London Psalter map
As London Psalter (Engl. Psalter world map ) refers to a medieval world map in a Psalter was found. This mappa mundi is in the British Library in London under the signature Add. MS 28681 kept.
What is special about this map is the richness of detail, although it is only about 9.5 cm high. The date of creation is to be set around 1260. The author is unknown. According to Anna-Dorothee von den Brincken , the Psalter map looks like a small edition of the Ebstorf map of the world .
General
As a typical mappa mundi , the London Psalter map not only represents geographical and historical knowledge, but also in a salvation context. Jesus himself appears in the east of the map, that is at the top of the map, because the world maps of the European Middle Ages were mostly easted, not northed. With his right hand Jesus gives his blessing, in his left hand he holds a small globe, the two lines on the globe divide it into the three continents known in the European cultural area, Europe, Africa and Asia - the latter is traditionally the same size as the two other continents shown.
The mainland of the three continents is surrounded by the world ocean as a wide, colorful ring in which numerous islands can be seen. Another ring is placed around the ocean strip, the outer edge of which contains regularly distributed inscriptions: designations of the cardinal points and the winds. These are also depicted in twelve evenly distributed medallions in the form of human faces. The four main winds are clearly highlighted in size and color compared to the eight secondary winds. If the medallions of the east and west as well as the north and south main winds were connected through the center of the map, the result would be a cross.
Contrary to other beliefs, medieval science was aware that the earth was a sphere and not a flat disk . For reasons of convenience, map authors as well as the unknown author of the London Psalter map presented only the part that was actually known to people from the three continents shown. The rest of the world was suspected because it was believed to be necessary for the equilibrium of the earth, but it was considered unreachable because of the world's ocean and the heat around the equator. The world known at the time of its creation appears in the Psalter map as surrounded by the ocean with islands.
TO scheme
The London Psalter map follows the TO scheme typical of mappae mundi . This means that the entire known world is enclosed in a circle (the earth circle, which represents the "O") and by a "T" (which is formed by the Mediterranean, the Nile and the Don) in the then known three continents of Asia , Africa and Europe is divided. Asia is above the "T", Europe on the bottom left and Africa on the bottom right. Jerusalem , the center of the map, is right in the middle.
Center: Holy Land
The navel of the world, the center of the classic mappa mundi, is Jerusalem, which emphasizes the importance of this city for the Judeo-Christian salvation history. The Holy Land is shown particularly large and detailed. In the Sea of Galilee one recognizes a fish and thus a reference to the profession of the Apostle Peter .
East: paradise
In the east of the map, i.e. above, five rivers flow out of Paradise . The author has added the Ganges to the four rivers mentioned in the literature (including the Tigris ) . Adam and Eve can be seen in paradise with the tree of knowledge between them .
South of Paradise (right) are two trees, the sun and moon trees, which are mentioned in a story about Alexander the great .
Northeast
Noah's Ark is located on a mountain next to which Armenie stands . To the north of it (left) you can see a gate with which Alexander locked wild tribes behind a mountain range.
Northwest: Europe
Europe is relatively detailed and depicted in proportion to modern standards. The somewhat misshapen Italy with Rome and above all ancient Greece with grecia and macedonia , the home of Alexander, occupy a large area . Mountain ranges represent the Apennines and the Alps. Dalmatia is far from the coast.
Mediterranean and Nile Delta
A few islands swim in the Mediterranean Sea, which separates Europe and Africa. sicilia is not only recognizable by the lettering but also by the triangular shape for which the island was known. Opposite Sicily is the diversified delta of the Nile .
In the west of the map section (below) is a city symbol with cartago , the city destroyed by the Romans.
South: monsters
On some older world maps, a strip of land in the south indicates the fourth continent in the southern hemisphere. This is where the antipodes are usually located and are represented as monsters. On the London Psalter map - as on other historical maps - these have slipped to the southern edge of Africa.
In the middle of the map section you can see the lettering egyptus, and the representation of the Red Sea (actually colored red) shows a kind of land bridge to the north (to the left). The association of the Red Sea from Tanakh and the Bible , which Moses crossed when he exited Egypt , is obvious.
Behind a mountain range east (above) Egypt lies Ethiopia , known by name , near the source of the Nile - this was only discovered by the Europeans in the 19th century.
literature
- Anna-Dorothee von den Brincken : Fines Terrae. The ends of the earth and the fourth continent on medieval world maps (= Monumenta Germaniae Historica . Schriften. Vol. 36). Hahn, Hannover 1992, ISBN 3-7752-5436-6 .
- Bruno Reudenbach: The London Psalter map and its back. Ecumenical maps as a psalter illustration. In: Early Medieval Studies . Vol. 32, 1998, pp. 164-181 ( beginning of the article in DeGruyter, access restricted).
- Bettina Schöller, storing knowledge, organizing knowledge, transferring knowledge. Written and pictorial recordings of the world around the London Psalter map (media change - media change - media knowledge; Volume 32), Zurich: Chronos 2015.