We spend a lot of time ensuring that we have the most up-to-date and accurate geographic information. Whether it’s working on the Unified Land Records System to properly identify real estate parcels in Philadelphia or checking for any changes to political district boundaries for use in Cicero, we obviously need to have the most current data available.

Sometimes, though, it’s fun to forget about modern cartography for a minute and check out maps from the past – many of which differ radically from how we think of maps. A mappa mundi (Latin for cloth of the world) is a general term for a type of Medieval European world map. There are several kinds of mappae mundi and the features on the maps vary widely. Some illustrate only the world as it was known at the time while others include unknown or unidentified lands as well as locations from classical history, legend, or the Bible. The maps were not used as navigation tools but instead served as visual histories, teaching objects, and illustrations of religious or philosophic ways of understanding the world and what was seen as God’s creation.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi from Wikimedia Commons.

Often circular in shape, the maps usually depicted a familiar, known geographic feature in the center with additional locations expanding outward. The Hereford Mappa Mundi, the largest medieval map still in existence at around 5 feet high and 4 feet 6 inches wide, features Jerusalem at the center with Egypt to the right, the Ganges River near the top of the map, and England in the lower left corner. The Sawley Map, a world map drawn circa 1190 and currently on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, also places Jerusalem and the Mediterranean Sea at the center of the circle and includes Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria and other cities in the surrounding area. Images of angels encircle the map and Paradise is shown at the very top of the world. These maps might not be very useful for traveling, but they do serve as wonderful resources for information on medieval thought, education, culture, and the arts.

While we don’t have any spare mappae mundi hanging around the office, Azavea has done work with historic maps before. PhillyHistory.org contains the Hexamer & Locher maps, which date from 1858-1860, and the AfricaMap project features several maps from the 17^th and 18^th centuries, including one with great illustrations of sea monsters.