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Muhiddin Piri ( 1470 – 1553), better known as Piri Reis (), was an Ottoman
cartographer Cartography (; from , '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 imagined reality) can ...
, admiral,
navigator A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation.Grierson, MikeAviation History—Demise of the Flight Navigator FrancoFlyers.org website, October 14, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2014. The navigator's prim ...
, corsair, and
geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...
. He is primarily known today for his cartographic works, including his 1513 world map and the '' Kitab-ı Bahriye'' (''Book of the Sea''), a book with detailed information on early navigational techniques as well as relatively accurate charts for their time, describing the
port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...
s and cities of the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
. He was likely born around 1470 in
Gelibolu Gelibolu is a town in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara Region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey. It is located on the southern shore of the Gallipoli, peninsula named after it on the Dardanelles strait, away from Lapsek ...
—a major Ottoman naval base—and sailed from an early age with his uncle, Kemal Reis. They fought as corsairs in the Western Mediterranean until they were brought into the
Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...
. Piri Reis fought alongside Kemal Reis in the Ottoman–Venetian wars. After his uncle died, Piri Reis returned to Gelibolu in 1511 to begin his cartographic works. He created the 1513 world map during this period and likely began drafting the charts and notes that would form the basis of the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye''. By 1516, he returned to the navy and took part in the Ottoman conquest of Egypt. After their victory, he presented the 1513 world map to Sultan
Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...
. When
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
became sultan, Piri Reis completed the first version of the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'', which he dedicated and gifted to the sultan by 1521. Several years later, he created a more elaborate version at the urging of
Grand Vizier Grand vizier (; ; ) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. It was first held by officials in the later Abbasid Caliphate. It was then held in the Ottoman Empire, the Mughal Empire, the Soko ...
Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha. His final surviving work is a 1528 world map, of which only the northwest corner remains (showing
Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...
,
Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
,
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
,
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
,
Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...
,
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
,
Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...
, and
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
). In 1546, Piri Reis became '' Hind Kapudan-ı Derya'', or grand admiral of the Ottoman Fleet in the Indian Ocean, as well as admiral of the fleet in Egypt. He expanded the Indian Ocean fleet, retook several ports, and pushed the Portuguese out of the Red Sea. In the 1550s, he began a campaign to capture the Portuguese-controlled
Hormuz Island Hormuz Island (; ), also spelled Hormoz, Ormoz, Ormuz or Ormus, is an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. Geography Hormuz Island has an area of . Located in the Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast, the island is part of Hormozgan Provin ...
at the mouth of the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
. He abandoned the siege of Hormuz after several weeks, sacked the city, and looted the nearby Qeshm Island, where wealthy residents of Hormuz had evacuated. For failing to capture Hormuz, he was executed in 1553 in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. His cartographic work received little appreciation during his lifetime. There is no evidence that the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'' circulated outside the royal palace before 1550. After his death, hundreds of copies of the book were likely made. Over 40 copies survive today, spanning several centuries. When his 1513 world map was unearthed at the
Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...
in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
in 1929, it drew international attention. The map relies on many sources, including a lost map of the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
from
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
. This sparked greater interest in the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'', and facsimiles of both were published. Piri Reis and his cartography have since become a point of national pride for
Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...
.


Biography


Early life and piracy

Little is known about Piri Reis' early life.. He was likely born between 1465 and 1470 in
Gelibolu Gelibolu is a town in Çanakkale Province of the Marmara Region, located in Eastern Thrace in the European part of Turkey. It is located on the southern shore of the Gallipoli, peninsula named after it on the Dardanelles strait, away from Lapsek ...
, also known as Gallipoli. Located on the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
, Gelibolu was a major naval base for the
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...
at the time. He was born Muhiddin Piri; '' Reis'' was a military rank equivalent to captain. Little is known about his parents.. Piri Reis gave his father's name as Hacı Mehmed. His uncle was the corsair Kemal Reis;. corsairs are a type of
pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
acting with the approval of a
sovereign state A sovereign state is a State (polity), state that has the highest authority over a territory. It is commonly understood that Sovereignty#Sovereignty and independence, a sovereign state is independent. When referring to a specific polity, the ter ...
. It is not clear from historical records whether Piri was the son of Kemal Reis' brother or sister. Kemal Reis had a brother-in-law from Nafpaktos who was arrested and tortured in Venice for alleged spying during the Ottoman–Venetian wars. He was possibly Piri Reis' father. By age 12, Piri Reis began sailing with his uncle. When the Christian ''
Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...
'' reached the
Emirate of Granada The Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada, was an Emirate, Islamic polity in the southern Iberian Peninsula during the Late Middle Ages, ruled by the Nasrid dynasty. It was the last independent Muslim state in Western ...
, its Muslim rulers asked the Ottoman Empire for assistance. Kemal Reis sailed to the Western Mediterranean with his nephew. It's not clear whether Kemal Reis was leading an expedition or one of many corsairs sent west. As a teenager, Piri Reis helped his uncle bombard the Catholic forces that were laying siege to Málaga in 1487. After Málaga fell, Piri Reis transported refugees to North Africa. Despite individual corsair successes, the
Catholic Monarchs of Spain The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile () and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (), whose marriage and joint rule marked the '' de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, ...
took control of the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...
by 1492. After the
Granada War The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492 during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada. It ended with the defeat o ...
, the Spanish Monarchy expelled Spain's Jewish population. The Ottoman Sultan instructed Kemal Reis to transport refugees to Muslim lands. Piri Reis transported both Muslims and Jews from Catholic Spain to North Africa. Led by Kemal Reis,
Barbary pirates The Barbary corsairs, Barbary pirates, Ottoman corsairs, or naval mujahideen (in Muslim sources) were mainly Muslim corsairs and privateers who operated from the largely independent Barbary states. This area was known in Europe as the Barba ...
threatened European maritime traffic. Piri Reis wrote of his early years, "We sailed on the Mediterranean and fought the enemies of our religion mercilessly.". During the winters, he and his uncle took shelter in favorable harbors on the
Barbary Coast The Barbary Coast (also Barbary, Berbery, or Berber Coast) were the coastal regions of central and western North Africa, more specifically, the Maghreb and the Ottoman borderlands consisting of the regencies in Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, a ...
. By 1490, Kemal and Piri were operating out of
Béjaïa Béjaïa ( ; , , ), formerly known as Bougie and Bugia, is a Mediterranean seaport, port city and communes of Algeria, commune on the Gulf of Béjaïa in Algeria; it is the capital of Béjaïa Province. Geography Location Béjaïa owes its ...
,
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
. During six summers from 1488 to 1493, they conducted raids along the coasts of Spain, Southern France, Corsica, Sardinia, and Sicily.


Naval career and cartography

Piri Reis sailed under his uncle and later
Hayreddin Barbarossa Hayreddin Barbarossa (, original name: Khiḍr; ), also known as Hayreddin Pasha, Hızır Hayrettin Pasha, and simply Hızır Reis (c. 1466/1483 – 4 July 1546), was an Ottoman corsair and later admiral of the Ottoman Navy. Barbarossa's ...
in the
Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...
. To bolster the navy, Ottoman Sultan
Bayezid II Bayezid II (; ; 3 December 1447 – 26 May 1512) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512. During his reign, Bayezid consolidated the Ottoman Empire, thwarted a pro-Safavid dynasty, Safavid rebellion and finally abdicated his throne ...
recruited Barbary and Aegean corsairs, including Piri and Kemal.. From the fourteenth to the early sixteenth century, there was a tradition of Turkish pirates or corsairs fighting as naval ghazis, Muslim warriors who fought for both monetary and religious reasons. Before Barbarossa reorganized the navy, sultans commonly employed former pirates. The addition of experienced corsairs raised the Ottoman Navy's competence in open-sea combat and knowledge of the Mediterranean. In 1495, Kemal Reis was imprisoned for piracy and brought to the empire's capital
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
. Rather than being sentenced, he was given an official position in the navy. Piri Reis was with his uncle at this time and later documented it in the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye''. Kemal and Piri advocated taking the Venetian coastal fortresses of the
Peloponnese The Peloponnese ( ), Peloponnesus ( ; , ) or Morea (; ) is a peninsula and geographic region in Southern Greece, and the southernmost region of the Balkans. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmus of Corinth land bridg ...
and the small but strategically valuable island of
Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...
. In his ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'', Piri Reis reports that his uncle had told Sultan Bayezid II, "Venice has two eyes: Her left eye is the arborfortress of Modon. Her right eye is that of
Corfu Corfu ( , ) or Kerkyra (, ) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands; including its Greek islands, small satellite islands, it forms the margin of Greece's northwestern frontier. The island is part of the Corfu (regio ...
." Piri Reis fought in the Ottoman–Venetian wars as a captain under the command of Kemal Reis. During the 1499 Battle of Zonchio (the First Battle of Lepanto), Piri Reis sailed in a fleet of about 270 ships that fought through the Venetian fleet and entered the
Gulf of Corinth The Gulf of Corinth or the Corinthian Gulf (, ) is a deep inlet of the Ionian Sea, separating the Peloponnese from western mainland Greece. It is bounded in the east by the Isthmus of Corinth which includes the shipping-designed Corinth Canal and ...
, forcing the governor to surrender. Kemal Reis led the Ottomans to victory in the 1500 Battle of Modon (the Second Battle of Lepanto), and one year later in the battles to retake the fortress at Modon and capture
Navarino Navarino or Navarin may refer to: Battle * Battle of Navarino, 1827 naval battle off Navarino, Greece, now known as Pylos Geography * Navarino is the former name of Pylos, a Greek town on the Ionian Sea, where the 1827 battle took place ** Old Na ...
. After the Ottoman Navy defeated the Venetian fleet at the Peloponnese, they began to take control of the Eastern Mediterranean. Piri and Kemal returned to the Western Mediterranean and fought battles along the coasts of Spain and the Western Mediterranean Islands. Kemal Reis led the 1501 raid on the Balearic Islands. In a naval battle near Valencia, Spain, Piri Reis and his uncle captured a Spaniard who said he had participated in Columbus's voyages, and likely possessed an early map of the Americas that Piri Reis would later use as a source for his maps.. In 1502, the fleet returned to Constantinople before resuming conflict with Venice. After his uncle died in a shipwreck, Piri Reis returned to Gelibolu in 1511 to work on his navigational studies.. There, he completed the world map for which he is well-known today. The manuscript is dated to the month of
Muharram Al-Muharram () is the first month of the Islamic calendar. It is one of the four sacred months of the year when warfare is banned. It precedes the month of Safar. The tenth of Muharram is known as Ashura, an important day of commemoration in ...
in the Islamic year 919 AH, equivalent to March 1513 AD... This work included the recently explored shores of the Americas and Africa. Although he had never sailed the Atlantic, he compiled over twenty maps of Arab, Spanish, Portuguese, Indian, and older Greek origins into a comprehensive representation of the known world of his era. At least by 1513, Piri Reis was sailing again for the Ottomans under Hayreddin Barbarossa along the coast of North Africa. By 1516, Piri Reis was a captain in the Ottoman fleet that took part in the 1516–17 Ottoman conquest of Egypt.. He was the commander of the Turkish fleet that blockaded Alexandria. After the Ottoman victory, Piri Reis presented the 1513 world map to Sultan
Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...
().. It is unknown how Selim used the map, if at all, as it vanished from history until its rediscovery centuries later.. According to Venetian documents, Piri Reis was no longer with the Ottoman Navy in 1518 and was engaging in piracy in the Aegean Sea. Piri Reis advocated for and took part in
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
's 1522 Siege of Rhodes.. The first version of his ''Kitab-ı Bahriye''—a nautical atlas gifted and dedicated to Suleiman—included advice on conquering Rhodes.. The island of Rhodes had a secure harbor and was off the coast of Anatolia. Controlled by an adversary, it could threaten maritime communication between the empire's capital and Mediterranean ports. The Knights of St. John controlled the island, took Muslim captives, and provided shelter to Christian pirates. During the siege, the Knights' fleet of ten ships remained in the harbor rather than confront the larger Ottoman force.. The Ottoman Navy conducted an amphibious operation, transporting many troops to the small island, and the island surrendered in December 1522. The Knights of St. John later relocated to
Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...
. The second version of the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'', completed after the conquest of Rhodes, only discusses the events in terms of the practical concerns of acquiring drinking water from Karabağ in
Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...
prior to the siege. The longer second version of the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'' resulted from a conversation with the Ottoman grand vizier. Suleiman's reign was the beginning of a shift towards power concentrating in a group of
vizier A vizier (; ; ) is a high-ranking political advisor or Minister (government), minister in the Near East. The Abbasids, Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was at first merely a help ...
s, advisers, governors, and royal family members, including Suleiman's childhood friend Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha, who rose to become the grand vizier. When putting down Hain Ahmed Pasha's 1524 rebellion in Egypt, Ibrahim rode aboard the navy's flagship, commanded by Piri Reis. Piri Reis said they discussed cartography after Ibrahim asked him about the maps and charts being consulted aboard the ship. Ibrahim commissioned Piri Reis to create an expanded version of the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye''.. He finished it and gifted it to the sultan by 1526. In later centuries, many copies were made of both versions of the book.. Piri Reis completed a second world map in 1528 or 1529.. According to Sevim Tekeli, the changes from the first world map demonstrate that Piri Reis was actively following European voyages of discovery. In the 1513 world map and the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'' preface, Piri Reis rhetorically undermines the significance of European discoveries by reframing them as the rediscovery of ancient knowledge. He invokes
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...
when explaining Columbus' discoveries. According to the
Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...
and Turkish literary tradition, Dhu al-Qarnayn—believed to be a Quranic reference to Alexander the Great—traveled to every corner of the world, thereby defining its limits. Marginal inscriptions on the world map mention "charts drawn in the days of Alexander" and a book that "fell into the hands" of Columbus describing lands "at the end of the Western Sea". In the 1526 version of the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'', he explicitly credits European discoveries to lost works created during the legendary voyages of Alexander: Venice saw Piri Reis as an adversary and obstacle to their aims in the
Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
during the 1530s.. In 1532, he fought against
Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
n pirates in the Adriatic. He attacked the Venetian-held castle at Coron in 1533, captured a Venetian galley in 1536, and chased Venetian ships out of the Eastern Mediterranean.


Grand Admiral of the Indian Ocean Fleet

After
Sinan Reis Sinan Reis, also ''Ciphut Sinan'', (, ''Sinan Rais''; , ''Sinan Rayyis'';) "Sinan the Chief", and , "Sinan the Jew", was a Barbary corsair who sailed under and was second in command of the famed Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa. Life ...
died in 1546, Piri Reis took his position as , or grand admiral of the Ottoman Fleet in the Indian Ocean, as well as admiral of the fleet in Egypt.. Portuguese ships had raided the Red Sea as far as
Suez Suez (, , , ) is a Port#Seaport, seaport city with a population of about 800,000 in north-eastern Egypt, located on the north coast of the Gulf of Suez on the Red Sea, near the southern terminus of the Suez Canal. It is the capital and largest c ...
and taken the port city of
Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...
in Yemen. The Portuguese navy employed
sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...
s capable of navigating in open seas, while the Ottoman Navy relied mainly on
galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
s, which were more effective along coasts. This limited Ottoman naval warfare to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and narrow straits around Arabia. The empire focused on using its navy to continue land-based expansion into new areas for tax revenue and agriculture. Using his fleet based out of Suez, Egypt, Piri Reis led campaigns in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. On 26 February 1548, he recaptured Aden from the Portuguese. Piri Reis subdued the local
Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu ( ; , singular ) are pastorally nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia (Iraq). The Bedouin originated in the Sy ...
rulers of
Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...
in 1547 and began building a Persian Gulf fleet.. The fleet conducted annual expansions in the Indian Ocean, and some local rulers began to ally with the Portuguese. The sultan instructed Piri Reis to take the Portuguese-controlled
Hormuz Island Hormuz Island (; ), also spelled Hormoz, Ormoz, Ormuz or Ormus, is an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. Geography Hormuz Island has an area of . Located in the Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast, the island is part of Hormozgan Provin ...
at the mouth of the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf, sometimes called the Arabian Gulf, is a Mediterranean seas, mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Arabian Sea and the larger Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.Un ...
.. Taking
Bahrain Island Bahrain Island ( ''Jazīrah al-Baḥrayn''), also known as al-Awal Island and formerly as Bahrein, is the largest island within the archipelago of Bahrain, and forms the bulk of the country's land mass while hosting the majority of its population ...
was a secondary objective. In April 1552, Piri Reis left Suez with 25 galleys, 5 ships, and 850 soldiers. In August, the Turkish fleet took Muscat after a one-month siege.. The expedition took control of coastal lands in Yemen, Oman, and Arabia. The Portuguese prepared for the attack on Hormuz by evacuating most of the island. Wealthy residents took refuge on the nearby island of Qeshm, and the soldiers and royal family retreated to the fortress. The Turkish soldiers took the City of Hormuz in September 1552, but could not take the fortress. They besieged and bombarded the fortress for several weeks, but Piri Reis grew concerned about the Portuguese fleet attacking them during the siege.. The Ottoman forces ran low on gunpowder, and Kubad Pasha the governor of Basra did not send supplies to the siege.. On 9 October 1552, the Ottomans retreated. They sacked the city, looted Qeshm, and retreated into the gulf with over a million pieces of gold. The fleet arrived at Basra by 1553. A letter from the Portuguese governor inside the fortress, dated 31 October 1552, said that the walls had been near collapsing, but that the Ottomans had run low on "munitions, gunpowder, and other war materials" much of which they had lost when a galleon sank on the way to Hormuz. The Portuguese governor of India, organized a fleet of 40 ships led by his nephew Antão de Noronha that reached Hormuz in November 1552. Piri Reis was executed following his retreat at Hormuz. After the expedition's failure, Kubad Pasha denied Piri Reis rowers for his galleys. Historian Svat Soucek suggested that "hostility etween the two menmay have been at the root" of Piri Reis' decision to return to Egypt quickly and the "accusatory report the Pasha probably sent to Constantinople." Leaving most of the fleet behind, Piri Reis returned in 1553 with only two ships.. The gold he brought back to Egypt played a role in his death sentence. Ottoman histories criticize Piri Reis for looting Qeshm. Some even allege that he accepted bribery. Those allegations were unlikely, as a delegation from Hormuz traveled to Constantinople to demand compensation, but they may have been believed at the time of his execution. Venetian diplomats in Constantinople sent a letter dated 15 November 1553 stating that Piri Reis had been replaced by Rüstem Pasha's captain, "charged with having raised the siege of the fortress of Hormuz because of bribery", and executed. For sacking the city instead of maintaining the siege, the sultan had him beheaded in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. The exact date of his execution is unknown. Rüstem Pasha's captain
Seydi Ali Reis Seydi Ali Reis (1498–1563), formerly also written Sidi Ali Reis and Sidi Ali Ben Hossein, was an Ottoman admiral and navigator. Known also as Katib-i Rumi, Galatalı or Sidi Ali Çelebi,Danışan, Gaye. 2019. “A Sixteenth-Century Otto ...
attempted to return the fleet that Piri Reis had brought to Basra back to Suez, but the Portuguese intercepted them. The Ottoman ships were all captured, destroyed, or swept out to sea. Piri Reis was possibly survived by a son, Mehmed Reis, who is known only from a single portolan map of the Aegean.


Works

Three of his cartographic works survive in some form to the present day. Fragments of his 1513 world map and his 1528 world map are kept in museums in Istanbul. Copies of the '' Kitab-ı Bahriye'', a navigational atlas, are kept in many libraries and museums around the world, although the two created by Piri Reis himself are lost..


Piri Reis map of 1513

The Piri Reis map of 1513 is a
world map A world map is a map of most or all of the surface of Earth. World maps, because of their scale, must deal with the problem of projection. Maps rendered in two dimensions by necessity distort the display of the three-dimensional surface of t ...
compiled from a range of contemporary and classical sources. Approximately one third of the map survives, housed in the
Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...
in
Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...
. The finished manuscript was dated to the Islamic year 919 AH, equivalent to 1513 AD. After the empire's conquest of
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
, Piri Reis presented the 1513 world map to Selim I, and the map vanished from history until its rediscovery centuries later. When rediscovered in 1929, the remaining fragment garnered international attention for including a partial copy of an otherwise lost map by
Christopher Columbus Christopher Columbus (; between 25 August and 31 October 1451 – 20 May 1506) was an Italians, Italian explorer and navigator from the Republic of Genoa who completed Voyages of Christopher Columbus, four Spanish-based voyages across the At ...
.. The map's longest inscription tells the story of Columbus' discovery of the Americas and states that Piri Reis and his uncle captured a Spaniard who had sailed with Columbus. The inscription credits some portion of the Americas to a map their prisoner had received from Columbus. Scholarly analysis of the placenames, knowledge of the Americas, and cartographic misconceptions indicates that Piri Reis likely did use a map composed during one of Columbus' early voyages to the Americas. The map is a
portolan chart Portolan charts are nautical charts, first made in the 13th century in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean basin and later expanded to include other regions. The word ''portolan'' comes from the Italian language, Italian ''portolano'', meaning " ...
with
compass rose A compass rose or compass star, sometimes called a wind rose or rose of the winds, is a polar coordinates, polar diagram displaying the orientation of the cardinal directions (north, east, south, and west) and their points of the compass, inter ...
s from which lines of bearing radiate. Designed for navigation via
dead reckoning In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating the current position of a moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and incorporating estimates of speed, heading (or direction or course), and elapsed time. T ...
, portolan charts use a windrose network rather than a longitude and latitude grid.. It contains extensive notes primarily in
Ottoman Turkish Ottoman Turkish (, ; ) was the standardized register of the Turkish language in the Ottoman Empire (14th to 20th centuries CE). It borrowed extensively, in all aspects, from Arabic and Persian. It was written in the Ottoman Turkish alphabet. ...
.. The colophon in Arabic is written in a different handwriting,. likely that of Piri Reis himself. The depiction of South America is detailed and accurate for its time. The northwestern coast combines features of Central America and Cuba into a single body of land. Scholars attribute the peculiar arrangement of the
Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
to a now-lost map from Columbus that merged Cuba into the Asian mainland and
Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ) is an island between Geography of Cuba, Cuba and Geography of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and the second-largest by List of C ...
with
Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
's description of Japan.. This reflects Columbus's erroneous claim that he had found a new route to Asia. The southern coast of the Atlantic Ocean is most likely a version of ''
Terra Australis (Latin for ) was a hypothetical continent first posited in antiquity and which appeared on maps between the 15th and 18th centuries. Its existence was not based on any survey or direct observation, but rather on the idea that continental l ...
''. The southernmost conclusively identified feature on the map is a stretch of Brazilian coastline including
Cabo Frio Cabo Frio (, ''Cold Cape'') is a tourist destination located in the state of Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian coast runs east from Rio de Janeiro to Cabo Frio where it turns sharply north. North of Cabo Frio is Cabo de São Tomé. It was named aft ...
(''Kav Friyo'' on the map), possibly the earliest depiction of
Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
, and likely the area around Cananéia, labeled ''Katino'' on the map. Beyond this point, the coast curves sharply east. Cartographic historian Svat Soucek has suggested this is the coast of South America, bent to fit the natural curve of the skin the map was drawn on.. However, there is no textual or historical evidence that the map represents land south of present-day Cananéia. A disproven 20th-century hypothesis identified the southern landmass with an ice-free Antarctic coast. Antarctica was last free of ice over ten million years ago, and the inscription on the southern coast records that the Portuguese explored the area. According to the Portuguese sources, the land was hot and home to large snakes. The map is visually distinct from European portolan charts, influenced by the Islamic miniature tradition. It was unusual in the Islamic cartographic tradition for incorporating many non-Muslim sources. Historian Karen Pinto has described the positive portrayal of
legendary creature A legendary creature is a type of extraordinary or supernatural being that is described in folklore (including myths and legends), and may be featured in historical accounts before modernity, but has not been scientifically shown to exist. In t ...
s from the edge of the known world in the Americas as breaking away from the medieval Islamic idea of an impassable "Encircling Ocean" surrounding the
Old World The "Old World" () is a term for Afro-Eurasia coined by Europeans after 1493, when they became aware of the existence of the Americas. It is used to contrast the continents of Africa, Europe, and Asia in the Eastern Hemisphere, previously ...
. Piri Reis adapted the elements of iconography from the traditional maps—which illustrated well-known routes, cities, and peoples—to the portolan portrayals of newly discovered coasts.. There are conflicting interpretations of the map. Scholarly debate exists over the specific sources used in the map's creation and the number of source maps. Many areas on the map have not been conclusively identified with real or mythical places.


''Kitab-ı Bahriye''

The ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'' (), or ''Book of the Sea'', is a navigational atlas. Piri Reis compiled navigational charts and notes into the most detailed portolan atlas of the sixteenth century.. The ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'' combines information from a range of sources and Piri Reis' personal experience. The coast of
North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...
relies little on outside sources. There are two versions of the book, both dedicated to
Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I (; , ; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the Western world and as Suleiman the Lawgiver () in his own realm, was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman sultan between 1520 a ...
. The first version was composed between 1511 and 1521. The second, expanded version was commissioned by the Grand Vizier and completed in 1526. The main part of both versions is a nautical guide to the
Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
. Separate chapters cover different locations with corresponding portolan charts. Piri Reis says he composed an atlas because any single map has limited space for written details, and some "knowledge cannot be known from maps; it must be explained." There are 130 chapters in the first version and 210 in the second. The chapters start at the
Dardanelles The Dardanelles ( ; ; ), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli (after the Gallipoli peninsula) and in classical antiquity as the Hellespont ( ; ), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey th ...
and move counter-clockwise around the Mediterranean. The maps have compass roses indicating North for each page.. Scale is indicated only in the textual descriptions, not with scale bars. Standard portolan symbols indicate hazards, like dots for shallow water and crosses for rocks. Written when Ottoman sailors relied on oar-driven
galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
s and galiots, the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye'' reflects their needs and capabilities. It gives information on coastal waters, safe harbors, hazards, and sources of fresh water. The second version begins with a longer introduction written in verse. This introduction offers information on storms, winds, navigating with a compass, navigating by the stars, reading portolan charts, and the
ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...
s. It includes information on recent Portuguese and Spanish voyages including the
voyages of Christopher Columbus Between 1492 and 1504, the Italian explorer and navigator Christopher Columbus led four transatlantic maritime expeditions in the name of the Catholic Monarchs of Spain to the Caribbean and to Central and South America. These voyages led to t ...
to the Americas and
Vasco da Gama Vasco da Gama ( , ; – 24 December 1524), was a Portuguese explorer and nobleman who was the Portuguese discovery of the sea route to India, first European to reach India by sea. Da Gama's first voyage (1497–1499) was the first to link ...
's discovery of a sea route to India. It offers the first detailed Ottoman description of the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
, and gives special attention to
Hormuz Island Hormuz Island (; ), also spelled Hormoz, Ormoz, Ormuz or Ormus, is an Iranian island in the Persian Gulf. Geography Hormuz Island has an area of . Located in the Strait of Hormuz, off the Iranian coast, the island is part of Hormozgan Provin ...
at the strait leading into the Persian Gulf. The book achieved fame only after Piri Reis' death.. The known surviving manuscripts are all copies created beginning in the later 1500s. At least some portion of the book has been translated into English, modern Turkish, Greek, French, German, and Italian.


1528 world map

Piri Reis compiled a second world map in 1528.. Only a fragment of the map—the northwest corner—remains. The parchment fragment is approximately square. As with the 1513 map, the 1528 map has calligraphic inscriptions in Ottoman-Turkish written in the Arabic alphabet. The colophon is in Arabic, likely handwritten by Piri Reis himself.. According to the colophon, Piri Reis compiled the map in 1528 in Gelibolu. However, he may not have completed it until 1529. The 1528 map was a portolan chart like his earlier works. It uses a windrose network radiating out from compass roses.. The map does include one line of latitude, the
Tropic of Cancer The Tropic of Cancer, also known as the Northern Tropic, is the Earth's northernmost circle of latitude where the Sun can be seen directly overhead. This occurs on the June solstice, when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun ...
; it is slightly south of the correct position for Cuba and the Yucatan.. The map uses standard portolan colors and symbols. Dots indicate shallow waters and sand banks. Crosses indicate rocks and
reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...
s. The ships painted on the map are two
caravel The caravel (Portuguese language, Portuguese: , ) is a small sailing ship developed by the Portuguese that may be rigged with just lateen sails, or with a combination of lateen and Square rig, square sails. It was known for its agility and s ...
s and a
carrack A carrack (; ; ) is a three- or four- masted ocean-going sailing ship that was developed in the 14th to 15th centuries in Europe, most notably in Portugal and Spain. Evolving from the single-masted cog, the carrack was first used for Europea ...
. The scale bars indicate between the sections of the scales. Based on the design of recently explored geographical features like Greenland, Newfoundland, and Florida, the map likely relied on Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian maps from the 1520s. Notes on the map cite recent Portuguese voyages to
Labrador Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...
and
Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
. Hispaniola and Cuba are much more accurate compared to the 1513 world map. Cuba, labeled "''Isla di Vana''", is now correctly positioned as an island in the Caribbean. In contrast to the 1513 map, Piri Reis leaves areas that have not been explored blank. Only the explored southern coasts of the Florida peninsula are on the map. The geography of Florida is left ambiguous as potentially an island or
peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...
. The
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...
's master map, the '' Padrón Real'', included this type of ambiguous Florida until 1520, and it influenced Italian cartography like the Freducci map.


Legacy

During his own life, there was limited appreciation for Piri Reis' cartography. Historian Svat Soucek said that the works of Piri Reis "show that although the Ottoman Empire had the potential to participate in the discoveries, its ruling elite spurned the attempt to blaze a trail in this direction". Ottoman historian examined sixteenth-century Turkish authors who wrote about Piri Reis' execution. Ornhonlu found that they criticized Piri Reis' performance during the siege and did not discuss his maps or writing. As a Turkish seafarer, Piri Reis was overshadowed by his uncle, and both were quickly surpassed by the Barbarossa brothers, Hayreddin and
Aruj Aruj Barbarossa ( 1474 – 1518), known as Oruç Reis () to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers. The elder brother of the famous Ottoman admiral Hayreddin Barbarossa, he was born on the Ottoman island of Midilli (Le ...
. In the 21st century, Piri Reis is remembered as a cartographer more than a corsair or an admiral. The 1513 world map disappeared from the historical record until its rediscovery centuries later. There is no evidence that either version of his atlas circulated outside the royal palace prior to 1550. The copies produced in the following centuries were often created for their aesthetic or artistic value. No Turkish school of cartography or navigation was established to build on his work.. Murat Reis the Elder's expedition to the
Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...
and the 1586 Sack of Lanzarote were some of the few times when Piri Reis' Atlantic cartography was likely used by the Ottoman Navy.. The empire's navy—even during the Canary Islands expedition—remained largely composed of oar-driven galleys after the point where other naval powers were moving to sailing ships that were more suited to the open oceans. Ottoman scholar Kâtip Çelebi built on the ''Kitab-i Bahriye'' in his seventeenth-century work, ''Müntehab-ı Bahriyye''. By the eighteenth century, major works of cartography from Western Europe were being translated into Turkish. When Piri Reis' world map was unearthed in 1929, it received international media attention for containing the surviving piece of an otherwise lost map of Christopher Columbus. Turkey's first president,
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...
, took an interest in the map and initiated
project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...
s to publish facsimiles and conduct research. Discovered during
Atatürk's reforms Atatürk's reforms ( or ''Atatürk Devrimleri''), also referred to as the Turkish Revolution (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Devrimi''), were a series of political, legal, religious, cultural, social, and economic policy changes, designed ...
, the map was a point of national pride. Its rediscovery also sparked interest in the ''Kitab-ı Bahriye''. A facsimile of the book's second version was published by the
Turkish Historical Society The Turkish Historical Society (; TTK) is a research society studying the history of Turkey and the Turkish people, founded in 1931 by the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with headquarters in Ankara, Turkey. It has been described as "the Ke ...
in 1935, and a four-volume facsimile with photographic quality was published in 1988. Several ships and submarines have been named after him, including the RV K. ''Piri Reis'' and TCG ''Pirireis''. The Piri Reis University for maritime studies was founded in 2008. In the Turkish TV series '' Barbaros: Sword of the Mediterranean'', he is portrayed by actor Emir Benderlioğlu. Piri Reis' 1513 world map is the subject of various pseudoscientific claims and is sometimes invoked in broader pop culture as an unsolved mystery. Civil engineer Arlington Mallery, professor Charles Hapgood, and Hapgood's students developed the hypothesis that the 1513 world map contained cartographic information, notably from an ice-free Antarctic coast, that exceeded the map-making abilities of the sixteenth century. In his 1966 book ''Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings'', Hapgood claims islands along the map's southern Atlantic shore depict what are now ice-covered mountains in Antarctica's
Queen Maud Land Queen Maud Land () is a roughly region of Antarctica Territorial claims in Antarctica, claimed by Norway as a dependent territory. It borders the claimed British Antarctic Territory 20th meridian west, 20° west, specifically the Caird Coast, ...
region. Hapgood's book was met with skepticism due to its lack of evidence and reliance on polar shift. According to geologist Paul Heinrich, the book also did not account for
post-glacial rebound Post-glacial rebound (also called isostatic rebound or crustal rebound) is the rise of land masses after the removal of the huge weight of ice sheets during the last glacial period, which had caused isostatic depression. Post-glacial rebound an ...
, and the 1949 survey initially cited by Mallery could not measure even one percent of the area drawn in the Piri Reis map. Subsequent studies have shown no significant similarities to Antarctica's coast. Additionally, although the 1513 world map has been described as anomalous in its accuracy, it is no more precise than other sixteenth-century manuscript maps. Hapgood's claims have been uncritically repeated by Erich von Däniken in support of
ancient astronauts Ancient astronauts (or ancient aliens) refers to a Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific set of beliefs that hold that Extraterrestrial intelligence, intelligent Extraterrestrial life, extraterrestrial beings (alien astronauts) visited Earth and m ...
and by
Graham Hancock Graham Bruce Hancock (born 2 August 1950) is a British journalist and author who promotes pseudoscientific ideas about ancient civilizations and hypothetical lost lands. Hancock proposes that an advanced civilization with spiritual technology ...
in support of an advanced lost civilization. The map and polar shift were key plot elements in Allan W. Eckert's science fiction novel '' The HAB Theory''. Piri Reis is a character in the ''
Assassin's Creed ''Assassin's Creed'' is a historical fiction, historical action-adventure video game series and media franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil (game engine), Anvil and its m ...
'' franchise..


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Geologist and Archaeological Geologist a
Louisiana State University
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External links

* * * * Numbered English translation of the 1513 world map. * * Full color scans of every page. {{DEFAULTSORT:Reis, Piri 1460s births 1550s deaths 15th-century explorers 15th-century people from the Ottoman Empire 16th-century executions by the Ottoman Empire 16th-century explorers 16th-century geographers 16th-century people from the Ottoman Empire Cartographers from the Ottoman Empire Executed people from the Ottoman Empire Executed Turkish people Geographers from the Ottoman Empire Greeks from the Ottoman Empire Naval history of the Ottoman Empire People executed by the Ottoman Empire by decapitation People from Gelibolu People from the Ottoman Empire of Greek descent Suleiman the Magnificent Turks from the Ottoman Empire Year of birth unknown