The Piri Reis map of 1513 in short
The Piri Reis map is a world map drawn in 1513. Its own date note says Pîrî Reis made it in the month of Muharram, Hijri 919. That is 9 March to 7 April 1513. He drew it at Gelibolu.
Only about one third of it has survived. The surviving piece shows the western coasts of Europe and Africa and the eastern coasts of South America. That is the part people argue about.
The argument is simple. Some writers say the southern edge shows Antarctica without its ice. Scholars say the evidence points elsewhere. The sections below take the claim apart piece by piece.
Piri Reis map 1513 Antarctica: where the claim came from
In 1966, Charles Hapgood published Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings. He argued that the map shows an ice-free Antarctica. He tied this to a theory of a prehistoric civilization that explored the whole globe.
That theory is not what the map’s own text says. The map is a sea chart of its time, drawn from earlier sources.
Gregory C. McIntosh studied the map in a book published by the University of Georgia Press in 2000. He rejects the idea that the map proves ancient civilizations or extraterrestrial visitors knew Antarctica. His work looks at the sources the map actually used.
Piri Reis map explained: what kind of chart is it?
The map is a portolan chart. It has no grid of latitude and longitude. Instead, compass roses send direction lines across the sheet.
Think of how a subway map works. It shows connections, not exact geography. A portolan chart helps a sailor head from one place to another by bearing.
The surviving piece has two large compass roses with 32 points each, plus three small ones. Rocks under the water are marked with crosses. Shallows are marked with red dots.
The text is written in Arabic script. The notes on the map are mainly in Ottoman Turkish. The record of how the map was made is in Arabic.
Why the southern land is not Antarctica
Two explanations are on the table, and neither needs a lost civilization.
The first is Terra Australis. This was a hypothetical southern continent that mapmakers of the period expected to exist. The landmass at the bottom of the map can stand for that imagined continent.
The second comes from Svat Soucek. He argues that the South American coast curves eastward because the drawing was fitted to the usable surface of the parchment. The mapmaker ran out of room and bent the coast.
So the shape in the south has a plain cause. A coast that turns east at the edge of a sheet does not need a hidden continent behind it.
Piri Reis map solved? What researchers have settled and what they haven’t
No one has “solved” every line on the map. Some questions are settled and some are still debated.
On sources, Pîrî Reis says he used a number of older maps. Researchers read his count differently. They have taken it to mean 20, 30 or 34 maps in total.
On Columbus, McIntosh ties the Columbus-derived information to the second voyage of 1493–1496. It does not come from the third voyage of 1498.
On place names, the name Katino on the Brazilian coast most likely points to Cananéia, at about 25° south. Identifications farther south are not certain.
These are the kinds of questions scholars work on. The Antarctica claim is not among the conclusions they have confirmed.
Piri Reis map where is it? The original in Topkapı
The original is kept in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library. The UNESCO nomination file lists it as item 1633 in the Revan Pavilion Collection.
That same file says the map is sensitive to light. It is not on permanent display. It has been shown on special occasions, such as the celebrations for its 500th anniversary.
If you plan a trip, check with the museum before you go. Do not count on seeing the original in a gallery.
Piri Reis map for sale, PDF, print and download
The original is a museum object in a palace collection, so it is not a market item. If you see a poster or a print, it is a reproduction.
For images, the UNESCO nomination file states that digital images can be provided to researchers with the permission of the Topkapı Palace Museum Directorate. That is the route for a high-resolution copy.
The nomination file itself is a PDF you can open for free. It is listed in the sources below.
Timeline
- 1513: Pîrî Reis completes his world map at Gelibolu.
- 1517: After the Ottoman conquest of Egypt, he presents the map to Sultan Selim I.
- 1528: Pîrî Reis draws a second world map.
- 1929: The surviving piece is found in Topkapı Palace by Halil Ethem, Director of National Museums.
- 1931: Paul Kahle presents his results at the Congress of Orientalists in Leiden.
- 1932: The Turkish Historical Society’s statement and photographs appear in The Illustrated London News.
- 1966: Charles Hapgood publishes Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings.
- 2000: Gregory C. McIntosh publishes his study of the map’s sources and the Antarctica reading.
- 2012: Karen Pinto publishes her article on the map’s Islamic iconography.
- 2016: Masseti and Veracini publish their study of the animal images.
How the map came to light
According to the Turkish Historical Society’s explanatory note, Halil Ethem found the map in Topkapı Palace in 1929. Paul Kahle studied it with him.
Kahle presented his results in September 1931 at the XVIII Congress of Orientalists in Leiden. Press reports followed, and some contained mistakes.
The Turkish Historical Society sent a correction. It published the statement and photographs of the map in The Illustrated London News on 23 July 1932.
You may notice a pattern here. A rare object appears, the news travels fast, and errors travel with it. The Antarctica story is a later case of the same thing.
The 1528 map is a different map
Searches for the Piri Reis map often mix up two works. Pîrî Reis drew a second world map in 1528. It is separate from the 1513 piece.
The 1528 map shows the North Atlantic and the coasts of North and Central America. The 1513 piece shows the eastern coasts of South America. Keep the two apart when you read about either.
Details you won’t find in guidebooks
- The map is cut off. Explanations along the right edge stop halfway. This is one physical clue that the surviving piece comes from a larger map.
- Two Virgin Islands. The map shows the Virgin Islands twice. This is an example of the problems that came from joining different sources.
- A figure with its face on its chest. In the Brazilian section, Karen Pinto (2012) identifies a figure with a face on its chest as a Blemmye, a legendary human type. The note on the map gives its height as seven spans. It gives the distance between its eyes as one span. It also says the figure is harmless.
- Animals from older traditions. Marco Masseti and Cecilia Veracini (2016) link many animal images to late medieval iconography from Europe and the Near East. They also raise a possibility about the Caribbean parrots. These may have been copied from Columbus’s lost map rather than from earlier icons.
FAQ
Does the Piri Reis map really show Antarctica?
No academic study confirms it. Charles Hapgood made the claim in 1966, but the southern landmass can be explained as the hypothetical Terra Australis, and the bending of the South American coast as a result of fitting the drawing to the parchment.
Where is the Piri Reis map now?
The original is item 1633 in the Revan Pavilion Collection of the Topkapı Palace Museum Library. It is light-sensitive and is not on permanent display.
How much of the map survives?
About one third of the 1513 world map survives. It shows the western coasts of Europe and Africa and the eastern coasts of South America.
Is the 1528 map the same as the 1513 map?
No. Pîrî Reis drew a second world map in 1528. It shows the North Atlantic and the coasts of North and Central America.
Sources
- Vikipedi — Pîrî Reis Haritası tr.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia — Piri Reis map en.wikipedia.org
- UNESCO — Piri Reis World Map nomination file media.unesco.org
- Türk Tarih Kurumu — Pirî Reis Haritası Hakkında İzahnâme ttk.gov.tr
- University of Georgia Press — The Piri Reis Map of 1513 ugapress.org
- Karen Pinto — Piri Reis’ World Map of 1513 & its Islamic Iconographic Connections dergipark.org.tr
- University of Lisbon — The zoomorphic representations of the Pîrî Reis map (1513) repositorio.ulisboa.pt
- TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi — Pîrî Reis islamansiklopedisi.org.tr
Image: Piri reis world map 01.jpg — Piri Reis, Public domain
