The Piri Reis Map

Piri Reis, an Ottoman cartographer renowned for his comprehensive world map, merged over two centuries of geographic knowledge into a single, elaborate chart in the early 16th century.

Piri Reis was a Turkish historian and cartographer who lived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries

Piri Reis, whose real name was Hajji Ahmed Muheddin Piri, joined the world of seafaring at the tender age of twelve. Under the command of his uncle Kamal, who led a crew of pirates, Piri Reis learned the arts of navigation and piloting—skills that would later underpin his cartographic legacy. For 14 years, Piri Reis honed his skills through battles and plundering missions aboard ships that roamed and terrorized the Mediterranean Sea, targeting Christian trading vessels.

As a young man, Piri Reis gained extensive seafaring experience as a pirate under the tutelage of his uncle Kamal

Piri Reis's early years were marked by the tutelage of his uncle, a seasoned pirate from whom Piri Reis accrued substantial knowledge in navigation and ship management, experience that would prove invaluable to his later career in the imperial navy and his passion for map-making.

In 1495, Piri Reis and his uncle were officially inducted into the Ottoman imperial navy, allowing Piri Reis to pursue his passion for cartography

After a life in piracy, Piri Reis and his uncle were absorbed into the Ottoman Navy in 1495. His service transitioned into a focus on cartography particularly upon the death of his uncle in 1510.

Over a three-year period, Piri Reis compiled a highly detailed world map that combined over 200 different charts from ancient and medieval sources

Dedicating three years to the project, Piri Reis undertook the herculean task of compiling his world map. He drew upon over 200 charts, encompassing a spectrum of geographic knowledge spanning two millennia, to create an incredibly detailed and complex rendering of the known world.

Piri Reis had to reconcile the often conflicting geographical details from h ...

The Piri Reis map has sparked intrigue and debate regarding its depiction of the South American coastline and a region resembling Antarctica, given that it predates the official discovery of the latter.

The Piri Reis map displayed an extraordinarily accurate representation of the South American coastline, even though European explorers had only recently discovered the continent

Created in 1513 by Ottoman cartographer Piri Reis, the map impressively depicted the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, North and South America at a time when Europeans had just discovered South America in 1492. Piri Reis claimed to use various sources for his map, including charts by an explorer known as "Kulunbu," the Turkish name for Christopher Columbus.

Piri Reis claimed to have used charts created by the explorer known as "Kulunbu" (the Turkish name for Christopher Columbus) as one of his sources

Piri Reis included a description of Columbus's voyages and the assertion that he used charts from Columbus to inform his own. These charts were supposedly acquired by Piri’s uncle, who captured a Spaniard that had sailed with Columbus.

The map also included depictions of geographic features that had not yet been discovered, such as mountain ranges and rivers

The map also featured details such as mountain ranges, rivers, and representations of people and exotic animals in parts of the world that Europeans had not yet explored. Moreover, some scholars like Charles Hapgood were astonished to find depictions similar to the Andes mountain range present on the map despite these features not having been discovered by Europeans at the time.

A former US Navy captain, Arlington Mallory, noticed that the southern portion of the Piri Reis map resembled the coastline of Antarctica, which was not officially "discovered" until the 19th century

Captain Arlington Mallory scrutinized the map's southern portion, which appeared surprisingly akin to the coastline of Antarctica—a region officially discovered much later in the 19th century.

Mallory and other scholars argued that this suggested the map was based on a much more ancient source that had accurately mapped a still-temperate Antarctica

Mallory and others suggested that because the map showed a detailed and seemingly accurate depiction of a warm Antarctica, the map must have been based on a very ancient source. This improbability is supported by geological and astronomical consensus that Antarctica has been covered in ice for millions of years.

Piri Reis described the mapped southern region as hot, which contradicts modern knowledge that the continent is icy. Additionally, Piri Reis mentioned that Portuguese explorers refused to land in the region because of its serpentine infestation, which again con ...

Speculation abounds regarding the origins of the Piri Reis map, particularly theories surrounding the involvement of an ancient civilization such as Atlantis, which some believe created an antecedent to the map due to their advanced navigational capabilities.

Historian Charles Hapgood proposed that the Piri Reis map was based on the work of an advanced ancient civilization that had the capability to accurately chart Antarctica before it became covered in ice

Charles Hapgood, in his book "Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings," put forth a startling hypothesis. He suggested that the Piri Reis map was created with information from an earlier source that depicted Antarctica without ice, asserting that the source maps must have originated around 8,000 BCE, before ice started covering the continent. Hapgood also laid out the idea that this ancient civilization had advanced astronomical and navigational knowledge that allowed them to not only reach but accurately chart Antarctica.

Hapgood believed this ancient society, which he speculated could have been Atlantis, must have possessed advanced astronomical and navigational knowledge

Hapgood theorized that the advanced techniques used to create the map implied the existence of an ancient society with superior tools for navigation. He believed this civilization could reach and map remote areas of the globe with precision long before the era of Columbus.

To support this theory, Hapgood pointed to the mathematical precision of the grid system evident on the Piri Reis map, which he claimed was more advanced than what should have been possible at the time

Further support for Hapgood's theory came from his creation of a grid using several compass roses included by Piri Reis on the map. This, he believed, affirmed the map's high precision and accuracy, which he deemed too advanced for the time it was supposedly made.

Other scholars, like Rand and Rose Philemaths, built on Hapgood's ideas, arguing that Antarctica was in fact the lost continent of Atlantis

The Philemaths claimed that the geological features of Antarctica matched descriptions of Atlantis, and that it was displaced southward by continental drift and a shifting of the Earth's poles

Building on Hapgood’s theories, Rand an ...