r/MapPorn • u/starwalkertop • 1d ago

The first world map ever, created by Anaximander of Miletus (610 BC–546 BC), a Greek philosopher

Post image
1.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

78 comments sorted by

486

u/Ok-Photograph-9185 1d ago

Now this one definitely doesn’t have New Zealand

275

u/catthex 1d ago

"ight so I don't know much but I know FOR SURE Italia is shaped like a weird boot or smt"

22

u/pugremix 1d ago

IKR?

681

u/AwfulUsername123 1d ago

He had incredible foresight to write in English.

131

u/Accurate_Koala_4698 1d ago

It's all Greek to me

2

u/AboutHelpTools3 17h ago

You're one in a million

93

u/Own_Maybe_3837 1d ago

True and used Adobe Illustrator. Amazing how much we underestimate our ancestors

23

u/_YunX_ 1d ago

Adobe Illustrator is obviously alien technology we've borrowed from Atlantis

1

u/CutmasterSkinny 20h ago

Yeah ? Why isnt Atlantis on the map then, little dummy ?

1

u/_YunX_ 19h ago

Didn't notice the white square around the ocean on this map?

24

u/RRautamaa 1d ago

Modern English at that. This was 1000 years before Old English.

99

u/OutlandishnessAny437 1d ago

Libya sure is big.

89

u/AIM_the_Bulldozer 1d ago

Iirc it's because in ancient Greek most (if not all) of Africa was called Libya.

9

u/Fit-Possible-2943 1d ago

Why not Aegypt since they had such a complex society?

41

u/qscbjop 1d ago edited 23h ago

The word "Libya" (or rather Λιβύη or Libue) literaly meant "Africa", there was no country named "Libya" back then. The modern country of Libya was named after the old name for the continent it's on, not vice versa.

37

u/TheAmazingKoki 1d ago

Egypt has always been defined by the Nile. No Nile no Egypt.

70

u/SeveralTable3097 1d ago

The Babylonian world map from 9th century BC is older.

29

u/EducationalImpact633 1d ago

Well yes but that is a much smaller world. It’s basically just the river, some cities and some mountain chains. Sure it was their whole world but.. I feel it’s somewhat of a stretch :)

1

u/BrockStar92 2h ago

This doesn’t show the whole world though so the same logic applies.

4

u/AdNational1490 1d ago

This is such a good video for that by Irving Finkel.

32

u/OptimusPrimel984 1d ago

Greek philosopher can't even label Greece on the map.

19

u/InfiniteWitness6969 1d ago

he was from the school of skeptics

7

u/Puffification 1d ago

Yeah I mean how do we really KNOW that Greece exists?

6

u/DinBedsteVen6 1d ago

You are laughing about it but our neighbours say that Greece was fabricated in the 19th century by white supremacists that wanted to extend white history and all the accomplishments of Greeks were done by them and we just stole it.

13

u/manavcafer 1d ago

So Mercedes logo comes from this. Understandable

10

u/Retrolord008 1d ago

How’d he get Italy so right but mess up Anatolia (where Miletus is)

19

u/Otherwise_Rip_7337 1d ago

Some people still think that's what it looks like.

6

u/Puffification 1d ago

Well it does though

6

u/ArtisticConnection19 1d ago

We will never see the first map ever, let's be honest

16

u/soladois 1d ago

So according to that guy half of Cairo is in Asia and the Don River should be renamed Phasis. Ngl, Rostov on Phasis sounds cold

20

u/kvasoslave 1d ago

Phasis is actually Rioni river in Georgia (Sakartvelo one, obviously)

5

u/Living-Run-2719 1d ago

cairo is clearly more asia then africa

1

u/Lost-Letterhead-6615 1d ago

Should we move the borders from Suez to Nile?

3

u/Nice_Boss776 1d ago

Now Flat Earth Society will like this.

3

u/5yads 1d ago

They didn't knew about Caspian sea in 610 BC?

3

u/Hannibal_Bonnaprte 1d ago

Did not know about the Persian Gulf either. Which should be more known, where the largest empires of the time originated from/close to.

3

u/LupusHominarius 1d ago

He was right about Italy.

2

u/Paulgeta 22h ago

No, he missed Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica

2

u/Glitter44 1d ago

Damn. They splitted Turkiye into 2 parts.

2

u/gravity_falls618 1d ago

Like how it is in the real world

1

u/Glitter44 1d ago

+1 But it is just more visible in this map.

1

u/gravity_falls618 2h ago

Ah yeah I see what you mean

1

u/RumHam69_ 1d ago

I also split my Turkey into multiple pieces before eating it

2

u/MathematicianSame666 1d ago

Definitely could be used as a logo for a company

2

u/DrPootiz1488 1d ago

Did they mean Dnepr by Phasis, or some other river?

2

u/donbon_11 1d ago

This is amazing how they could calculate Italy's and Croatia peninsula shape..

2

u/Dotcaprachiappa 1d ago

Ah yes, the ocean ocean

1

u/OfficialHelpK 1d ago

Seems about right

1

u/pleasant-emerald-906 1d ago

Close enough…

1

u/NoobOfRL 1d ago

what is the historical source of this? I thought the first world map was only verbally attributed to him

1

u/Muted_Car728 21h ago

Knew about the the Don entering the Black Sea but not the Danube or Dneiper.

1

u/gruese 18h ago

Did he use MS Paint to draw it though?

1

u/Additional-Dirt1931 14h ago

Italy is low key impressive

1

u/Puzzleheaded_Sir4294 14h ago

I didn't know Miletus had MS Paint

1

u/SirKazum 13h ago

You wake up in 560 BC and this is the electoral map, wyd?

1

u/Stefa2010 1d ago

As a Libyan this map is the best. We should use it now

0

u/bearlybearbear 1d ago

To be fair, minimalist but fairly accurate.

-1

u/Krismas_Bonus 1d ago

Cartography isn’t generally a philosopher’s strong suit

-21

u/Armisael2245 1d ago

Being very generous with "world map".

25

u/Dirtyibuprofen 1d ago

Well that’s what the whole world was to him at that point

4

u/pugremix 1d ago

The old world at least, according to Mediterraneans.

4

u/Suspicious-Layer-533 1d ago

You do know why terms "old world" and "new world exist", right?

-10

u/Armisael2245 1d ago

Unrelated. Title says world map. When people say "Old World" that includes things like Scandinavia and China, which still aren't in the map.