Posted on 06/06/2004 5:45:19 PM PDT by blam
Ancient map shows egg-shaped England
Vanessa Thorpe, arts and media correspondent
Sunday June 6, 2004
The Observer
It is known as a catalogue of 'marvel for the eyes' and tomorrow the public will be able to judge for themselves at last. A previously unknown medieval Arabic map with the earliest representation of an identified 'England' - a tiny, egg-shaped lump - is to go on public display in Oxford. The unique and, until now, unseen map is part of a manuscript called the Book of Curiosities of the Sciences and Marvels, which was originally put together, probably in the Nile Delta region, at some point before AD1050 and was then copied around 150 years later in Egypt. It reflects the achievements of the classical age of Islamic civilisation and gives an unrivalled picture of the relationship between east and west in that period.
The exhibition at the Bodleian Library will include most of the illustrated folios of the Book, or Kitab Ghara'ib al-funun wa-mulah al-'uyun, to give it its Arab title, including a key page which shows England as a small, oval island labelled in Arabic as Inghiltirah or 'Angle-terre'. This, researchers believe, is the earliest depiction of the British Isles in connection with that name.
The unbound manuscript is on display for the first time following its purchase by the library two years ago with grants made to them by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the National Art Collections Fund. The funds which helped to secure the Book were also provided by Oxford Colleges, the Friends of the Bodleian Library, individual donations and the Saudi Arabian and American company Aramco.
According to Jeremy Johns of Wolfson College, one of two scholars in charge of the exhibition, the manuscript itself is a copy of an anonymous work compiled in the first half of the 11th century, probably by a citizen of Tinnis in the Nile Delta. He believes the treatise is 'extraordinarily important for the history of science'.
Lesley Forbes, Keeper of Oriental Collections at the Library, said the exhibition will also reveal new evidence for the paths of international trade and commerce in the 11th century, particularly of the movements of Islamic merchants trading in the eastern Mediterranean. But the main appeal will be its astonishing array of medieval maps.
'Apocalypse and pilgrimage maps are shown alongside diagrammatic maps which were produced at the same time,' said Forbes. 'For example, the Rectangular World Map in the Book of Curiosities is of a type previously completely unknown, and, we believe, unique to this manuscript. There is a rare illustrated discourse on comets and a unique illustrated guide to stars used in navigation and weather prediction.'
The Heritage Lottery Fund is supporting a two-year project to understand and interpret the significance of the Book of Curiosities and to increase public access to its pages. The work will include an edition of the Arabic text and an English translation.
GGG ping.
Oh, it's the Guardian. Nevermind.
Too bad it doesn't seem to have progressed much beyond that time. (1050 AD)
Well, I guess I asked for that one. LOLROFRFI!
Map making was at its low point in AD 1000. It began to make a comeback with the portolans the merchants made. The Turkish Navy was good with maps until it took on Malta, and we hope to see some of the Chinese maps from their heyday. Of course our usual request to see images applies.
Is this a yoke?
Don't be silly, they didn't have photography in those days.
Well I guess I had that coming too.
Fried, Scrambled, Poached or as a burrito-like Omlet?
Gawd, I love FReeper wit!
Multicultural revisionism. So what? Who cares if the Arabs depicted Britain as an island in the 12th century? The Emperor Claudius conquered Britain way back in 42 BC and annexed into the Roman Empire even. The Romans (dead white Europeans, and therefore no longer a part of the the progress of Western civilization -- they seemingly only represent slavery, death, and oppression in the new PC world of history) were clearly aware of Britain's island status. Indeed they were aware of the island status of Ireland too. It was Agricola who said Ireland could be conquered with only one legion. I'm sure that Britain as an island appeared on numerous Roman maps -- it's just that none of them survived (that we know of).
Correction -- that should be 43 AD, not BC.
;O)
And still unseen. Guess I'll have to toddle over to merry old England for a look-see.
No one is slighting Italian contributions to science in this exhibition, even if it gets mentioned MMMCDXII times.
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