 John Milton's "Paradise Lost" Book 2 lines 939-940 speaks of "a boggy Syrtis, neither sea/Nor good dry land".In 1842 the Ottomans built a fortress at "Marsat al Zaafran" ("saffron harbour") which became known as "Qasr al Zaafran" ("saffron castle"), and later as Qasr Sert.The fortress was built under sultan Abdülmecid I as part of the restoration of Ottoman control over Tripolitania after the fall of the Karamanli dynasty.