An ancient chart, known as the Piri Reis map, not only challenges our understanding of historical cartography and navigation but also the chronology of global exploration.
What Is the Piri Reis Map?
In 1929, German theologian Gustav Deissman was cataloging maps belonging to Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II at the Topkapi Palace Museum in Turkey when he found something strange. He discovered a portion of an early 16th-century Turkish world map printed on gazelle skin parchment.
The map was dated 1513 and was compiled by Captain Piri ibn Hajji Mohammed Reis, a famous Ottoman cartographer and navigator. The Piri Reis map is a portolan chart that was used for navigation during the Middle Ages. Also called a compass chart, harbor-finding chart, or rhumb chart, the portolan map specifically lays the courses from one harbor to another with the help of radiating rhumb lines.
Born in 1465 in the Gallipoli peninsula in modern-day Turkey, Piri Reis began his maritime journey under the authority of his uncle Kemal Reis. He fought a lot of naval battles and later became a naval commander who led the Ottoman fleet in fighting the Portuguese in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea. After the death of his uncle, Piri Reis focused on his passion for cartography, although he remained active in the Ottoman Navy.
According to a handwritten note found with the map, Piri Reis compiled it using several other maps and charts as major sources. These include Ptolemaic maps, Portuguese maps, an Arabic map, and a map drawn by Christopher Columbus.
Remarkable Features of the Piri Reis Map
For a long time, the map has been the focus of controversy since it portrays things no one should have known about at the time. The 34 inches by 25 inches (87 centimeters by 63 centimeters) map discovered in 1929 is not complete but only represents one-third of the original.
The complete map likely showed the entire world as known in the early 16th century. The remaining portions show Europe, Africa, the Atlantic, and the Americas. The large sections which were missing would likely have depicted Asia and more.
Much of the Atlantic coast of Africa and South America appears to be accurate, but other areas like the Caribbean and parts of North America were either distorted or inaccurately depicted. Meanwhile, several islands in the Caribbean region were deleted, and a mythical one called Antilia was included.
The most intriguing element of the Piri Reis map is the mysterious southern landmass, which has mystified geographers and cartographers for almost a century. Near the southern tip of South America, the continent bends towards the east and takes up the bottom half of the map.
This section of the map was seen as an error for many years, but others believe that this curious delineation is actually Antarctica. However, the "Antarctic" region is shown without its ice cover which has not been the case for over 34 million years.
Most likely, it is not actually Antarctica that is depicted on the Piri Reis map. It was assumed to be a huge land mass that existed on each of the four sections of the Earth to balance it out.
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