cock-a-doodle-doo!
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.
Didn't he also develop a soft drink that never really took off until centuries later - under a more appealing name?
And that from a person who couldn't conquer Wales with any number of legions.
Ragheads begging at the gates, where is Wales and other appendages of England.
I can see this is going to be a classic thread.
LOL!!
cock-a-doodle-doo!
Rather than a lifetime of eggs, this athletic bird laid one damn big one...and had the commercial sense to sell the advert rights.
Reminds me somehow of madonna ciccone's latest album.
What is the big deal here? Maps of England had been around for 2000 years before this.
You said "cock."
Heh. Heheh.
Cock
You are right of course. This is so embarrassing I cannot believe the media dunces are making a deal of this.
Ouch. I bet nobody mentioned that to him at parties.
I'll be damned.
He really was the Eggman.
Heheheh! Ya got me on that one! Good one.
How you doing around the Mom thing? Freemail me if you like; I've been through a whole lot of this lately. I worry for you.
It wasn't something that was mentioned in front of him. But the sudden silence at parties, when he entered, spoke volumes. A man with a small legion knows when the rumor has gotten around.
The map is more than the conquest. Celts conquered Britain in 500 BCE and they knew too that it was island, but they did not have civilization to produce maps.
One of the reasons I enjoy Freerepublic so much is the true comedy that will show up on a daily basis...
would natives be called yokels
LOL. That would make a great Far Side cartoon.
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