How did humans imagine the universe during the Ancient and Middle Ages?
Jul 22

在古代和中世纪，人类是如何想象宇宙的？
7月22日


Image by NASA comparing the Fra Mauro map, 1459 with a satellite image of the world. NASA notes the map was remarkably accurate for the time, despite the limitations.

美国国家航空航天局将1459年的弗拉毛罗地图与卫星拍摄的世界地图进行了比较，NASA注意到，尽管存在局限性，但这张地图在当时非常精确。
图片来源: 维基共享资源

HHave you ever wondered how ancient explorers travelled to a new country? Because of a lack of accurate calculations, understanding of map making, also known as cartography, was at a primitive stage. Humans did not know how vast their planet was. Often, a country’s borders appeared to encompass the entire universe.

你有没有想过古代的探险家们是如何到达一个新的国家的？由于缺乏精确的计算，人们对地图制作(也称为制图学)的理解还处于原始阶段，人类不知道他们的星球有多大，通常，一个国家的边界似乎包围了整个宇宙。

As cultures traded knowledge and trade expanded, so did the art and science of mapmaking. On the world map, we identified cultures that had never been encountered before. The equator, tropics, and North and South Poles were all located.

随着文化交流知识和贸易的扩大，绘制地图的艺术和科学也随之扩大，在世界地图上，我们发现了以前从未遇到过的文化，赤道、热带和南北极都分布在这里。

In the 15th century, the age of discovery began. However, prior to the age of discovery, the frontiers of nations and their territories were not properly defined.

15世纪，地理大发现时代开始了，然而，在发现时代之前，各国的边界及其领土并没有得到适当的界定。

Maps began by describing mythical regions, such as the Babylonian World Map, and became increasingly detailed over time, assisting explorers in finding alternative routes. Let us look at ten world maps before the age of discovery, which tell us a story of human exploration.

地图从描述神秘的地区开始，例如巴比伦世界地图，并且随着时间的推移变得越来越详细，帮助探险家寻找替代的路线，让我们看看发现时代之前的十幅世界地图，它们告诉我们一个人类探索的故事。

I took Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the Americas in 1492 as the starting point for the Age of Discovery. Though there had been world journeys prior to 1492, such as Chinese admiral Zheng He’s explorations, Christopher Columbus’ voyage sparked a worldwide interest in discovering new territories.
As a result, using 1492 as a reference point appears to be justified.

我把克里斯托弗·哥伦布1492年对美洲的航行作为 "发现时代 "的起点，尽管在1492年之前已经有过世界航行，比如中国的郑和将军的探险之旅，但克里斯托弗·哥伦布的航行激发了世界范围内发现新领土的兴趣。
因此，使用1492作为参考点似乎是合理的。

Babylonian map of the world (6th century BCE)

巴比伦世界地图 (公元前6世纪)



巴比伦世界地图，已知最古老的地图 图片来源: 维基共享资源

The Babylonian world map, which dates from the sixth century BCE, is the oldest found map. The reconstructed map depicts Babylon on the Euphrates River’s banks, surrounded by a circular continent. A “bitter river” or an ocean encircles the kingdoms of Assyria and Urartu (modern Armenia). It depicted the city of Babylon and the Euphrates River as rectangles. You’ll notice circles surrounding the rectangles. These represent the cities of Assyria and Susa.

巴比伦世界地图可以追溯到前6世纪，是迄今发现的最早的地图，重绘后的地图描绘了幼发拉底河两岸的巴比伦，周围环绕着一个圆形的大陆，一条 "苦河 " 或者一片海洋环绕着亚述和乌拉尔图王国(现代的亚美尼亚)，它把巴比伦城和幼发拉底河描绘成长方形，你可以注意到矩形周围的圆圈，这些城市代表亚述和苏萨城（古波斯城市）。

There are eight outlying places drawn as triangles, with details for five of them surviving. According to the Babylonians, these were places beyond human settlement and contain mystical descxtions. The third region, for example, is a spot where “winged birds cannot reach.” In the fourth region, “the light is brighter than the sun and the stars,” whereas in the fifth region, “the sun cannot reach,” resulting in total darkness.

有八个偏远的地方被画成了三角形，其中有五个地方的细节被保存下来，根据巴比伦人的说法，这些地方超出了人类的定居范围，并且包含了神秘的描述，例如，第三个区域是“有翼鸟类无法到达的地方”，在第四个区域，“光线比太阳和星星还亮”，而在第五个区域，“太阳无法到达”，导致完全黑暗。

Eratosthenes’ world map (276- 194 BCE)

埃拉托色尼世界地图(公元前276-194年)
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处




埃拉托色尼（公元前三世纪希腊天文学家、数学家和地理学家）

World map according to Eratosthenes, 19th century reconstruction. Image source: Wikimedia Commons

埃拉托色尼世界地图，19世纪重绘 图片来源: 维基共享资源

The exploits of Alexander the Great in Persia and India offered valuable information to Greek polymath Eratosthenes( 276–194 BCE). Prior to him, Europeans did not know how big Asia was. They had a clearer understanding of its vastness now.

亚历山大大帝在波斯和印度的发现为希腊博学者埃拉托色尼 ( Eratosthenes，公元前276-194年) 提供了有价值的信息，在他之前，欧洲人不知道亚洲有多大，他们现在对它的广阔有了更清楚的了解。

Eratosthenes was the first geographer to incorporate medians and parallels into his world map. This shows that he was fully aware of the Earth’s spherical nature. The map was more accurate than its predecessors and helped with a better understanding of Asia and Africa. Africa was known as Libya in ancient times.

埃拉托色尼是第一个将平面线和平行线纳入世界地图的地理学家，这表明他完全意识到了地球的球形本质，这张地图比以前的地图更加精确，有助于更好地了解亚洲和非洲，非洲在古代被称为利比亚。

Strabo’s world map (64 BCE- 24 CE)

斯特拉波世界地图(公元前64年 -24年)


Strabo’s world map from his notable work Geographica. Image source:

斯特拉波的世界地图 来自他的著名作品《地理》图片来源：维基共享资源

Strabo’s 17-volume Geographica was one of the most well-researched publications in the ancient world. It documented the history of people and locations all across the earth.

斯特拉波的17卷本《地理》是古代世界中研究最深入的著作之一，它记录了世界各地的人和地点的历史。

Strabo cited Eratosthenes’ and astronomer Hipparchus’ writings for their mathematical expertise, but he considered his comprehensive descxtive method was better suited to understanding geography.

斯特拉波的著作引用了埃拉托色尼和天文学家希帕尔库斯的数学知识，但他认为他的全面描述方法更适合于理解地理学。

Strabo included a map of Europe in Geographica. His descxtions of different regions were used to rebuild the map of the entire world as shown above.

斯特拉博在《地理》中包括了一幅欧洲地图，他对不同地区的描述被用来重绘如上所示的整个世界的地图。

Ptolemy’s world map ( c.150 CE)

托勒密世界地图(公元前150年)


Oldest surviving map of the world according to Ptolemy, dating to 14th century. Image source:

现存最古老的世界地图，根据托勒密的说法，可以追溯到14世纪
图片来源: 维基共享资源

Ptolemy’s world map, drawn around 150 CE, was the first to employ a mathematical approach to cartography. For centuries after his death, world maps were created using the ideas devised by him.

托勒密世界地图，绘制于公元150年左右，是第一个采用数学方法绘制的地图，在他死后的几个世纪里，世界地图都是根据他的想法创作的。

Ptolemy, or Claudius Ptolemaeus, was a Greek polymath who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. He wrote the Geography, an eight-volume treatise that comprised mathematically calculated descxtions of locations around the world.Original Ptolemy maps have not survived to this day, and the oldest maps based on his drawings were discovered in the 13th century Byzantine Empire.

托勒密，或者托勒玫，是一个住在埃及亚历山大的希腊博学者，他写了一本名为《地理学》(Geography)的专著，共有八卷，其中包括用数学方法计算了世界各地的地理位置，最早的托勒密地图已经不复存在，基于托勒密绘制的最古老的地图是在13世纪的拜占庭帝国发现的。

Ptolemy’s map was exceptional back in those days, including depictions of far-flung countries previously unknown to Europeans. Iceland and Korea were two examples of countries that he identified using geometric projections of latitudes and longitudes. India was shown between the rivers Indus and Ganges, albeit with a reduced peninsula. This was the first time a European cartographer presented an approximation of the Indian subcontinent’s size.

托勒密绘制的地图在那个年代是非同寻常的，它描绘了欧洲人以前不知道的遥远国家。
冰岛和朝鲜是他通过纬度和经度的几何投影确定的两个国家，印度位于印度河和恒河之间，尽管半岛面积减小，这是欧洲制图师第一次提出印度次大陆大小的近似值。

The accuracy was amazing for the time, yet Ptolemy made some obvious mistakes, such as depicting the Indian Ocean as a sea. The map helps in understanding the extent of Roman trade with India and China, although China is not included on the map. Roman trading ports were shown extensively in the map.

在当时，其准确性是惊人的，然而托勒密犯了一些显而易见的错误，比如把印度洋描绘成一片大海。
这张地图有助于了解罗马与印度和中国之间贸易的范围，尽管中国不在地图上，但罗马的贸易港口在地图上标示得很清楚。

Tabula Peutingeriana: All roads lead to Rome (4th century CE)

波伊廷格地图: 条条大路通罗马 (公元4世纪)


Part of the Tabula Peutingeriana covering the Dalmatian coast, Adriatic sea, southern Italy and the North African coast. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

部分波伊廷格地图覆盖达尔马提亚海岸、亚得里亚海、意大利南部和北非海岸
图片来源: 维基共享资源

The Tabula Peutingernia was an illustrated map of the Roman Empire’s roadways. Historians claim the map was created by the Roman general Agrippa during Emperor Augustus’ reign. But no original records of the map from Augustus’ reign were found. But there are strong hints in the map to suggest it was commissioned during Augustus’ reign ( 31 BCE- 14 CE). Konrad Peutinger, a 16th-century German scholar, restored the map, and it is named after him.

波伊廷格地图一幅绘罗马帝国道路的地图，历史学家声称，这幅地图是罗马将军阿格里帕在奥古斯都大帝统治时期绘制的，但是没有发现奥古斯都统治时期地图的原始记录，地图上有很强的线索表明它是在奥古斯都统治时期(公元前31-14年) 委托绘制的，16世纪的德国学者康拉德 · 佩廷格尔修复了这张地图，并以他的名字命名。

The map depicts Europe, Asia (including the Middle East, Persia, and India), and North Africa. It includes the city of Pompeii, which was destroyed by Mount Vesuvius’ volcanic explosion in 79 CE. It shows a temple of Augustus at the coastal city of Muziris, which was on the Malabar Coast of the Indian state of Kerala. These are the strongest indicators that the map was much older than its accepted date of 4th century CE.
The Tabula Peutingernia was a one-of-a-kind representation of the world map that was intended for travelers and included itineraries for places along Roman highways.

这张地图描绘了欧洲、亚洲(包括中东、波斯和印度)和北非，其中包括公元79年被维苏威火山爆发摧毁的庞贝城，这张图展示了印度喀拉拉邦沿海城市穆吉里斯的一座奥古斯都神庙，这个城市位于马拉巴海岸，这些都是最有力的证据，表明这幅地图的年代比公认的公元4世纪要早得多。
波伊廷格地图是一幅为旅行者准备的独一无二的世界地图，包括了罗马公路沿线的地方路线。

The T and O map by Isidore of Seville ( c 636 CE)

塞维利亚的伊西多尔绘制的T-O地图(公元636年)


Diagram of the T-O world map from 12th century copy of Etymologiae. Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

T-O世界地图，出自12世纪的《词源学》手抄本
图片来源:维基共享

Isidore of Seville, a Spanish scholar and clergyman, created the T and O world map, also known as the Isidorian world map, in the 7th century. The map divides the world into three sections along the letter T, with Asia, Europe, and Africa portrayed as continents. In his work, Etymology, Isidore explains the map as follows:

西班牙学者、牧师伊西多尔(Isidore of Seville)在7世纪绘制了T-O世界地图，也被称为伊西多尔世界地图，地图沿着字母 T 将世界分为三个部分，亚洲、欧洲和非洲被描绘成大陆，在他的著作《词源学》一书中，伊西多尔对这幅地图的解释如下:

“The [inhabited] mass of solid land is called round after the roundness of a circle, because it is like a wheel […] Because of this, the Ocean flowing around it is contained in a circular limit, and it is divided in three parts, one part being called Asia, the second Europe, and the third Africa.”
— Etymologiae, chapter 14, de terra et partibus.

“有人居住的大片固体陆地被称为‘圆’，因为它就像一个轮子...... 围绕着它流动的海洋被包含在一个圆形的极限中，它被分成三部分，一部分被称为亚洲，第二个部分是欧洲和第三个部分是非洲。”
——词源学，第14章

Isidore of Seville believed the Earth was round, and his descxtions covered just half of the globe, maybe the known inhabited areas of the world at the time to cartographers.

伊西多尔认为地球是圆的，而他的描述只覆盖了半个地球，也许是当时地图绘图者已知的有人居住的地区。

Mahmud al-Kashgari’s world map (1072)

马哈茂德·喀什噶里世界地图 (1072年)


Mahmud al Kashgari’s world map from his book Diwan Lughat al-Turk. Image source:Wikimedia Commons.

马哈茂德·喀什噶里世界地图源自其著作《突厥语大辞典》
图片来源:维基共享

In his book the Compendium of the Languages of the Turks, Uyghur scholar Mahmud-al Kashgari created a different world map than the ones made by Europeans. This world map was more Asia-centric, with Balasagun, a former Sogadian metropolis in contemporary Kyrgyzstan, at its centre. In contrast European maps had Jerusalem as the center of the Earth, probably due to its religious significance.

马哈茂德·喀什噶里在他的《突厥玉大辞典》一书中创造了一个与欧洲人不同的世界地图，这幅世界地图更加以亚洲为中心，以当代吉尔吉斯斯坦的前索加迪大都市--巴拉萨贡为中心，相比之下，欧洲地图将耶路撒冷作为地球的中心，这可能是由于其宗教意义。

The Caspian Sea is in the north, China and Japan are in the east, Iraq, Armenia, and Egypt are in the west, Hindustan (Northern India) and Kashmir are in the south according to al-Kashgari’s map.
The map’s red lines depict mountain ranges, while the blue lines represent rivers.

根据马哈茂德·喀什噶里地图，里海在北部，中国和日本在东部，伊拉克、亚美尼亚和埃及在西部，印度斯坦(印度北部) 和克什米尔在南部。
地图的红线表示山脉，蓝线表示河流。

Tabula Rogeriana (1154)

Tabula Rogeriana地图（1154年）


Reconstruction of Al-Idrisi’s world map by German cartographer Konrad Miller. Image source:Al-Idrisi:Wikimedia Commons

由德国制图师康拉德米勒重建的穆罕默德·伊德里西世界地图
图片来源: 维基共享

During his service to King of Sicily Roger II, Moroccan geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi created one of the most accurate maps of the time, the Tabula Rogeriana. To expand on the knowledge of Africa, the Far East, and the Indian Ocean, al-Idirisi combined the information compiled by Greek, Roman cartographers, as well as descxtions of the world by Arab traders.

在为西西里国王罗杰二世服务期间，摩洛哥地理学家穆罕默德·伊德里西创造了当时最精确的地图之一——Tabula Rogeriana，为了扩展对非洲、远东和印度洋的了解，穆罕默德·伊德里西将希腊、罗马制图师编纂的资料以及阿拉伯商人对世界的描述结合起来。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


He also interviewed European travelers and compiled their responses to explain the people’s politics, climate, and culture. Al-Idrisi covers seven climate zones in his book. The calculation of the Earth’s circumference was quite precise for the time, with an error of 10% of the actual value.
The map is still considered one of the most important maps of all time.

他还采访了一些欧洲旅行者，并收集了他们的回答，以解释当地的政治、气候和文化，穆罕默德·伊德里西在他的书中涵盖了七个气候区，地球周长的计算在当时是相当精确的，误差为实际值的10% 。
这张地图仍然被认为是有史以来最重要的地图之一。

Da Ming Hunyi Tu ( c 1389)
China’s Da Ming Hun Yi Tu world map. Image sourceWikimedia Commons.


大明混一图 (公元1389年)
图片来源: 维基共享

The Da Ming Hunyi Tu, or the Amalgamated Map of the Ming Empire, is the world’s oldest surviving map from the Far East. The Chinese Ming Empire takes up most of the map. It showed Japan and Korea as larger than India.

大明混一图 ，或称明帝国混合地图，是世界上现存最古老的远东地图，中国明朝占据了地图的大部分，这幅地图中日本和韩国比印度大。

Africa is depicted as quite small compared to its true boundaries, but it was one of the first maps to display the Cape of Good Hope, Africa’s tip. This became significant later in history when navigators realized it was possible to go to Asia from Europe by circumnavigating the Cape of Good Hope.

与真实的边界相比，非洲被描绘成一个相当小的地方，但是它是最早展示非洲好望角的地图之一，这在后来的历史上变得意义重大，因为航海家们意识到，从欧洲环绕好望角航行到亚洲是可能的。

Fra Mauro World Map (1459)
The Fra Mauro World Map, 1459. Image source : Wikimedia Commons


弗拉 · 毛罗世界地图(1459年)
图片来源: 维基共享

The Fra Mauro map, created by the Venetian monk and geographer Fra Mauro, is often regarded as the pinnacle of medi cartography. The map was the most precise global map made prior to the beginning of the Age of Discovery.

由威尼斯僧侣和地理学家弗拉 · 毛罗绘制的弗拉毛罗地图，通常被认为是中世纪制图学的顶峰，这张地图是地理大发现时代开始之前制作的最精确的全球地图

When Mauro created his world map, it was the largest map in the world. There are four spheres in each corner of the map.
It depicted the Earth as a globe, with the tropics of Capricorn and Cancer, the Equator, the North Pole, and the South Pole in the upper left corner. Moving clockwise, we can find the garden of Eden at the top right. The solar system, adapted from Ptolemy’s depiction of the universe, can be found in the bottom right of the map. Finally, the four elements earth, fire, wind, and water are shown in the bottom left corner.

毛罗绘制的世界地图是当时世界上最大的地图，地图的每个角上都有四个球体。
它把地球描绘成一个地球仪，摩羯座和巨蟹座在热带地区，赤道、北极和南极在左上角，顺时针方向移动，我们可以在右上角找到伊甸园。
太阳系，改编自托勒密对宇宙的描述，可以在地图右下角找到，最后，左下角显示了土、火、风、水四种元素。

Mauro, when creating the map, disregarded several established conventions. He did not show Jerusalem as the centre of the universe. European charts placed the East on top of the map, whereas Arab maps placed the South on top. North was at the top of Ptolemy’s map. Mauro positioned the South on top of the global map based on nautical calculations of the period.
Mauro’s observations were based on current scientific understanding, and he was not afraid to challenge preconceived assumptions.

在绘制地图时，毛罗忽略了一些既定的惯例，他没有把耶路撒冷当成宇宙的中心，欧洲的地图把东方放在地图的顶部，而阿拉伯的地图把南方放在地图的顶部，托勒密地图将北方置于顶端，根据当时的航海计算，毛罗将南方定位在全球地图的顶部。
毛罗的观察是基于当时的科学理解，他不怕挑战先入为主的假设。

The early maps from ancient and medi period provided valuable information and helped shape the science of cartography. These maps were used by future generations of explorers to navigate around the world.

古代和中世纪的早期地图提供了有价值的信息，有助于形成制图学，这些地图被后代的探险家用来环游世界。
原创翻译：龙腾网 http://www.ltaaa.cn 转载请注明出处


Christopher Columbus was one such adventurer who tried to find a short route to China. Contrary to popular belief he did not set out to prove the Earth was Round. We can see from this story European and Middle Eastern scholars already understood that Earth was round. Despite that, the myth is propagated till this date. Read the story below which debunks the Flat Earth and other middle ages myths.

克里斯托弗·哥伦布就是这样的一个冒险家，他试图找到一条去中国的短途路线。
与人们普遍认为的相反，他并没有着手证明地球是圆的，我们从这个故事中可以看出，欧洲和中东的学者已经知道地球是圆的，尽管如此，哥伦布证明地球是圆的这个流言一直流传至今，下面的故事揭穿了地平说和其他中世纪的神话：
链接：关于中世纪你不应该相信的7个流言