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The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a T And O Map Derivate , dating to ca. 1300 . It is currently on display in Hereford Cathedral in England . The map is signed by or attributed to one "Richard of (8) coloured red]. Jerusalem is drawn at the centre of the circle, East is on top, showing the Garden Of Eden in a circle at the edge of the world (1). Scotland , Great Britain and Ireland are drawn at the north-western border (bottom left, 22, 23, 24). Curiously, the labels for Africa and Europe are reversed, with Europe scribed in red and gold as 'Africa', and vice-versa. The map is based on traditional accounts and earlier maps such as the one of the Beatus Of Liébana codex, and is very similar to the Ebstorf Map , the Psalter Map , and the ''Sawley'' (erroneously for considerable time called "Henry of Mainz") map; it does not correspond to the geographical knowledge of the 1300s. Note, for example, that the Caspian Sea (5) connects to the encircling Ocean (upper left). This is in spite of William Of Rubruk 's having reported it to be landlocked in 1255 , i.e. several decades before the map's creation; see also Portolan Chart . The "T and O" shape, by the way, does not imply that its creators believed in a ), so that the circular representation remained adequate. The long river on the far right is the River Nile, too (12), and the T shape is established by the Mediterranean (19-21-25) and the rivers Don (13) and Nile (16). LOCATIONS o - At the center of the map: Jerusalem, above it: the crucifix. 1 - The Paradise, surrounded by a wall and a ring of fire. 2 - The Ganges and its delta. 3 - The fabulous Island of Taphana, sometimes (possibly mis-)interpreted as Sri Lanka or Sumatra. 4 - Rivers Indus and Tigris. 5 - The Caspian Sea, and the land of Gog and Magog 6 - Babylon and the Euphrat. 7 - The Persian Gulf. 8 - The Red Sea (painted in Red). 9 - Noah's Ark. 10 - The Dead Sea, Sodom and Gomorrha, with River Jordan, coming from Sea of Galiliee; above: Lot's wife. 11 - Egypt with the River Nile. 12 - River Nile {Link without Title} , or possibly an allusion to the equatorial Ocean; far outside: a land of mutants, possibly the Antipodes. 13 - The Azov Sea with Rivers Don and Dnjepr; above: the Golden Fleece. 14 - Constantinoples; left of it the Danube's delta. 15 - The Aegean Sea. 16 - Oversized delta of the Nile with Alexandria's Lighthouse. 17 - The legendary Norwegian, Gansmir, with his skis and ski pole. 18 - Greece with Mt. Olymp, Athens and Corinth 19 - Misplaced Crete with Minotaur's circular labyrinth. 20 - The Adriatic Sea; Italy with Rome, honored by a popular hexameter: Roma caput mundi tenet orbis frena rotundi the head, holds the reins of the world . 21 - Sicily, and Carthage, opposing Rome, right of it. 22 - England. 23 - Scotland. 24 - Ireland. 25 - The Baleares. 26 - The Strait of Gibraltar (the Pillars of Hercules). SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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