Melach Razizah, Melach Rapha and Salt Wharf

A few years ago, Talmud Studies professor Pinchas Roth published a paper on an interesting Medeival Hebrew "debate" poem found in a Vatican manuscript already known to contain pre-Expulsion Anglo-Jewish works. The poem was signed by someone named Menachem from "מלח רפפא" (Melach RPPA or Rapha), which Roth suggested to be identified with Salt Wharf in England, given the phonetic similarity between Rapha and Wharf, and the element (pun unintended) 'Salt' which is מלח (Melach) in Hebrew.

I had a speculative thought on Shabbat regarding the decision to translate the name of Salt Wharf into Medieval Anglo-Hebrew as opposed to transliterating the name (as was the case in most other place names in Medieval Jewish texts, and especially those known from Anglo Jewish sources [e.g., London was called לונדרש from the Anglo-Norman Londres]). As we know, while many European town- and city-names were simply transliterated into Hebrew, country names were often given names known from older Jewish sources. The two best-known examples are צרפת (Tzarfat), which is France, but originally referred to a place in the Israel-Sidon border region, and ספרד (Sepharad), which is Spain, but originally referred to some distant place who location is disputed (though some think it was actually in the Iberian peninsula). Another example is כנען (Canaan), which became a name for the Slavic region. Thus, older, traditional and more familiar names were transplanted from Jewish sources and "relocated" in Europe.

It occurred to me that perhaps, for some unknown reason, the Jews of medieval Salt Wharf may have decided to Hebraize the town's name by combining translation, transliteration and transplantation: Taking an older toponym known from Antique Jewish sources and combining it with a partial transliteration and translation of Salt Wharf. What may have been transplanted? The "Baraita de-Techumin" (ברייתא דתחומין) which lists the toponyms that form the boundaries of the Land of Israel mentions in some versions (including the famous Rehov Inscription) a site called מלח רזיזה (Melach Razizah). It's possible that the Anglo Jews had before them a version of this baraita (whether in the Yerushalmi or some other text) that included Melach Razizah and perhaps the name caught their eye and they chose to construct the Hebraized name of Salt Wharf based on the form of Melach Razizah (as opposed to possibilities such as שלטבורפא, שלטרפפא, רפפא מלח [Rapha Melach means Rapha of Salt, which is a better translation/partial transliteration of Salt Wharf]).