

Piri Reis Map - albertzeyer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map

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fchollet
Columbus, when he sailed West, used as reference a number of maps sourced from
the Chinese empire (among others)... In particular, he might have used the
1492 Martin Behaim globe as his primary reference. [0]

The Martin Behaim globe shows Cipangu, which is actually the Japanese island
of Kyushu as depicted by the Chinese. It also show part of Indonesia. Worth
noting is that when Columbus sailed West, he was not looking for "the Indies",
but for Cipangu, described by Marco Polo as "the land of gold". [1]

So it seems that Piri Reis compiled recent south-american data together with
older asia-pacific data. The so-called "antartica" part of the Piri reis map
appears to match Java as shown on world maps of the same period. Mystery
solved, I guess... (check for yourself by comparing the Piri Reis map and the
Martin Behaim globe). This is supported by the fact that the Piri Reis map
also seems to show Cipangu off North America, and describes the "antartica"
land at the bottom as a warm land.

Anyway, the outlandish claims of the article about the extraordinary accuracy
of the map are complete BS. Check it yourself. [2]

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan#mediaviewer/Fil...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Japan#mediaviewer/File:MartinBehaim1492.png)

[1] [http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2008/07/27/to-be-
sorted/cip...](http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2008/07/27/to-be-
sorted/cipangus-landlocked-isles/)

[2]
[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Piri_rei...](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/70/Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg)

~~~
hcarvalhoalves
The coast of Brazil is surprisingly accurate in this map. I can spot a number
of geographic features (Santos, Rio de Janeiro, Ilha de Marajó) and some
rivers.

Compare to this 1502 map: [http://www.historia-brasil.com/mapas/brasil-
cantino.htm](http://www.historia-brasil.com/mapas/brasil-cantino.htm)

The rest, I cannot make sense of it.

------
huuu
A site explaining the mystery:
[http://www.diegocuoghi.com/Piri_Reis/PiriReis_eng.htm](http://www.diegocuoghi.com/Piri_Reis/PiriReis_eng.htm)

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n0rm
In BBC's Museum Mysteries docus, in the Topkapı Palace episode, they offer
their theory for this.

They think that Piri Reis (commander of the navy at that time) obtained maps
from ships that passed through the Bosphorus. He was then able to draw a
current map of the world from all the diverse information.

They basically explored the world without ever leaving home.

~~~
marmarlade
I LOVE Topkapı Palace, it's gorgeous. Have you been?

I had an amazing tour guide who, among many other things, explained how
everything had two layers of security (at least) built in. For instance,
eunuchs in the Harem were always black just in case the castration was botched
- that way, you could still tell the child was not the Sultan's. A bit more
here: [http://jmilton6000.wordpress.com/2006/11/23/the-harem-and-
th...](http://jmilton6000.wordpress.com/2006/11/23/the-harem-and-the-black-
eunuchs/)

Talk about redundancy.

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edwinnathaniel
Side note: I used to play a game called "New Horizon" (or known as the
Uncharted Waters 2 [1]). One of the characters in the game goes by the name of
Philly Reis, from Turkey. His level is off the chart (Sailing, Fighting, etc).

Didn't know there's actually someone by the name of Piri Reis from Turkey in
the real world!

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncharted_Waters#Uncharted_Wate...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncharted_Waters#Uncharted_Waters:_New_Horizons)

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avighnay
The Piri Reis Map also finds mention in the controversial 'Chariots of Gods'
book by Erich Von Daniken which is largely labeled as 'pseudoscientific'. The
book as it is about Alien Intervention theory proposes aerial survey as the
key to the accuracy of the map

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_the_Gods%3F](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chariots_of_the_Gods%3F)

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peacewise
Back in '97, I was part of a team that built Piri The Explorer Ship, a Myst-
like edutainment title, aimed to educate about the map... Check out the
trailer:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrG5-1b0pgk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrG5-1b0pgk)

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aw3c2
spam blog, just google any paragraph and you will see

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oxama
another mystery: [https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197704/al-
idrisi.and....](https://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/197704/al-
idrisi.and.roger.s.book.htm)

------
Luc
Text copied (incompletely) from here, I believe:
[http://glenavalon.com/pirireis.html](http://glenavalon.com/pirireis.html)

But even better is:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map)

Which links to (comparison to modern accurate maps):
[http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/piriries.htm](http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/pseudosc/piriries.htm)

~~~
dang
Thanks! We've changed the url (from
[http://luis40pr.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/world-mysteries-
the...](http://luis40pr.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/world-mysteries-the-piri-
reis-map/)) and unkilled the post, since users were probably flagging the
source rather than the story.

