather than the Syrtis, fulfilling the angel's promise that all aboard would survive (Acts 27:24).