Real Disclaimer: Here are some interesting historical views of Earth's shape, FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. They are not in chronological order and the descriptions are, for the most part, as we found it. The majority represent incorrect views only because these are the more entertaining views. Please do NOT infer that these represent a comprehensive collection of all views. They are not meant to imply a widely held incorrect views of the Earth! In fact, some represent minority opinions. We just found them to be interesting and hope you do as well.Disclaimer: These maps are for entertainment use only!
Do not use for navigation purposes!
Images are used with permission and most come from a map research project [1] administered by Jim Siebold. and hosted by Henry Davis Consulting. At the bottom of this page, you will find an excellent list of cartography sites, mostly derived from this project for which we are most grateful!
The Biblical View of the Earth
The
Ancient Hebrew Conception of the Universe (from Robinson, 1913, p. 13)
World view according to Homer, prior to 900 B.C.
The Homeric conception of the world represented as a flat, circular disc of land surrounded by a continuous ocean-stream remained a popular notion in the Greek world even after many philosophers and scientists had accepted the theory of the sphericity of the earth enunciated by the Pythagoreans and subjected to theoretical proof by Aristotle. In this interpretation the world is like a plateau on the top of a mountain; inside this, close to the surface of the earth, lies the House of Hades, the realm of Death, and beneath it Tartarus, the realm of Eternal Darkness. The plateau of the earth is surrounded by Oceanus, the world river, and from its periphery rises the fixed dome of the sky. The sun, the moon, and the stars rise from the waters at the edge of the dome, move in an arc above the earth, and then sink once again into the sea to complete their course beneath the Oceanus. The atmosphere above the mountain of the earth is thick with clouds and mist, but higher up is the clear Æther with its starry ceiling. [1]
World according to Anaximenes of Miletu (6 th century B.C.)
The earth was of irregular quadrangular form, in consequence of its pressing it down like the lid of a vessel. This concept consists of a rectangular world supported by compressed air. Shown here is the Mediterranean Sea and a circumfluent Ocean Sea. He maintained also that the sun and stars did not descend beneath the earth, and rise again at its other extremity, which appears to have been the prevalent doctrine in his day, but that they were carried around the earth, at a great distance, and that the light of the sun was intercepted during the night by high mountains. [1]
Psalter mappamundi, 1225 A.D. (oriented with East at the top)
The outstandingly beautiful Psalter Map, thought by some to have been a copy of the great mappa mundi at Westminster Palace, shows all the features we would expect from the later great Hugh of St Victor maps such as the Ebstorf Map, the Duchy of Cornwall Map and the Hereford Map itself. These include angels and fantastic creatures decorating the map, with the terrestrial paradise placed at the top of the map, closest to God, and Jerusalem at the very centre. The outlines of the continents have by now become rather vague, and possibly even unimportant. It is a beautifully decorated work of art and would scarcely have been used for navigational purposes. [2]
Detail of Africa, Hereford mappamundi, 1290,
(from facsimile, oriented with East at the top)The most conspicuous feature in Africa is the blue band of the Nile running parallel with the ocean. The river begins as a lake near Mount Hesperus and apparently ends as a lake, but it submerges to reappear as the Lower Nile, forming Africa's eastern boundary. Behind the blue band of the river is a grim array of grotesque figures to indicate the existence of primitive peoples. Huge ants guard golden sand. Ants dig up gold and guard it. Lions sleep with eyes open, an example to the Christian to be vigilant. Agriophani Ethiopes eat only the flesh of panthers and lions they have a king with only one eye in his forehead. The Blemyae have mouths and eyes on their breasts. (Isidore and Solinus); a wild Ethiopian race frequently invading Egypt. A race of dual sex born with many strange instincts. (Solinus; Mela; Isidore). Himantopodes; they creep with crawling legs rather than walk they try to proceed by sliding rather than by taking steps. Maritime Ethiopians who have four eyes. A mouthless race fed through a reed. Psylli test the chastity wives by exposing their new-born children to serpents (Solinus). Legitimate babies are untouched by the serpents. The burning mountain full of serpents is threateningly near. The best pictorial collection of monsters are in The Marvels of the East by M.R. James (Roxburghe Club), 1929. [1]
Cosmas Indicopleustes' Tabernacle World View, Christian Topography, 6th century
Tabernacle world view in the Christian Topography, Cosmas Indicopleustes, 6th century. Found in the writings of Saint Paul that there was a passage which could be interpreted to mean that the Tabernacle was a picture of the world, it was quite natural for the Church Fathers to envision the world as a vast tabernacle: a tent with a rectangular base, twice as long as it was broad, and with an arched roof supported by for pillars. Both prophets and apostles, says Cosmas, agree that the Tabernacle was a true copy of the universe, the express image of the visible world. The Christian Topography has been preserved in two copies: one a parchment manuscript of the 10th century belonging to the Laurentian Library in Florence, and containing the whole work except the last leaf; the other, a very fine uncial manuscript of the 8th or 9th century, belonging to the Vatican Library, and containing sketches drawn by Cosmas himself, but wanting entirely the twelfth book, which is the last. [1]
Redrawing of Cosmas Indicopleustes' world picture, 6 th century in the Christian Topography
The world of Cosmas, about 548 A.D., was patterned after a Tabernacle. For great rivers who source was in the Biblical Paradise supply the waters of all the Earth. [1]
The heavens come downward to us in four walls, which, at their lower sides, are welded to the four sides of the earth beyond ocean, each to each. The upper side of the northern wall; at the summit of heaven, curves around and over, till it unites with the upper side of the southern wall, and thus forms, in the shape of an oblong vault, the canopy of heaven, which Cosmas likens to the vaulted roof of a bathroom. Cosmas' cartography was heavily "Christianized" as evidenced by the many religious themes and references incorporated in and even dominating many of the surviving maps. Both philosophically and cartographically Cosmas' ideas were strictly dictated by his literal interpretation of the Bible. [1]
Woodcut depicting view of flat world
Commonly used woodcut which depicts a flat earth and domed sky containing the stars. Many may recognize this as the cover to Boorstin's book The Discoverers.
Portolan [nautical] Chart, Pietro Vesconte mappamundi, ca. 1320 (oriented with East at the top)
The world maps made by the European Church Fathers were a legacy taken over from the ancient world, and they were gradually expanded and adapted in accordance with the texts which they accompanied. Among the first maps in Christian Europe to reveal a new character are those by Pietro Vesconte. Some consider him as the first professional cartographer to sign and date his works regularly. He produced chiefly sea-charts, and his world maps betray his experience in that field. As can be seen in the world maps he drew around 1320 he introduced a heretofore unseen accuracy in the outline of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean and Black Sea, probably because they were taken from the portolan [nautical] charts. [1]
St. Isidore, Bishop of Seville (570-636 A.D.) T-O maps (translated) from Etymologies
St. Isomer, Bishop of Seville (570-636 A.D.) T-O map drawing
Showing the Antipodes under his typical T-O map.
St.
Sever World Map after Beatus, 1030 A.D. (from Raisz)
(oriented
with East at the top)
World Map, Henry of Mainz, ca.1110 A.D.
oriented with East at the top
The map shown in this monograph is to be found in the De imagine mundi of a certain Henry, probably the same person as Henry [Heinrich], a Canon of the Church of St. Mary in Mayence [Mainz], who in 1111 A.D. appeared before the Episcopal Court of Mainz; possibly he is the same as the Archbishop Henry, who ruled this church between 1142 and 1152. In any case, the map accompanies a work which was written about 1110 A.D.
Armillary
sphere
Atlas bearing the heavens in the form of an armillary sphere from William Cunningham, The Cosmographicall Glasse, London 1559. The verse at the bottom of the engraving is from Book I of Virgil's Aeneid, in which Atlas is referred to as a teacher of astronomy.
The
cosmos of the Zetetics.
Picture
© 1992 by Robert Schadewald
According to Charles K. Johnson, president of the International Flat Earth Research Society, "One thing we know for sure about this world...the known inhabited world is Flat, Level, a Plain World. … The Fact the Earth is Flat is not my opinion, it is a Proved Fact. Also demonstrated Sun and Moon are about 3,000 miles away are both 32 miles across. The Planets are 'tiny.' Sun and Moon do Move, earth does NOT move, whirl, spin or gyrate." Johnson continues, "You can't orbit a flat earth. The Space Shuttle is a joke--and a very ludicrous joke." [4]
Other Great Cartography Sites:
Oddens's Bookmarks (over 17,000 links to cartographic sites)
History of Cartography: Index Page for Regional Map Societies
- Map Collecting, Maps, Software
The Cartographic Creation of New England (University of Maine)- FEEFHS MAP ROOM - Background and Map Index
- Ebstorfer Weltkarte
The Catalan Atlas, 14th century. (BNF, ESP 30)- Moleiro, the best Facsimiles and Art Books.
- Antique maps of Iceland
- Australian Map Circle Home Page
Internet Cartography Links (Harvard University)
Harvard Map Collection The Columbus Letter (University of Maine) Historical Map Web Sites (University of Texas) Vinland Map and Shroud Updates "Der digitale Behaim Globus - The Behaim Globe Web Site Richard Nicholson of Chester - Antique Maps and Prints (a commercial dealer) Yale Map Collection Old World Maps Auctions (a commercial dealer) Cartography - Calendar of Events
- Map History / History of Cartography
- Area Accurate Map / The Peters Projection
- Lycos Road Map
- Heritage Map Museum (a commercial map dealer)
100,000 maps for sale (a commercial map dealer)- Agnese's Atlas
Cartographic Arts (a commercial map dealer)
Paulus Swaen (a commercial map dealer)
Map History Discussion Group
- Oddens's Bookmarks: Maps and Atlases
- Cartographica Helvetica 14, 20-24: Summary
- Historical Map Web Sites (University of Texas)
Map Collecting, Maps, Software
History of Cartography: Index Page for Regional Map SocietiesPhiladelphia Printshop (a commercial map and print dealer)
Antique maps, antique atlases (a commercial map dealer)
Mera Bharat Mahaan (maps of India)
- CGRERNetSurfing: Maps and References (University of Iowa)
- Dutch City maps from the Blaeu Atlas 1649/1652
- The RYHINER-Projectat the University Library of Berne
- Outlineof Objects and Topics in 1492:An Ongoing Voyage Exhibit
- 1492 Exhibit (Library of Congress)
- geography (Library of Congress)
- American History (Library of Congress Rare Books and Special Collections)
- GlobeRoom
- Baldwin's Old Prints and Maps (a commercial map dealer)
- Maps
- Maps and Cartography (University of California, Berkeley)
- Medieval Web Links (Fordham University)
Mercator's World HomePage (a magazine devoted to cartography)
- The Historyof Cartography Project (University of Wisconsin)
- Robert Ross Co. (a commercial map dealer)
- The Florida Sesquicentennial
- James Ford Bell Map Collection (University of Minnesota)
- Map Libraries (University of Minnesota)
- Rare Map Collection (University of Georgia)
- Map Room Home Page (Oxford University, Bodelian Library)
- Cartography Resources on the Web
- Facsimiles and Reproductions (University of California, Berkeley)
Rome: Map of the Empire
NIPPUR, Sacred City of Enlil, Supreme God of Sumer and Akkad Classical Atlas Project
(University of Chicago)
References:
1 "Map Research Project", http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/
2 "Medieval World Maps - A Comparative Study", by Margaret Johnson, Britannia, These Medieval World Maps were on display as of 1999 at a major exhibition being staged at Hereford Cathedral, http://britannia.com/history/herefords/mapmundi.html
3 "The Armillary Sphere in Poetry, Literature, and Art ", Department of History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Cambridge, http://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/starry/armillpoems.html
4 "The Flat-out Truth: Earth Orbits? Moon Landings? A Fraud! Says This Prophet" article by Robert J. Schadewald, President of the National Center for Science Education, published in Science Digest, July 1980, found at http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/fe-scidi.htm.
- Ethical Atheist
[Revision history of main eBook can be found at end of References page.]