HISTORY AND

DEVELOPMENT
OF MAPS

By
Adams Osman
John Amoah-Nuamah
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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
OUTLINE OF LECTURE
 Definition of map
 History and Development of maps
 Sumerian/Babylonian
 Egyptian
 Roman
 Chinese
 Middle Ages
 Renaissance
 Industrial Revolution
 Information Age and Artificial Intelligent Era
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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Definition of map
Map is any concrete or abstract representation
of the features that occurs on or near the surface
of the earth or celestial bodies (Campbell, 2001)

Map is a graphic representation of geographic

setting (Robinson et al, 1995)

Map is an abstract representation of real world

features on a plane surface drawn to scale
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HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
History of maps

 The history of map is patchy

---Few ancient maps remain
---Many have been lost to time
• Broken, decompose, melted, etc.
 Ancient maps have been “reconstructed”
 Reconstructions are suspect
 Leading to two major concepts in map
development
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 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
History of maps
Sophisticated Sophisticated
maps maps
Ladder
Concept

Missing
links
Tree
Concept

Preliterate Preliterate
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 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Sumerian/Babylonian Maps
 Ancient Babylonians developed written language
in the 4th millennium BCE

 Had a well-defined measurement system

 Understood the concept of geometry

---Used the Pythagorean Theorem before Pythagoras
---Divided the circle into 360 degrees

Known Babylonian Maps are Gasur/Nuzi, Statue of Prince

Gudea, Map of Nippur 6
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Sumerian/Babylonian Maps
 The Gasur/Nuzi Map (2300 BC)
---Mountains, water course, place names
---First with cardinal directions Gulf of Aden to Indian Ocean
Ethiopia

Aad/
City of Noah
Saudi
Arabia
Sudan

Chanoach
Egypt
/Thamoud
City of Cain
Mediterranean Sea 7
 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Sumerian/Babylonian Maps
 Statue of Prince Gudea of the city Lagash (2100
BC)
First known map with a bar scale
Two major scales
Beru-Double hour-10km
Ammatu-Fifty centimeters

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 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Sumerian/Babylonian Maps
 Town Plan of Nippur (1500 BC)
---City wall, canal, park
---Appears to be to scale (archaeological evidence
unclear)
Canal

Euphrates
Canal

Wall
Temple of Enlil

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 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Sumerian/Babylonian Maps
 World Map (600 BC)
---Small-scale map of the known world
---Babylon & Euphrates
---Encircling ocean is a recurring theme

Mountain
Sea
Ur

Euphrates

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 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Egyptian Maps
 Egyptians were advanced for their time
 They left us even less cartographic evidence than
the Babylonians
---They used papyrus for most their maps
---Most maps destroyed by conquest
---Some of the maps were buried in tombs
 Annual flooding of the Nile necessitated accurate
maps to re-establish boundaries
 Maps were used for taxation purposes
 Known Egyptian maps: Maps on coffin lids, Turin
Papyrus
 HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Egyptian Maps
 Maps on coffin lids
---Dates 2000 BCE
---It illustrate water and land routes to the
“Underworld”
HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF MAPS
Egyptian Maps
 Turin Papyrus (Map of the Gold Mines)
---Oldest known topographic map & geological map
---Located between the Nile & Red Sea
---Shows settlements (Mining town)
---Geology and mine sites (Gold and stone)