Maps of Classical Antiquity

We have noted that early' preliterate peoples—as well as those of our own time, or close to our
time—have used widely difl'erent means to express themselves cartographically and that their maps
are marked by variter in objective, symbolism, scale, and materials. Similarly, the cartography of
literate peoples in antiquity shows remarkable variety in form and function. Only a small fraction of
the maps produced in earlier ages has survived, but in some instances we know of lost works
through written records. The loss of many early maps, charts, plans, and globes can be attributed to
the materials used for their construction, which often militated against their preservation. Thus,
valuable metal was melted down and parchment scraped to be used for some other purpose.
Alternatively, less durable materials quickly deteriorated, especially when taken to a diiiFerent
climate, or were destroyed by war, fire, or other means. The destruction of maps is a continuing
problem, especially.' because the information they contain may go out of date so quickly that they
are treated as ephemera (especially in the computer age} or because they include data of strategic
value and therefore cannot be disseminated.

Maps, charts, and plans—both celestial and terrestrial—as well as cosmological schema are part of
the record of eariy civilizations. For example, from Egypt we have a detailed plan of a garden on
wood surfaced with plaster, ca. 1500 B.C.; a cosmological map of Egypt carved instone, ca. 350 5.0.;
a zodiacal map also carved in stone, ca. 100 B.c.; and a map of a gold mine in Nubia from the
Ramesside Period—part of the so-called Turin papyrus—among other “cartofacts.”

In addition to the above are architectural plans of tombs in a variety of media and maps on coffin
bases. Several such maps, which predate the map of the gold mine by centuries. were collected from
Dar el Bersha in Middle Egypt. They are “passports” to the world beyond, as indicated by a text, The
Book of the Two Ways, that accompanies the example illustrated as figure 2.1.2 The “two ways” are
represented by light coloring for the day journey and dark for the nightjourney. The painter used a
bluish gray color to represent water {the Nile and a surrounding ocean), with a background of yellow
indicating the sands of the desertand, indeed, what can be taken as a continental land mass. This
highly stylized rendering may be considered a very early example of a theoretical map or model, a
cartographic form that persists in spite of the admonitions of some that geographers should address
themselves only to the real world. The Egyptians also used realistic pictorial devices, rather tan the
diagrammatic symbols shown in figure 2.], in their cartography. It should be mentioned that they
are credited with inventing geometry in response to the need for recurrent property surveys as the
flooding of the Nile erased boundary markers} While it is believed that cadastral or property maps
were made by these people. the only known survivors of this type of map are plans of various
buildings and the map of the Nubian gold mines. The production of cadastral maps of more than
local areas—of great value to administrators for taxation and other purposes—would be a logical
development. But in the absence of survivors from Egypt, we may look to other civilizations for
examples of this cartographic genre.
Some of the earliest maps from a civilization that we know about come from Mesopotamia. To
illustrate the diversity of scale and purpose in the cartography of this area, we reproduce three
examples. Although these maps are different in several particulars, they are alike in that all of
them were drawn with cuneiform characters and stylized symbols impressed or scratched on clay
tablets. a method that placed great restrictions on the cartographer because it frequently involved
using a series of straight lines to approximate curves. This makes some of these early maps
strangely reminiscent of some early computer cartography, in which the constraints of a machine
often forced the approximation of curving lines with straight line segments (see Fig. 9.12 in chap.
9). We will consider the three Mesopotamian maps in terms of scale, dealing first with that of the
largest scale, which depicts a small area in the Nippur district.‘ This fragment (Fig. 2.2) shows
canals of varying widths. A city wall with gates and a moat, houses and their openings. a park, and
so on. Features are identified by name on, this plan, which dates fromca. 1500 B.c., and the claim
is made that it is correct in scale.

A Mesopotamian map of intermediate scaleu—though of such small dimensions that it can be held
in the palm of the handgis the wells known Akkadian map found at Nuzi and dated ca. 2300 ac.
(fig. 2.3}. Sometimes described as the oldest map in the world, this map is oriented with east at
the top, and certain features can be clearly identified. These include water courses, settlements,
and mountains. The latter are shown by scalelike symbols at the top and bottom of the map, an
atypical form of representation compared to the plan format, which is used for other features and
characterizes Mesopotamian cartography in general.

The third item in this series {fig 2.4} is a world map with an Assyrocentric View and, naturally, is of
smaller scale than the other examples. It shows a round—though presumably flat—earth with
Babylon in the