Galichian R., Historic Maps of Armenia the Cartographic Heritage
.pdfFig. 60
Map of the ‘Turkish Empire’ from Abraham Ortelius’ (1528–98) atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in Amsterdam, in Latin in 1595. It is on page 110 of the atlas. Ortelius’ atlas was so popular that it had 41 editions in a variety of languages and the later editions contained 219 fullsized maps.
For biographical details of Ortelius see Section 10 of ‘A brief history’, above.
The map shows the Turkish (Ottoman) Empire and the adjacent countries. Part of Armenia, extending to Lake Van is called Turcomania and is located within Turkey. Lake Van is called Akhtamar, which is the name of the island located in the lake. The map is very distorted, showing the city of Bachu (Baku) and Lake Van south of the Caspian Sea. The name Bingul appears twice near two different lakes, creating further confusion regarding the identity of the lakes. This was a
common feature in maps of the time, which were copied from each other. |
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British Library – London, Maps C.2.d.6 |
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Fig. 61
This map, entitled ‘Alexandri Magni Macedonis Expeditio’, is Map Z from Abraham Ortelius’ (1528–98) atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in Amsterdam, in Latin, in 1595.
ThemapcoversthegeographicalareathatAlexanderconquered,startingwithIndiaandextending to Anatolia and Greece. In this map the two Armenian lakes Areesa and Thospitis are shown, whichareinfacttheArmeniannamesgiventothesamelake(ArjeshandToshpa).Inallprobability here they refer to the lakes of Van and Urmia, which are incorrectly shown connected with a river and being the source of the River Tigris. This error manifests itself in many maps of the same era.
The inset in the bottom left-hand section of the map is the Oracle of Ammon Jupiter. The cartouche is the dedication of the map by Ortelius to Henrico Schotio of Antwerp.
Size49x37cm
British Library – London, Maps C.2.d.6
Fig. 62
This map, entitled ‘Peregrinationis Divi Pauli Typus Corographicus’, is Map D from Abraham Ortelius’ (1528–98) atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in Amsterdam, in Latin, in 1595.
The map depicts the countries that St Paul visited during his pilgrimages, including Armenia Minor, but Armenia Maior has been omitted from the area covered. The map has two scenes from histravels.
There is also a quotation from the Bible (Corinthians 5, Chapter 2, verses 6–9) pertaining to the travels.
Size49x37cm
British Library – London, Maps C.2.d.6
Fig. 63
This map, entitled ‘Romani Imperii Imago’, is Map G from Abraham Ortelius’ (1528–98) atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, published in Amsterdam, in Latin, in 1595.
The map shows the area covered by the Roman Empire, including part of Armenia. It depicts the genealogy of the emperors as well as a short history of the Roman Empire, inside one of the cartouches.
The two medallionsonthemapareinscribed‘Rome, yournameisfatedtoruletheWorld’and‘To Romulus, the founder of the eternal city’.
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British Library – London, Maps C.2.d.6 |
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Figs 64 & 65
These two maps are from Giovanni Antonio Maggini’s (1555–1617) edition of Ptolemy’s Geography, engraved in 1596 and printed with Italian text in Venice during 1597 to 1598.
The maps are ‘Tabula III Asiae’, which is the map of Armenia Maior, Iberia, Colchis and Albania, with Armenia Minor starting from the west of the map, and ‘Tabula IIII Asiae’, which is the map of Mesopotamia, Syria, Cyprus and the Arabian Desert, with Armenia MaiorandMinoratthenorthernborders.Thetextsspecifythenames of some of the towns, which are continued on the subsequent pages (notshown).
Map sizes are 17x12cm each
Private collection – London, Ref. RG65A/B
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for map numbers 67 and 68 see the next spread
Fig. 66
Jodocus Hondius’ (1563–1612) map of ‘Armenia Maior, Iberia, Colchis et Albania’ is from his MercatorAtlas,itselfbasedonPtolemy’sGeography.Theatlaswasfirstprintedin1605,withnumerous later editions. This example was revised by Jodocus Hondius and was published by his sons in 1698.
The map has a simple decorative cartouche placed in the Caspian Sea and Mercator’s sea serpent in the Black Sea.
There are two major lakes shown in Armenia Maior, Thospitis and Arssis (Arjesh), both of which in Armenian refer to Lake Van. Locations of towns and cities are very approximate, a feature common to Ptolemaic maps. Armenia Minor starts from the western edge of the map. Atropatene (Azerbaijan) is shown to the south of the River Arax, within the territory of Media (Persia).
As in Fig. 55 and the other editions of Ptolemy’s maps, the towns of Armenia that are easily recognizableareThospitis (Van),Artameta, Ataxata (Artashat), Armauira (Armavir),Tigranocerta, Baugauana (Bagrewan), Arsamosata (Arshamashat), Naxuana (Nakhijevan), Chorsa (Kars) and Terva (Yerevan).
Size 45x34cm
Private collection – London, Ref. RG25
Fig. 67
Thismapofthe‘TurkishEmpire’isfromGerardusMercator’s(1512–94)Atlas sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura,publishedbyJodocusHondiusinAmsterdamin 1619. The map is found between pages 345 and 346 of the atlas.
ThisisanotherdecorativemapoftheTurkish(Ottoman)EmpirefromMercator’satlas,depicting the area ruled by the Sultan. This map is very similar to Ortelius’ map of the same title, and errors inthenamesandshapesofthelakesandtownsarerepeated.(SeeFig.60.)Incomparisonwiththe map of Ortelius relating to the same area, the Caspian Sea here is shown curved slightly upwards, and more details of the areas outside the Ottoman Empire are given.
Size47x37cm
British Library – London, Maps C.3.c.8
Fig. 68
This map of ‘Armenia’ by Philip de la Rue, printed in 1653, describes the four regions of Armenia, GreaterArmenia,Second,ThirdandFourthArmenia,asitwasduringtheeraofEmperorJustinian
(485-565CE).
In this map once again the names of the two lakes (Van and Urmia) are given as Thospia and Arsiss, which in fact are both names given to Lake Van in Armenian. The area of Atropatene (Azerbaijan) is shown within the territory of Media (Persia), to the south of the River Arax.
Size 52x38cm
Private collection – London, Ref. RG28
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