History’s earliest known world map was scratched on clay tablets in the ancient city of Babylon sometime around 600 B.C. The star-shaped map measures just five-by-three inche… See more

Many elements of the science of cartography can trace their origins to the work of the Greek scholar Claudius Ptolemaeus, better known as Ptolemy. Around 15… See more

During the days when all roads led to Rome, the so-called Peutinger Map would have served as a handy guide to the Empire’s transportation network. The oddly shaped ma… See more

In the 12th century A.D., the renowned Muslim scholar al-Idrisi was invited to the court of the Norman King Roger II and asked to produce a book on geography. The result … See more

The Cantino Planisphere was once at the center of an act of cartographic theft. In 1502, an Italian duke commissioned an agent named Alberto Cantino to acquire a map of the … See more