Sirâdj al-Dîn Abû Hafs Ibn al-Wardî: Cosmography. 1031 A.H. (A.D. 1622).
Department of Oriental and Judaica Collections, Cod. Arab. XCIII

The world with Mecca in the centre

Arabic cosmography by Sirâdj al-Dîn Abû Hafs Ibn al-Wardî (d. 1446). This copy was made in 1622. The map shows Mecca as the hub of the world. South is up, with the Nile rising in the Mountains of the Moon in Bilâd al-sûdân (Land of the Blacks); to the west the Strait of Gibraltar with the Maghreb to the south and Andalusia to the north; to the east in the squares are the names Sind (approximately equivalent to Pakistan), Tibet, and China; to the north east are the Turks, and the Land of the Slavs is to the north west; to the far north – alarmingly near the position of Denmark – the Devil’s Winter Quarters are located.
This copy was acquired in Cairo 1761/62 by F.C. von Haven, a member of the Carsten Niebuhr expedition, the Arabian Journey, to the Middle East 1761-1767.

20.5 x 16 cm.

© Det Kongelige Bibliotek 2004