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If an atlas was your favorite ‘book’ as a child and spending time on Google Maps is now a favored pastime, welcome to the best post you’ll see all day. While it is a bold statement to make, any fan of maps ought to love today’s list, as it’s dedicated to all sorts of old and ancient maps.
So, without further ado, scroll down to find some of the most unique examples of cartography that we managed to find on the internet, and enjoy the trip they take you on. While you’re at it, make sure to upvote your favorite maps, too!
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with assistant professor of geography at University of Oregon, an expert in cartography, map design, and mapping environment-society interactions, Carolyn Fish, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Map Of The Ancient Continents, 1719
Adam Jeff 8 months ago
'Ancien Continent' means in this context 'the Old World' i.e. not showing the Americas.
Ace 8 months ago
Except that it does include Australia, at that time only recently "discovered".
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#2
Nautical Atlas Of The World, Circular World Map Of The Portuguese Hemisphere, 1519
Arlnee 8 months ago
only till the guys in the corners finish inflating it
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Ptolemy's World Map, 1482
Ptolemy's world map designed in 150 AD. For the first time in history, longitudinal and latitudinal lines were added to a world map.
Cartography is usually defined as the science or practice of making maps. But some sources define it as an art form, and it’s not difficult to see why. Looking at this list, it’s evident that maps can be not only useful, but beautiful, too.
Some more elaborate or decorative than others, maps are always shaped by culture and the knowledge of the people who create them, says Carolyn Fish of University of Oregon. In an interview with Bored Panda, she noted that it's the individual worldviews of the map creators that drive what gets put on a map, what gets left off, and how it is designed.
#4
Al-Idrisi's World Map In Arabic, 1456 Copy, The Original Text Dates To 1154
#5
A Map Of The Celestial Globe With Comet, 1618
Carolyn Fish continued to point out that maps are a representation of understanding of the world in the time when they were created. “This means that looking at old maps lets us get an idea of what the world looked like at that time,” she said.
“I remember my mom throwing out old maps that had the USSR on them saying ‘oh, they are out of date,’ but really, the borders on those maps, while not representative of the world in the 21st century, were valid for the time in which the map was created.”
#6
Babylonian Map Of The World, Probably From Sippar, Mesopotamia, Iraq, 700-500 BCE
#7
Map Of Europe In The Form Of A Queen, Engraving And Letterpress, 1587
Ace 8 months ago (edited)
Rotate it 90 deg anticlockwise to get North at the top, then you can see Britain just next to her left shoulder, the arm is Denmark, then there's the Baltic "Sarma" sea, then Russia near her left foot. Her right side is much further out of true though, but shows Italy (and Africa opposite) and the Adriatic coast down to Greece. Interesting anyway, but yes, why?
BrunoVI 8 months ago
Kinda makes reference to the Hungary parts a bit ribald.
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Janissary35680 8 months ago
This is a very early example of an artform that became especially popular in the 19th century. I've not seen this one before. Google "serio-comic map".
#8
The Largest Medieval Map (Hereford Mappa Mundi), 13th Century
Auntriarch 8 months ago (edited)
The animals are the best thing about this one. Especially the bonnacon which can k**l you with a fart
According to Fish, old maps open up the potential for conversations about the past and what information was represented on a map from that time period. “Old maps tell a story of a past place. This is so important for understanding what is happening now and what histories shape a place,” the expert emphasized.
#9
World Map, 1700
Tucker Cahooter 8 months ago
"Australia? Yeah, I've heard some Dutch guys think there's something down there, they've found the western and northern edges. New Zealand? Never heard of it"
Janissary35680 8 months ago
Is that why NZ keeps getting left off maps then? 🤔
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#10
Cadastral Map Showing Landownership In Fushimi, Kyoto, Japan, 1595
martymcmatrix 8 months ago
Every German owner of a house either is, was, has, had, will, or will have had to deal with their local land registry offices, known as »Katasteramt«...🏃🏽💨
Tyranamar Seuss 8 months ago
What does that have to do with this Japanese map?
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Map And Views Illustrating Sir Francis Drake's West Indian Voyage, Santiago, 1586
Janissary35680 8 months ago (edited)
"Voyage" is a spin-doctored way of saying "extended pirate-raid world tour". 😄
Mike Crow 8 months ago
Pirate to the Spaniards but hero to the English. Then again Spain was up to no good in the “new world” anyways.
Load More Replies...A great example of how old maps allow us to take a glimpse at what life was like hundreds or thousands of years ago is Imago Mundi – a Babylonian clay tablet, considered to be the oldest known world map, which reportedly dates all the way back to 6th century BCE. According to the World Economic Forum, it provides a unique look into the ancient world and ancient perspectives on earth and the heavens.
#12
Cosmographical Map Or Universal Description Of The World With The Actual Path Of The Winds, 1570
SheHulk 8 months ago
I recommend clicking on the link. For free, still, you can enlarge, rotate etc - pretty sweet! Enjoy it while it lasts! Before those b*****d twins and doge gets their hands on it.
WindySwede 8 months ago
An uneducated voter is an voter you can easily influence?
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Description Of The Holy Land, 1585
Apatheist Account2 8 months ago
In most instances, the description of the holy land was "ours".
#14
Samuel Dunn's Map Of The World, 1794
Samuel Dunn's map of the world, drawn in 1794 AD. Dunn was the first to map out the entire world using Captain James Cook's discoveries as his guide.
Hippopotamuses 8 months ago (edited)
Australia's looking a bit ill, but at least he got New Zealand in there. Though it appears, he may have missed Cook Strait.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 8 months ago
ALso missed the entire continent of Antarctica.
Load More Replies... Forrest Hobbs 8 months ago
The mathematician Samuel Dunn was something of a cartographical innovator: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Dunn_(mathematician)
Talking about the technologies that made the biggest impact in the world of cartography, Carolyn Fish admitted not being an expert on historical cartography methods, but in her opinion, the invention of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has had a profound impact on map creation in recent decades.
“That combined with the internet and the ability to share maps and create interactive maps has allowed for those with different training to create maps and do geospatial analysis.”
#15
Map Of The Americas, 1553
Forrest Hobbs 8 months ago (edited)
Remember on the 4th of July, all you USAians, to give heartfelt thanks to your liberators, the French - without whom you would have lost your war of independence, and most people in the modern US would still be speaking French or Spanish or (maybe if they were lucky) their ancestral American languages. If only Mexico hadn't outlawed slavery, Texas never would have revolted and there'd be no question that "the Gulf of Mexico" is obviously just that. Signed, a Brit, quite happy that the French refer to "the English Channel" as "the sleeve" (in French - they would use French, wouldn't they? 🤷)
Igor914624 8 months ago
Remember on Bastille day that the USA paid that debt in full, twice over. Once in the Great War, and once in World War II. If it wasn't for the USA, all of Europe would be speaking German.
Load More Replies... Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 8 months ago
They really overestimated the size of the Gulf of Mexico and South America.
#16
The Countie Pallantine Of Lancaster Described And Divided Into Hundreds, 1610
#17
The Psalter World Map, 1260 AD
The Psalter World Map, drawn by an unknown medieval monk in 1260 AD. Maps from this time period usually place the east at the top of the globe, where the sun rises and Jesus watches over the world.
Nowadays, arguably few people rely on good old unfoldable maps to get to their destination. It’s safe to assume that more people than not get around with the help of Google maps. As a matter of fact, in the US, at least, Google maps is the clear winner when it comes to leading mapping apps by downloads (based on data from 2023).
#18
Map Of Ancient Palaestina, 1859
Lady Eowyn 8 months ago
Well since things from the 2000s are being called vintage....
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David 8 months ago
This map also in the smaller print refers to the 12 Tribes of Israel and lists the tribes on the map. Palestina was the name the Romans gave the area after 135CE and the one until the 19th century a term only used by Christians or scholars who wrote in Greek or Latin, and historically that name and its derivatives are associated with European Colonialism (Rome, the Crusades, etc) and Christian rule.
Arlnee 8 months ago
there was an episode of The West WIng where the president was gifted an old map of the middle east and he wanted to hang it in the Oval Office but he was told he couldn't, because "it doesn't recognize Israel" (even though the map predated the country) and it would be sending a message and starting a diplomatic crisis.
David 8 months ago
except that map did say the 12 Tribes of Israel on it (people found the one used by the show which was a copy of a real map). Traditionally only Christians referred to the area as Palestine, because that is what it was known under Byzantine rule (because the Romans renamed it in 135CE). Until the 19th Century the Ottomans, like every other Islamic empire, called it Syria or Southern Syria. In the 19th Century the Ottomans adopted the Christian/European term of Palestine, but also divided it up into sub regions, like Judea became the Sanjak of Jerusalem for example.
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#19
Map Of The Ancient Roman World From Their Perspective
Roman Empire became the most dominant country globally by AD 98–117 through a mixture of military power, political adaptability, and economic enlargement. This enlargement drastically transformed the Mediterranean world.
MsPlants 8 months ago
I love looking at ancient and old maps mostly for how close or how very very wrong they got the shapes of the land masses when they were limited in how they could get around and used navigation by the stars. but this one really makes me giggle. I mean if you rotate it things are in the right position but it still is so funny
brookeannsimmer 8 months ago
This one is particularly interesting to me. It's interesting to see a nation put themselves at the center of a map but still try and include the entire known world
#20
Nicolaes Visscher Map, 1658
Nicolaes Visscher produced Orbis Terrarum Nova et Accuratissima Tabula, an etched double hemisphere map, in Amsterdam in 1658. Additionally, it includes scaled-down projections of the north and south poles. The painter Nicolaes Berchem drew four mythical images, one in each corner, to decorate the border, depicting Zeus, Neptune, Persephone, and Demeter. It is a vintage illustration of elaborate Dutch globe maps.
Tucker Cahooter 8 months ago
Interesting that this 1658 map has a better outline of Australia than the 1700 map above.
#21
Bunting Clover Leaf Map, 1581
The Bunting Clover Leaf Map, created by Heinrich Bunting in Germany in 1581, is a later Christian map. This map represents the world as an extension of the Christian trinity, with Jerusalem serving as the hub that binds it all together, rather than how it actually is.
BrunoVI 8 months ago
"Rather than how it actually is?" The Levant *is* at the junction of Africa, Europe and Asia, in a relative way. For such a broad schema, it's pretty good!
Forrest Hobbs 8 months ago
Mmm.... It'd be "pretty good" if it had been dated 1000 years previously. However, it's more than half a century after the first circumnavigation of the world https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumnavigation#History. It's not meant as a literal map, more of a figurative diagram trying to bind everything to the supposed heart of Christianity.
Load More Replies... #22
Map Of Old Prussia, And The Ancient Prussian Lands, 1584
MsPlants 8 months ago
before WWI and WWII that area of europe had so many little principalities and kingdoms and then the wars and bam they got combined and and divided and we have the countries that are there now. So many people dont know how intricate it was or even what, who and where this area is and how dang influential in history it was for sooooo many years
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 8 months ago
I am familiar with some it and it sounds like a mess.
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#25
Map Of Ancient Europe, Possibly After 1870
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 8 months ago
Someone's map of what they thought the ancient world looked like drawn centuries later. We still do the same thing today. Kind of surreal realizing that they were doing that 250 years ago too.
#26
Map Over Munich, 1740
Carl Roberts 8 months ago
Although the old city walls/ramparts no longer exist, you can see the original shape in satellite views today..... Screenshot...6a-png.jpg 
#27
World Map By Cosmas Indicopleustes, 6th Century
World map by Cosmas Indicopleustes from the sixth century, which shows the globe as a rectangular-shaped surface.
Forrest Hobbs 8 months ago
"Cosmas Indicopleustes" basically means "Cosmas who sailed to India" More here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmas_Indicopleustes
#28
Map Of The World According To Ptolemy, 1299 ; 1952
Debby Keir 8 months ago
Ptolemy lived in the 2nd century CE, so this is not a map 'drawn' by him. However, it's likely someone in 1299 produced what he tought 'would be' Ptolemy's map and this was reprinted in 1952.
#29
Ancient Map Of Black Sea, Circa 1559
Forrest Hobbs 8 months ago
Multiple styles of writing chosen to give an impression of each region - the map is hand drawn, so I'd guess that the wording is also hand-drawn.
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#34
Map Of The Ancient World, 1555
#35
Madeira - From An Ancient French Map, 1909
Lady Eowyn 8 months ago
I wouldn't think so, just old. But look at how many posts show things from only 40-50 years ago, hell, even a few decades ago, and you'll see how the definition of "ancient" varies by person.
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#51
Cherrier's New Map Of The Ancient Capital, 1882
#72
Ancient Map Of Decatur County, Iowa, 1875
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What do you think ?
Arlnee 8 months ago
I collect old map images, this totally hit all my buttons this morning and I grabbed every one I didn't already have :-) thanks!
Janissary35680 8 months ago
I collect images of old maps (can't afford the real deal) but I have never seen many of these before.
Load More Replies... nottheactualphoto 8 months ago
I was a little disappointed not to see any "T and O" maps. Even so, this was interesting and fun.
PenguinEmp 8 months ago
Love old maps but this is a new post with old photos of old maps from the last old photos one.
Arlnee 8 months ago
I collect old map images, this totally hit all my buttons this morning and I grabbed every one I didn't already have :-) thanks!
Janissary35680 8 months ago
I collect images of old maps (can't afford the real deal) but I have never seen many of these before.
Load More Replies... nottheactualphoto 8 months ago
I was a little disappointed not to see any "T and O" maps. Even so, this was interesting and fun.
PenguinEmp 8 months ago
Love old maps but this is a new post with old photos of old maps from the last old photos one.
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