In that which we inhabit, the only seas indicated are the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Asia appears at the east, Europe to the north, and Africa to the south. The other continent to the south of the equator, which is not marked, is Antichthonia.
In a map of the world engraved on a medal of the fifteenth century during the reign of Charles V. there is still a reminiscence of the ideas of the concealed earth and Meropides, as described by Theopompus. We see the winds as cherubim; Europe more accurately represented than usual; but Africa still unknown, and a second continent, called Brumæ, instead of Antichthonia, with imaginary details upon it.
Fig. 50.—The Map of Marco Polo.
If such were the ideas entertained amongst the most enlightened nations, what may we expect among those who were less advanced? It would take us too long to describe all that more Eastern nations have done upon this point since the commencement of our present era, but we may give an example or two from the Arabians.
Fig. 51.—Map on a Medal of Charles V.
In the ancient Arabian chronicle of Tabari is a system founded on the earth being the solid foundation of all things; we read: "The prophet says, the all-powerful and inimitable Deity has created the mountain of Kaf round about the earth; it has been called the foundation pile of the earth, as it is said in the Koran, 'The mountains are the piles.' This world is in the midst of the mountain of Kaf, just as the finger is in the midst of the ring. This mountain is emerald, and blue in colour; no man can go to it, because he would have to pass four months in darkness to do so. There is in that mountain neither sun, nor moon, nor stars; it is so blue that the azure colour you see in the heavens comes from the brilliancy of the mountain of Kaf, which is reflected in the sky. If this were not so the sky would not be blue. All the mountains that you see are supported by Kaf; if it did not exist, all the earth would be in a continual tremble, and not a creature could live upon its surface. The heavens rest upon it like a tent."
Another Arabian author, Benakaty, writing in 1317, says: "Know that the earth has the form of a globe suspended in the centre of the heavens. It is divided by the two great circles of the meridian and equator, which cut each other at light angles, into four equal parts, namely, those of the north-west, north-east, south-west, and south-east. The inhabited portion of the earth is situated in the southern hemisphere, of which one half is inhabited."
Ibn-Wardy, who lived in the same century, adopted the idea of the ocean surrounding all the earth, and said we knew neither its depth nor its extent.