One hundred years later the hoverboard, which is one of the biggest attractions for teenagers will be considered as an antique item in museums.
The IOS, Android, and other modern inventions will be nothing but just a part of history books. With time everything gets transformed.
The same happened with ancient maps. Once they were utilized as a guide in different ventures but now when you look at them, they are nothing but confusing scripts and drawings.
Let’s go back to the eleventh century and discover some interesting information regarding ancient maps.
Ancient Eyes for Ancient maps
To understand the language of the ancient maps, you not only need the old papers but the old eyes too. Eyes of the people who lived during those ancient times and experienced everything. Old maps were not only focused on geography.
They also were masterpieces of art. They depict the talent and enthusiasm of the people. The Separation of land and water through beautiful colors.
Identification of different spots and the whole structure of ancient maps force you to embark on the journey of discovering different places.
Enriched Civilizations
Comparing the maps of today with ancient maps may look confusing. But ancient maps are the depiction of high levels of art and enriched civilizations.
Representation of countries and continents with different shapes and markings made it easier for people to understand the geographical boundaries.
Large ancient maps show the curiosity of people to learn about and discover the land.
If people from that time can discover the world through such complicated maps, then there is no excuse for us to sit back at home.
Inheritance of maps
The concept of maps has not only been passed on from one generation to another. But also from one civilization to another. The Arabs got the concept of maps from the ancient Greeks. Their understanding of geography was a replica of the Greeks.
Division of world into seven climates. The hotter regions on one and the colder on the other. Division of winds. All these factors got transferred to Arab geography from ancient Greeks.
This adoption of concepts is an example of how knowledge transfers and benefits people of different generations.
Ancient maps are implicit
One characteristic, all old maps shared is their implicit nature. They do not narrate details. But give a clue through symbols. To understand those symbols, you must have an understanding of the logic used behind them.
Despite being implicit, the old maps were enough for the people of that time to understand and highlight the difference in the geography of different parts of the world.
Ancient maps and mirrors
The relation of ancient maps with mirrors goes back to the times of Adam. According to historians, just like any other head of the family, he was curious to know about the activities of his offspring living in different areas of the world.
God blessed Adam with a mirror, through which he can see anywhere in the world. This mirror gave Adam the ability to watch his children live and spread all over the globe.
With time, the mirror got broken into pieces and at last, got vanished. But it leaves behind the concept of maps. Then people tried to give a demonstration of the whole world on paper.
But everyone ended up giving their version of this world. All the ancient maps are the representation of the thoughts of the person who created them, not what the actual world looks like.
