A T and O map or O–T or T–O map (''orbis terrarum'', orb or circle of the lands; with the letter T inside an O), also known as an Isidoran map, is a type of
early world map that represents the physical world as first described by the 7th-century scholar
Isidore of Seville in his ''De Natura Rerum'' and later his ''
Etymologiae
''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was ...
''.
[: "...the Isidoran tradition as it was known from peninsular examples, including the earliest of the ubiquitous T-O maps. This emblematic figure appears twice at the foot of folio 24v in a copy of Isidore's De Natura Rerum, now Escorial R.II.18... The relevant text comes from the concluding passage of the De Natura Rerum, Chapter XLVIII, 2... When, in the ninth century, the Escorial manuscript fell into the hands of Eulogius and was supplemented, this precise text (Etymologiae XIV, 2, 3) was placed on the page, folio 25r, facing the primitive map and was introduced another small T-O map. To this later T-O diagram, however, were added the names of Noah's sons- Shem, Japheth and Ham, for Asia, Europe and Africa, respectively-outside the circle of the globe. This apportionment is only implicit in the Bible (Genesis 9: 18-19). Josephus (d. c.100 AD) is more explicit as was Hippolytus of Rome, whose chronicle of 234 in its Latin translation disseminated the Noachid distribution in the West. Isidore's Etymologiae, however, the distribution of Noah's sons is not highlighted, but only incidentally reported with the description of the location of cities in Book IX. It seems clear, if we accept the evidence of Escorial R.II.18, that the Shem-Japheth-Ham distribution was not in the primitive Isidoran diagram. This means that Isidore's use of the T-O diagram was not informed by any overt religious content."]
Although not included in the original Isidorian maps,
[ a later manuscript added the names of Noah's sons ( Sem, Iafeth and ]Cham
Cham or CHAM may refer to:
Ethnicities and languages
*Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia
**Cham language, the language of the Cham people
***Cham script
*** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script
*Cham Albania ...
) for each of the three continents (see Biblical terminology for race).[
More detailed later maps with equivalent orientation are sometimes described as a "Beatine map" after the Beatus map because one of the earliest known representations of this sort is attributed to ]Beatus of Liébana
Saint Beatus of Liébana ( es, Beato; 730 – c. 800) was a monk, theologian, and geographer from the former Duchy of Cantabria and Kingdom of Asturias, in modern Cantabria, northern Spain, who worked and lived in the Picos de Europa mountains ...
, an 8th-century Spanish monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
, in the prologue to his '' Commentary on the Apocalypse''.
Isidore's description
''De Natura Rerum'', Chapter XLVIII, 2 (translation):
''Etymologiae'', chapter 14, ''de terra et partibus'':
''Etymologiae'', chapter 14, ''de terra et partibus'' (translation):
History and description
Although Isidore taught in the ''Etymologiae'' that the Earth was "round", his meaning was ambiguous and some writers think he referred to a disc-shaped Earth. However, other writings by Isidore make it clear that he considered the Earth to be globular. Indeed, the theory of a spherical Earth
Spherical Earth or Earth's curvature refers to the approximation of figure of the Earth as a sphere.
The earliest documented mention of the concept dates from around the 5th century BC, when it appears in the writings of Greek philosophers. ...
had always been the prevailing assumption among the learned since at least Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato, he was the founder of the Peripatetic school of ph ...
, who had divided the spherical earth into zones of climate, with a ''frigid clime'' at the poles
Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in C ...
, a deadly ''torrid clime'' near the equator, and a mild and habitable ''temperate clime'' between the two.
The T and O map represents only the one half of the spherical Earth.[Michael Livingston]
Modern Medieval Map Myths: The Flat World, Ancient Sea-Kings, and Dragons
, 2002. It was presumably considered a convenient projection of known-inhabited parts, the northern temperate half of the globe. It was then believed that no one could cross the torrid equatorial clime and reach the unknown lands on the other half of the globe. These imagined lands were called antipodes.
The ''T'' is the Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...
, the Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest ...
, and the Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
(formerly called the Tanais) dividing the three continent
A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...
s, Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
, Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and the ''O'' is the encircling ocean
The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the wo ...
. Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
was generally represented in the center of the map. Asia was typically the size of the other two continents combined. Because the Sun rose in the east, Paradise (the Garden of Eden) was generally depicted as being in Asia, and Asia was situated at the top portion of the map.
This qualitative and conceptual type of medieval cartography
Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an i ...
could yield extremely detailed maps in addition to simple representations. The earliest maps had only a few cities and the most important bodies of water noted. The four sacred rivers of the Holy Land were always present. More useful tools for the traveler were the itinerarium, which listed in order the names of towns between two points, and the periplus
A periplus (), or periplous, is a manuscript document that lists the ports and coastal landmarks, in order and with approximate intervening distances, that the captain of a vessel could expect to find along a shore. In that sense, the periplus wa ...
that did the same for harbors and landmarks along a seacoast. Later maps of this same conceptual format featured many rivers and cities of Eastern as well as Western Europe, and other features encountered during the Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...
. Decorative illustrations were also added in addition to the new geographic features. The most important cities would be represented by distinct fortifications and towers in addition to their names, and the empty spaces would be filled with mythical creatures.
Gallery
File:Beatus map.jpg, The world map from the Saint-Sever Beatus, dating to ca. AD 1050.
File:Diagrammatic T-O world map - 12th c.jpg, From a 12th c. copy of ''Etymologiae''.
File:World map intermediate between T-O and mappa mundi.jpg, Map centred on Delos according to Greek tradition, from a French manuscript of Henry of Huntingdon
Henry of Huntingdon ( la, Henricus Huntindoniensis; 1088 – AD 1157), the son of a canon in the diocese of Lincoln, was a 12th-century English historian and the author of ''Historia Anglorum'' (Medieval Latin for "History of the English"), ...
, late 13th century
File:T-O Mappa mundi.jpg, Mappa Mundi in ''La Fleur des Histoires''. 1459–1463.
File:1581 Bunting clover leaf map.jpg, Bünting Clover Leaf Map. A 1581 woodcut, Magdeburg. Jerusalem
Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
is in the center, surrounded by Europe, Asia and Africa.
File:Unknown, Mer Des Hystoires World Map, 1491, Persuasive Cartography PJModeCollection, CUL, ID 1001.01.jpg, Unknown, Mer Des Hystoires World Map, 1491. This map follows the model of the T-O map, centered on Jerusalem with East (the biblical location of Paradise) at the top.
File:Bergomensis T-O World Map 1503 Cornell CUL PJM 1003 01.jpg, On the left part of the sheet is a zonal or climatic map, communicating geographical information. On the right is a "T-O" map.By Jacobus Philippus Bergomensis.
File:Rouen,_Bibliothèque_municipale,_MS_524,_fol._74v_maps.png, T and O map accompanied by a V-in-square map
The V-in-square (or V-in-◻) map is a highly schematic type of ''mappa mundi'' (world map) in use in Europe during the Middle Ages. It is based on and usually found in conjunction with the ''Etymologiae'' of Isidore of Seville.
Description
The V ...
, from a copy of the ''Etymologiae'' (c. late 8th century).
File:Noachide map from the Abbey library of Saint Gall (oldest map naming Europe), Isidore-Codex 236.png, From the Saint Gall manuscript
File:Bodleian Libraries, Basic TO map and a schematic map.jpg, T and O map from the Flemish manuscript of Brunetto Latini
Brunetto Latini (who signed his name ''Burnectus Latinus'' in Latin and ''Burnecto Latino'' in Italian; –1294) was an Italian philosopher, scholar, notary, politician and statesman.
Life
Brunetto Latini was born in Florence in 1220 to a Tusc ...
, ''Le Livre dou Tresor,'' early 14th century.
See also
*Flat Earth
The flat-Earth model is an archaic and scientifically disproven conception of Earth's shape as a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat-Earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period (5th century BC), t ...
*Mappa Mundi
A ''mappa mundi'' (Latin ; plural = ''mappae mundi''; french: mappemonde; enm, mappemond) is any medieval European map of the world. Such maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps or less across to elaborate wall maps, th ...
*Babylonian Map of the World
The Babylonian Map of the World (or ''Imago Mundi'') is a Babylonian clay tablet
written in the Akkadian language. Dated to no earlier than the 9th century BC (with a late 8th or 7th date being more likely), it includes a brief and partially los ...
References
Further reading
* Christoph Mauntel, ‘The T-O Diagram and its Religious Connotations – a Circumstantial Case’, in Christoph Mauntel (ed.), ''Geography and Religious Knowledge in the Medieval World,'' Berlin/Boston, deGruyter, 2021, pp. 57-82.
*
*
* Carlo Zaccagnini, ‘Maps of the World’, in Giovanni B. Lanfranchi et al., ''Leggo! Studies Presented to Frederick Mario Fales on the occasion of his 65th birthday,'' Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2012, pp. 865–874.
*
* Brigitte Englisch, Ordo orbis terrae. Die Weltsicht in den Mappae mundi des frühen und hohen Mittelalters. Berlin 2002,
* {{citation, last=Williams, first=John, title=Isidore, Orosius and the Beatus Map, journal=Imago Mundi, volume=49, pages=7–32, date=1997, jstor=1151330, doi=10.1080/03085699708592856
8th-century works
Map types