Gerrha (Arabic al-Jar?a), was an ancient city of Arabia, on the west side of the Persian Gulf.
It was described by Strabo (Bk. xvi.) as inhabited by Chaldean exiles from Babylon, who built theil houses of salt and repaired them by the application of salt water. Pliny (lust. Nat. vi. 32) says it was 5 miles in circumference with towers built of square blocks of salt.
Various identifications of the site have been attempted, JPB D?Anville choosing El Katif, C Niebuhr preferring Kuwet and C Forster suggesting the ruins at the head of the bay behind the islands of Bahrein.
This entry was originally from the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
