The Oldest Maps In The World

Around the world, it appears as though humans have been creating maps for most of history, if not prehistory as well. While no map will ever be truly exact, since to do so would require a one-to-one scale, many of the oldest maps in the world reflect a similar desire to illustrate one's world.

Some of the world's earliest maps had a functional aspect and were specifically used to assist people in getting from point A to point B. Other maps served a more demonstrative function, seeking to represent the vastness of the known world. But in every map, the human element can be seen through the visual choices of representation and scale. As a result, it's possible not only to see what people thought the world looked like but also how they thought about the world. Depending on what one describes as accuracy, many of the world's earliest maps are remarkably accurate considering that they weren't using the same satellite mapping technology we use today.

Ultimately, even the inclusion of the North and South American continents on maps is comparatively recent, showing that even the vastness of the world depicted on the oldest maps didn't even come close to the reality of the Earth. These are the oldest maps in the world.

Painted on silk in 1389, the Da Ming Hun Yi Tu, also known as the Amalgamated Map of the Great Ming Dynasty, is considered to be the earliest world map that includes the entire African continent. It is also considered one of the best-preserved and earliest known world maps created in the Chinese language, not to mention the largest, covering an area of almost 200 square feet.

According to "The Dimension of Civilization," edited by Lu Peng, the Da Ming Hun Yi Tu purposefully magnified the land of the Ming dynasty, but because the Cape of Good Hope is depicted accurately, it's believed that the map was influenced by the knowledge of Islamic geographers. The coloring of the map, with rivers and freshwater lakes, painted blue while oceans and saltwater lakes are green, is also consistent with the coloring used on Islamic maps around the time.

In 2002, South Africa was gifted a 1402 Korean reproduction of the map by the People's Republic of China, and the map was used to indicate that there was the possibility of a Chinese presence on the continent before European arrival. However, the depictions of Africa are most likely inspired by Persian astronomer Jamal ad-Din in 1267 or Muslim mariners in 1287. Quartz Africa reports that the repurposing of the Da Ming Hun Yi Tu to signify Sino-African relations was most likely created as an antidote to the growing anxiety about the Chinese presence in South Africa.

Between 1072 and 1076, Turkic scholar Mahmud ibn Husayn ibn Muhammed al-Kashgari created a circular world map in Kashgar, now modern-day Xinjiang in China. According to "An Anatomy of Chinese" by Perry Link, the orientation of this map deviates from the north/south up positioning — instead east is up, west is down, north is left, and south is right. While it's technically a world map, the plat is centered on Central Asia with other countries receding at the circle border, giving the impression of a fish-eye lens.

According to the Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish Studies Association, the map divides the world into seven inhabited areas, and beyond the seventh inhabitable latitude, it shows the "Land of Darkness," known as Ẓulmāt, going off into the north. Also included is a tower rising out of Alexandria, with a caption that reads, "This is the looking glass that surveys the entire world." The map features an illustration of Japan under the name Jabarqa. As a result, it's believed that al-Kashgari's map is the first world map where Japan is depicted. The next map to show Japan was drawn 400 years later, according to My Old Maps.

My Old Maps also writes that although the map includes many traditional Islamic elements, because of its inclusion as an illustration of Turkish grammar in "Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk," a dictionary of Turkic languages, it is a one of a kind document.

Ancient Greek polymath Eratosthenes was the first to propose a system of latitude and longitude and went on to incorporate them into his world map. Believed to have been drawn in 194 B.C., at the time of its creation it was considered to be the first accurate map of the world, according to "The Ancient World," edited by Frank N. Magill. Sri Lanka Archeology also writes that it's thought to be one of the first maps in which Sri Lanka is depicted.

Eratosthenes reportedly divided the world into what looks like Africa, Europe, Russia, and India, creating a Pangea-like continent in the shape of a parallelogram that's surrounded by an ocean. Eratosthenes was convinced that unfavorable tides were what kept people from sailing around the world rather than the existence of other landmasses. Eratosthenes was also the first to incorporate detailed information in his map based on the knowledge gained during the expedition of Alexander the Great.

Unfortunately, as Nautilus notes, there is no existing copy of Eratosthenes' original map, and it is thought to have been burned in the fire of the Library of Alexandria. But in the first century B.C., the Roman geographer Strabo created a map himself based on Eratosthenes'. Strabo strove for such accuracy to the original that, "He quoted at length from Eratosthenes' text, including detailed descriptions of the original rendering, so historians today have a pretty good idea of what Eratosthenes' map probably contained."

The Imago Mundi, also known as the Babylonian Map of the World, believed to have been carved between 700 and 500 B.C., is thought to be one of the oldest world maps in existence. Jerry Brotton writes in "A History of the World in Twelve Maps" that the Imago Mundi is also considered to be, "the earliest surviving object that represents the whole world in plan from a bird's-eye view."

But the ideas depicted in it are believed to be even older than that. According to "A History of Science in World Cultures" by Alok Kumar and Scott L. Montgomery, the clay tablet that depicts the Imago Mundi is based on a map from the first Babylonian period, which lasted from 1800 to 1100 B.C.

Geography Realm writes that the map placed the city of Babylon at the center surrounded by seven cities and seven islands, which are themselves surrounded by two circles that represent water. Cuneiform writing is also used to label the locations such as the salty ocean that is referred to as bitter. 

The tablet was first discovered in the late 19th century in Sippar, Iraq, and was first translated in 1889. Although the map does depict places in their approximate positions, the purpose of the map was also to illustrate the world of Babylonian mythology.

In 1962, a mammoth tusk was found in Pavlov, Czech Republic, but it wasn't an ordinary mammoth tusk. National Geographic writes that with its engravings, this mammoth tusk is believed to be one of the oldest maps ever discovered, dating back roughly 25,000 years ago.

According to "The Map and the Territory," edited by Shyam Wuppuluri and Francisco Dória, the mammoth tusk map depicts a representation of a mountain, a river, valleys, and trails around Pavlov. The Archeological Institute of America also notes that although the Dyje River and Pálava are depicted using abstract patterns and symbols, they may have had metaphorical meaning for the hunter-gatherers who lived in the region.

However, according to "Making Scenes," edited by April Nowell and Iain Davidson, much of this interpretation is speculative because the map requires a great deal of interpretation. Although it's possible to identify rivers and mountains, the authors note the map does not seem to depict a specific area, at least none that is recognizable today. This doesn't mean that it's unlikely that prehistoric people created maps. In fact, it's possible that we may not recognize their maps as maps. This identification of an abstract depiction carved on a mammoth tusk as the oldest known map remains relatively uncertain.