The Map of Piri Reis (Research Paper Sample)

The Map of Piri Reis
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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Abstract PAGEREF _Toc437854098 \h 2Introduction PAGEREF _Toc437854099 \h 4The life of Piri Reis PAGEREF _Toc437854100 \h 6The Controversy PAGEREF _Toc437854101 \h 7The Map PAGEREF _Toc437854102 \h 14Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age PAGEREF _Toc437854103 \h 14Geometry and Latitude PAGEREF _Toc437854104 \h 17The Marginal Notes PAGEREF _Toc437854105 \h 19Cartography of the Piri Reis Map PAGEREF _Toc437854106 \h 19Europe PAGEREF _Toc437854107 \h 19North America PAGEREF _Toc437854108 \h 20South America PAGEREF _Toc437854109 \h 21Antarctica PAGEREF _Toc437854110 \h 23Secrets and Mysteries of the map of the Map PAGEREF _Toc437854111 \h 24Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc437854112 \h 25References PAGEREF _Toc437854113 \h 26
Abstract
The Piri Reis map has been since its discovery been used by researchers to make a point or prove in their researches, that the civilizations that existed were once advanced, and it is only at this time that the world is starting to get a grasp of the unknown events in consideration to the mysterious cultural decline. According to research one of the earliest civilizations, the Sumerians in Mesopotamia emerged abruptly out of nowhere in the 4000 B.C. and even with their advancement they do not have any nautical cultural heritage. The civilization though has a unique history as it speaks of worship of Nefilim, the ancestral individuals who acted as gods at that time in the Sumerians civilization.
A closer look at the Piri Reis map brings out a perfect depiction of the circumference of the earth to within fifty miles. The maps also give a clear indication of the Antarctica, and the conclusion that can be drawn from this is that the northern region must have been navigated long before the 4,000 B.C. since at this moment the region was free of ice from the last Ice Age (Zapp & Erikson, 1998).
The Piri Reis map is claimed to be one of the earliest maps that clearly show the American region. Early researchers and scholars argue that the map showed precise latitudes of the African and South American coastlines. This was 21 years after the voyages of Columbus, keeping in mind that Columbus did not discover North America; he only discovered the Caribbean. In the description, Piri Reis had written with his handwriting stated how he had compiled the map with help from ancient maps and sources. He also described how he supplemented his works with the charts drawn by Columbus. One can conclude that there were ancient maps that existed thus leading to the expedition by Columbus.
It is believed that through advanced civilization and to the extreme help from aliens or extraterrestrial beings. Piri Reis was able to come up with the map. Reason being that the map clearly and perfectly shows the Antarctica coastline. However this is not correct, the map does not give a clear depiction of the Antarctica since it does not show the subglacial coastline that corresponds to the existing coastline of the Antarctica around a big region of the content.
The Map of Piri Reis
Introduction
The Piri Reis map is the oldest surviving world map that was assembled in 919 according to the Moslem calendar. The date corresponds to 1513 when compared with the Western Calendar. Piri Reis at his time was a renowned Turkish shipmaster, shipmaster, cartographer, and a navigator; apart from these great qualities Piri of Reis, he was also an observer and a brilliant researcher. Piri Reis started his career as a navigator in the sixteenth century and at this time; the Ottoman Empire boasted a great military and political power. Piri Reis worked with under his uncle Kemal Reis, who was a great commander of the Ottoman Navy (Afetinan, 1992). Piri Reis was great in his navigation career and had to spend most of his time in the sea, especially the Mediterranean. He carefully observed the places that he went with a keen eye and with his experience and acquired skills in cartography; Piri Reis were able to create the first world map of 1513. The map shows some parts of the world including parts of West Africa, and Central and Eastern America (McIntosh, 2000). The map was originally drawn on a gazelle’s skin.
The map went missing for a long time, and it was then rediscovered in the 20th century with an approximately one third of the map surviving and It is kept in Istanbul in the archives of Topkapi Palace. The remaining piece of the map shows, the western coasts of Europe and North Africa and the coast of Brazil with a nicely estimated depiction. The map also shows the Azores, Canary Islands, and some other Atlantic islands. The map holds historical importance as it demonstrates the extent of exploration in years before the map was drafted and that the Columbus’s maps aid its existence (Hapgood, 1966).
The map is believed to claim its existence to ten Arab sources, a Columbus map, and Four Indian maps. The map has strongly attracted the interest of many historians since it seems to contain information that no European could have known in 1500,s. Thus, they think that there was at that time ancient technological civilizations and extraterrestrials who helped the Turkish admiral compile the map. However, Piri Reis’s notes seem to disagree since he admits that he copied and compiled from other ancient sources, inclusive of some that existed in the fourth century BC (Van Sertima, 1976).
The life of Piri Reis
History books do not give a clear date of birth of Piri Reis though he is assumed to have been born between 1465 and 1470. In 1500, during the Battle of Modon, where Ottoman Empire and Venice fought, he served as a shipmaster, and thus he must have been aged between 30–35 years of age for him to acquire that echelon. One this is for certain, Piri Reis was born in Gallipoli and given a birth name Muhiddin Piri before he was known as Piri Reis. Piri means an experienced man or master while Reis refers to a title given to a shipmaster. Piri Reis parents died around 1480–1481 when he began to work as a navigator. He gave out some details about his life in his works, as in his First World Map of 1513, he described where he was born as his genealogy and according to an Islamic calendar, and he highlighted the date of the map (Bennett, 1982). 
"This map was drawn by the poor man Piri, son of Haji Mehmed and the nephew of Kemal Reis, ‘may Allah have mercy on them both’, in the town of Gallipoli, in the month of Muharram of the year 919" (Hapgood, 1966).
As a navigator in 1480 to 1500, he dedicated his service as a sailor in the ship of Kernel Reis and until his uncle died in 1511, he served as the shipmaster in one of the ships under the command of his uncle. His uncle had skills of the sea, and Piri Reis knew this very well, thus, he benefited from his experiences, navigation skills, and knowledge of the sea. This made Piri Reis to improve in his observation and research qualities and concurrently become a better naval explorer. After his uncle had died, he chose to return home to Gallipoli. Here he decided to spend most of his time doing some scholarly works and drawing upon every kind of information he had gathered while he was at sea (Hapgood, 1966).
This is the period that he produced most of his works including his world maps. Suleiman the Magnificent, the Sultan at the time, made Piri Reis the captain of the Indian Fleet in 1547. In his command in 1550, the fortress of Muscat fell in his hands from the Portuguese. He then faced the Portuguese Navy when he wanted to capture the island of Hormuz and its fortress. It was a great fight that he succeeded in though the Portuguese Navy gave him a good fight that his ships faced a great damage, and he had no choice but to return to the Gulf of Basra to repair his ships and give his crew a chance to recover (Rudgley, 1999). 
Piri Reis had to secure the booty that he had captured and to do this; he decided to leave his ships in the Gulf and sailed to Egypt with three galleys; unfortunately, one sank on the way. On the other side the Kubat Pasha, Governor of Basra had a change of mind in repairing and maintaining of Piri Reis fleet. Kubat Pasha came up with an excuse that the oarsmen were misbehaving and thus drove the ships away from Basra. The planning of Kubat Pasha had failed as he had unjustly claimed a share of what Piri Reis captured as well as political ambitions. Piri Reis was charged with the refusal of failing to perform his duty for the state by the new Governor-General of Egypt, Mehmed Pasha. In 1554, Piri Reis faced trial, was found guilty, and thus faced a beheading decree that was ordered by Suleiman the Magnificent.
The Controversy
In the Piri Reis map, there is a clear indication of the coast of South America, the western coast of Africa, and a perfectly detailed coastline of the northern coast of Antarctica. This may make one wonder how it was possible for Piri Reis to draw a perfect map of the Antarctica region 300 years before the first men set sight on it. However, on the map, the coastline is under the snow.
The pieces of evidence from scientists clearly state that the ice-cap is very old, dating millions of years back. While if one takes a close look at the Piri Reis map, they will notice that the northern region has been mapped long before the ice covered. For this to happen Piri Reis had to exist long before humankind ever existed and this is just impossible since there was no life then (Wilson & McIntosh 2001).
Considering the reliable researches that have just been conducted recently, and prove that the period of ice-free condition up in the north started approximately 6000 years ago. One cannot entirely believe, results from other researchers who state that the ice-free period started between 13000 and 9000 BC. The ...