Maps

When most of us think of maps, we think of the wall maps of the world that adorned our classrooms when we were children or the street maps that gas stations sell to drivers. But, the art of map-making, or cartography, is an ancient art. The earliest known map was drawn in Babylonia and dates from about 2300 B.C., but our ancestors were probably drawing maps before they invented the written word. Antique maps were often embellished with artwork depicting the worldview of the time, which was mostly of a religious nature.

Why did people start making maps? Explorers like Magellan and Columbus had maps made to document the new lands they had discovered. Mankind, in general, has a need to picture the places they’ve been and the lands they live in. We seem to need to know where our little plots of ground, our home countries, fit into the world as a whole. Then, of course, we need to know our boundaries, what expanse of land belongs to what country. It gives us, as a people, a sense of identity to be able to point to a spot on the map and say, “That’s where I live. That’s where I belong.”

Historical maps help us to understand how governments, the military or the navigators of the day, viewed their world. Through old maps, we are able to reconstruct the past. These maps provide snapshots of the past, showing landscapes and features that may no longer exist. They also reflect the priorities, sensibilities, fears and the amount of knowledge that the mapmaker had at the time the map was made.

The word for a collection of maps, “atlas”, was first introduced by the Dutch cartographer, Geradus Mercator (1512-1594), who created a historical atlas of the world. Whole-world maps first began appearing in the early 16th century following the voyages of Columbus and other explorers to the New World.
The oldest globe presently known to exist was made by Martin Behaim and faithfully reflects the geographical knowledge of the time before Columbus’ first voyage. It was drawn on parchment and stretched over a sphere 541 centimeters round (about 213”).

In former times, maps were drawn to show trade routes or military strategies. Today, for most of us, maps are simply tools to help us navigate our world. Whether we are discovering or rediscovering the U.S.A. or traveling to other lands, we will always rely on street maps, travel maps and travel guides to show us the way.