This map hails from a 1525 edition of Claudius Ptolemy’s "Geographia", a text originally written in the 2nd century. This atlas allows the viewer to spatially orient religious beliefs and mythologies; illustrations throughout the book depict legends and belief systems across the world. Showing part of India, this particular map features a pictorial rendering of the "Daksha yajna," an important event in Hindu scripture in which Daksha, a son of Brahma, held a "yajna," or sacrifice. Following a series of arguments, Daksha’s daughter, Sati, meditated to the point of self-immolation. Grief-stricken, her husband, the god Shiva, beheaded Daksh/a and replaced his head with that of a goat. Shiva then wandered the universe with Sati’s body, scattering her ashes in holy places. These became the Shakti Peetha, sacred places throughout modern-day India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tibet, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
Map of part of India, the Arabian Sea, and part of the Arabian Peninsula.
Relief shown pictorially.
Includes names of places and natural features.
Descriptive text within ornamental borders on verso.
Appears in the author's Geographia, translated by Willibald Pirckheimer, with annotations by Joannes Regiomontanus. Argentoragi [i.e. Strasbourg] : Iohannes Grieningerus, communibus Iohannis Koberger impensis excudebat, anno a Christi Natiuitate 1525 tertio Kal[endas] Apriles.
Text in Latin.
Cataloging, conservation, and digitization made possible in part by The National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor.
Atlas scanned by Internet Archive http://archive.org/details/claudiiptolemaei00ptol
Notes (exhibitions):
Exhibited: "Crossing Boundaries: Art // Maps" organized by the Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library, 2018-2019.
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