World’s first atlas sheds light on cartography
▻http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/worlds-first-atlas-sheds-light-on-cartography-128162
The facsimile of Klaudios Ptolemaios’ “Manual of Geography,” which was translated with the order of Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror and is one of the rarest artifacts at the Topkapı Palace, was introduced on March 1 in a press conference at Istanbul Technical University (ITU).
Showing the map during the conference, ITU Rector Professor Mehmet Karaca said Ptolemaios was a significant scientist in his era.
ITU academic Celal Şengör said the Ptolemaios Atlas, which was produced in the 2nd century, got lost in the 7th century.
He said Europe forgot about the atlas after the 7th century “but it survived in the Islamic world and Muslim geographers developed it. It is very interesting that they fixed its mistakes. It was forgotten, too, after the Islamic geography collapsed in the 11th century.”
Şengör said that the atlas was found again in the 13th century.