Tom Luxsox Coins

Rare King

In 1513, Piri Re'is, an admiral in the Turkish Navy, drew a map outlining the western coast of Africa, eastern coast of South America, and the northern coast of Antarctica. This map was discovered in 1929, drawn on a piece of gazelle hide. Now, finding a map that old is remarkable indeed, but finding one so detailed became a bit of a puzzle.

Being an admiral in the navy, Piri Re'is was able to pursue his passion; cartography, but that does not explain how he was able to map the Antarctic coast with such detail. Especially since the coastline was covered in ice at that time and had been for ages! Of course, there was another advantage to being able to sail the seas for Piri Re'is, and that was that he had access to many of the maps that were drawn before his, and it has been determined that he got much of his information from comparing and confirming the details in those maps. So, one would assume that he got many of the details of the Antarctic coast from maps charted before his, but there is a problem with that assumption, that part of the Antarctic has been determined by scientific studies to have been covered by ice for roughly 6,000 years! So what advanced civilization was around 6,000 years ago with the technology to not only provide these accurate details, but make a map of some kind from which to copy?

During the Middle Ages, there were a compilation of maps called "portolani", which showed the popular sailing routes. These were of great use to the sailors of the early times. But there were also maps of less known routes and coasts. These maps were well guarded by those who possessed them. Christopher Columbus was said to own a few of these rare maps. The Library of Alexandria was also known to have accurate maps of these lesser known routes, drawn from the stories and experiences of ancient voyages passed down from generation to generation by a number of the earliest civilizations.

In 1204, some of these rare maps were also found in Constantinople, and were being used by European sailors. It became clear that voyages were made from pole to pole by ancient mariners, and that some of these ancient peoples sailed before the antarctic was covered by ice. Not only this, but they had extremely accurate instruments of navigation and could plot lines of longitude and latitude more accurately than the European sailors of the day.

In 1953, the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Bureau evaluated the Piri Re'is map and concluded that such accuracy could only be drawn by way of aerial surveillance, and as if that weren't amazing enough, the Hydrographic Bureau even found mistakes in some of the maps of the present day, and used the Piri Re'is map to make corrections! Okay, so who flew 6,000 years ago?

Dr. Charles Hapgood, author of "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings", sent a collection of ancient maps to be studied by Richard Strachan of Massachusettes Institute of Technology. Mr. Strachan concluded that a knowledge of spheroid trigonometry, the curvature of the earth, and methods of projection had to have been known by the cartographers who drew these maps.

A theory presented by Dr. Hapgood is that there was a polar shift, which was enthusiastically embraced by Albert Einstein, and therefore, this part of the Antarctic was not covered by ice as far back as previously assumed. This, theory however, does not diminish the fact that perfect lines of longitude and latitude were made not only on this map, but many other ancient maps from these extremely early periods in our history, that the mathematical knowledge used by these early sailors was astounding, that these people knew they wouldn't fall off the end of the Earth, and that they actually had ships that could survive these treacherous waters.

It is rather vain of us to think that the reason we are so advanced is because we are more intelligent than our ancestors. What knowledge we have and what technology we enjoy is nothing different than what great individuals have done through the ages, and that is to build upon the experiences and wisdom of those before them. Bravery, intellect, curiosity, and innovation existed thousands of years before us, by civilizations we may not even be aware of, and while it is good and right of us to honor their accomplishments with awe, it is better of us to build on the knowledge they have passed down to us, and use it as a positive influence for all people.

Other great and mysteriously accurate maps are: "Dulcert's Portolano", 1339, drawn with perfect latitude lines of Europe and North Africa, and longitude lines of the Mediterranean and Black Sea that are off by merely half a degree.

A map drawn by Turkish Hadji Ahmed, 1559, that shows a strip of land joining Siberia and Alaska.

A map drawn by Oronteus Fineus, who also drew the accurate coast of Antarctica, and also showed Greenland as two separate islands, which has been recently proven by a French polar expedition.

The "Zeno's chart", 1380, showing a large area including Greenland, whose precision is uncanny.

A map copied by a carving on a large rock column in China, 1137, with so many common points found on western maps that one might assume they came from a common source.

The "Hamy-King Chart", 1502, while containing a few errors that were probably a result of the compilation of several maps using different styles, it is impressive as a world map showing the whole of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.

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