• RECONSTRUCTED HISTORIC MAPS
  • GUIDED DISCUSSION
• STORY OF THE HALF-DROWNED SAILOR
• MONSOON WINDS
• OVERVIEW MAP OF IMPORTANT ENTREPOTS

• Where are we? 
• Who were these people? 
• What did they know? 

The Maps: 
 

Print size Detail size	A. Hecataeus of Miletus was well-travelled. This map is based on his writings in Description of the Earth. Written in approximately 500 B.C., it shows some knowledge of India. (Wheatley, p. 123) Anaximander of Miletus is credited as being the first person to draw a map of the world. This map by Hecataeus, also of Miletus, is similar to the one described by Herodotus. (Berthon, p. 19)
Print size Detail size	B. Herodotus, the Greek historian, travelled throughout the Mediterranean world. This map shows his knowledge of Indian people, the Indus River, and the Indian Ocean which was called the Erythraean Sea. It dates to approximatelyb 450 B.C. Herodotus had travelled extensively throughout the Mediterranean and collected information about Asia.  Beyond India lay unknown and uninhabited deserts..."for the Indians live the furthest towards the east and the sunrise of all the Asians with whom we are acquainted or of whom we know by hearsay. Eastwards the country of the Indians is a sandy desert." (Wheatley, p. 124) "I cannot help but laughing at the absurdity of all the mapmakers--there are plenty of them--who show Ocean running like a river round a perfectly circular earth, with Asia and Europe of the same size." Herodotus said of the three known continents (Europe, Asia, and Africa) "Europe is as long as the other two put together, and for breadth is not, in my opinion, even to be compared with them." (Berthon, p. 19) Herodotus wrote about the Egyptian king Neco who reigned from 616 to 600 B.C. and who sent out a fleet of Phoenician ships to sail south on the Red Sea to attempt to sail around the east coast of Africa. Although the Phoenician records are lost, the voyage was said to have taken nearly three years before the ships entered the Mediterranean at the Pillars of Hercules (Strait of Gibralter). Said Herodotus, "These men made a statement which I do not believe myself, that they sailed on a westerly course 'round the southern end of Libya. They had the sun on the right -- to northward of them." Herodotus could not believe that Africa was so large as to extend into the southern hemisphere.  (Berthon, p. 20)
Print size Detail size	C. This map was based on information gathered by Eratosthenes. He was the librarian at Alexandria and this map dates to the early 200's B.C. (Wheatley, p. 125.) Because of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, knowledge of Asia greatly increased during the century before Eratosthenes (334-323 B. C.). As the librarian at Alexandria, his ideas were based on the records of various government officials and envoys who had traveled as far as India. This map clearly shows Sri Lanka, known as "Taprobane" as well as the mouth of the Ganges River. Southeast Asia was not mentioned in his writings. (Wheatley, p. 124) Eratosthenes was a brilliant mapmaker. He was the first person to calculate the circumference of the earth based on the position of the sun on the summer solstice and the location of the cities Alexandria and Syrene. His result was within 200 miles of what we know today: 24,862 miles around the earth.  (Berthon, p. 25)
Print size Detail size	D. Strabo, the author of a seventeen volume encyclopedia about the known world, believed that the inhabitable world was twice as wide as it was long.1600's A.D. (Berthon, p. 21, 22, & 25.) Strabo's extraordinary writings in the seventeen-volume encyclopedia Geography (18 A.D.) contained all the known information about the human, animal and physical world. He believed that the inhabitable world was twice as broad as it was long. Strabo did not believe ships or humans could survive travel south into the "torrid zone" where seas were so large they were uncrossable. From his travels he learned of Meroe (Khartoum) and the "cinnamon country" to the south. He proposed the idea that spices came from the Indies, and he correctly described the shipping routes between the Mediterranean Sea and India. (Berthon, p. 25) (Suarez, p. 65)
Print size Detail size	E. In 43 A.D. the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela was the first to mention the Southeast Asian islands of Chryse and Argyre, legendary lands of gold and silver. (Wheatley, p. 128-129.) In 43 A.D. the Roman geographer, Pomponius Mela, was the first writer to make specific reference to Southeast Asia in his popular book on geography. For the next thousand years his mention of Chryse and Agyre were used to describe the legendary islands.  He wrote, "Apart from those areas too warm for human settlement, the region between the Indus and the Ganges is occupied by black peoples resembling Ethiopians. BetweenColis andTamus the coast runs straight. It is inhabited by retiring people who garner rich harvests from the sea . . . In the vicinity of Tamus is the island of Chryse ; in the vicinity of the Ganges that of Argyre. According to olden writers, the soil of the former consists of gold, that of the latter is of silver; and it seems very probable that either the name arises from this fact or the legend derives from the name." Pomponius Mela saw the need to balance the landmass on one side of the world with a counter-earth he named Antichthon. (Wheatley, p. 128-129) (Berthon, p. 33)
Print size Detail size	F. The ancient world as depicted by Ptolemy in 150 A.D. Notice that the continent of Africa extends far to the south, joining Asia in the far east. The Indian Ocean is a large sea. (Miller, p. 276.) Claudius Ptolemy influenced geography for more than one thousand years. Born in Egypt, he wrote two great works, the Almagest (on astromomy) andGeography while librarian at Alexandria from 127 - 150 A.D. Knowledge of Asia, and the "Golden Peninsula" of Southeast Asia in particular, was described by the geography Marinus of Tyre. Ptolemy used his writings as the foundation for his Geography. His work in astronomy was largely based on the ideas of Hipparchus of Rhodes (three hundred years earlier) who proposed divicding the length and breadth of the world by 360 degrees. Miscalculations of the earth's circumference by later geographers caused Ptolemy to use figures for a much smaller world. This map shows lines of latitude and longitude not accurate by today's coordinates. Ptolemy's map shows Africa extending all the way to Asia, ending the idea that it was surrounded by water. Instead the Indian Ocean becomes a vast inland sea. The region called "Terra Incognita" was designed to balance the global landmass. Ptolemy's achievement was to depict the earth as a sphere on a map with curving coordinates of latitude and longitude. More than 1,300 years later, his ideas were rediscovered during the Renaissance. (Berthon, p. 32-36) (Suarez, p. 63-64)
Print size Detail size	G. Dionysus Perigetes (the Tourist) depicts the world in the second century, A.D. The Erythraeum Sea surrounds the known world.Chyse, "the Golden" is shown.  This summary of the world was made in the 2nd century, A.D. by Dionysus Periegetes (Dionysus the Tourist) so that readers might show "their superior knowledge among the ignorant." Precise locations seem less important than the vivid descriptions he gives. "And when your keel has ploughed the deep waters of the Scythian Main, your route turns toward the Eastern Sea and brings you to the Island of Chryse, situated at the very rising of the sun. . . But if on leaving the northern climes, you direct your vessel across the sea towards the light of the sun at its fiery rising, you will see the Golden Island with its fertile soils." (Wheatley, p. 131-133)
Print size Detail size	H. The thirteenth century "Beatus" map shows Paradise from which flows the four rivers: the Ganges, the Nile, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Based on the Judeo-Christian belief in Adam and Eve's banishment from the Garden of Eden, this map places Paradise in Southeast Asia. (Suarez, p. 70) Medieval European maps, showing the Judeo-Christian belief in the bansishment of Adam and Eve from Paradise due to Original Sin, depict Southeast Asia as the site of the Biblical Eden. This early 13th century "Beatus" map shows four rivers which were believed to flow from there, the Ganges, Nile, Tigris and Euphrates. The islands of Chryse and Argyre are shown directly off the coast of Paradise. Travelers' accounts of Southeast Asia reinforced this idea. "Within this wall there were the fairest and most crystal fountains in the whole world: and about the said fountains there were the most beautiful virgins in great number, and goodly horses also, and in a word, everything that could be devised for bodily solace and delight, and therefore the inhabitants of the country call the same place by the name of Paradise."  (Suarez, p. 69-70)

Debrief the "ancient map" activity through discussion. Prepare overhead transparencies of the eight maps to give additional details.  Elicit comments from students: 

• What can we tell by examining these maps? 
• What was the Mediterranean view of the world? 
• What do students recognize as accurate? 

(Note: student maps have been"simplified"with extraneous place names deleted. Background information above for each is provided for the teacher. Students can label additional places on their maps.)

 

The importance of the monsoon winds to the ancient sea trade cannot be overstated. The term "monsoon" refers to the seasonal weather conditions (storng winds and heavy rains) which characterize the climate of much of Asia. Blowing in alternate directions over the same routes at half-yearly intervals, the monsoon winds were used by Arab and Indian sailors to navigate long distances across the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Using this knowledge to their advantage, Arab and Indian traders were able to dominate the lucrative market by concealing the true source of their cargoes (Southeast asia and India) for centuries. Mediterranean sailors from Egypt and Rome were fearful of open-sea sailing and their ships "hugged the coastlines." They did not possess the navigational knowledge (the monsoon wind patterns) until the first century BC, when a marooned Indian sailor revealed the secret to Egyptian officials. During the century that followed, Rome's direct trade with India mushroomed in response to an ever-increasing demand for the luxury goods from Asia.

To underscore the ancient quest for geographic knowledge, read   the "Story of the Half-Drowned Sailor." Use a world map to   indicate what the ancient Egyptians learned about the location of   India and the importance of the monsoon winds. 

Sailing manuals (such as the Periplus) instructed skippers on the best months to depart from one port (using the winds) to quickly navigate to other distant ports. The return voyages would likewise be planned to take advantage of the reverse currents.

To indicate the location of the monsoons, draw arrows to show the seasonal winds (July and January) on the large classroom map. Direct students to "pencil" arrows on their maps to show the same.

Discuss how these winds would affect trade. Students should understand that sailors would stay for days or weeks at a particular port to wait for favorable weather. Ask students to consider where such ports were likely to be situated.

Monsoon Winds Map (Print Size) 

Monsoon Winds Map (Detail size) 

Using the teacher's map as a guide, help students label the major trading centers from the Mediterranean to Southeast Asia during the first century A.D. The grid map is provided for students to enlarge the map for a wall display. These trading centers (or entrepots) will be the bases for the Trade Simulation.

It is important to introduce the geography of the spice routes into the context of the ancient world. Most students know the location of China and India, but many will be unfamiliar with the geography of Southeast Asia.

As a teaching aid for this unit, the class will construct a large wall map for the study of the trading network. This can be a math activity in enlargement or the map can be made using an overhead projector (with map on transparency) traced onto butcher paper attached to the wall. Label oceans and rivers.

Entrepots:
To identify major centers of trade along the maritime spice route, introduce the term entrepot. To define the word, ask students, "What physical factors would make a good trading center? What other characteristics can they recognize? (Answers will include a varity of things we associate with port cities such as Oakland or Long Beach). Use the definition of entrepot to expand their understanding of this term. (See vocabulary.)

Guide students to label their maps to show the following entrepots:

• Rome
• Alexandria (Roman)
• Aromata (East Africa)
• Musa (Arabia)
• Barygaza (India)
• Muziris (South India)
• Oc Eo (Cambodia)
• Cattigara (China)

Questions:

What geographic factors made these locations the logical sites for entrepots in ancient times? (The sites are near major rivers where cities were already located. They are destinations affected by the monsoon winds). Do you notice any places shown on the ancient maps seen earlier?  

Teacher's Map  Print Size Detail   Student's Map  Print Size Detail Grid Map for Enlargement  Print Size Detail