{"it":{"id":"W11A16","kind":"artifact","sub":"Authenticated","name":"Piri Reis map","place":"Istanbul","mat":"parchment (camel skin per Bad Archaeology)","dims":"87 x 63 x 41 cm, eight colours (UNESCO nomination) vs 86 x 61 x 41 cm, nine colours (Bad Archaeology)","loc":"Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Istanbul, Revan Köşkü no. 1633","acc":"Revan Kosku Collection no. 1633","find":"came to light in the palace library 1924 or 1929 (both given in the UNESCO nomination)","flag":"genuine historical (1513)","src":[87,88,462],"lat":41.011,"lon":28.983,"tags":[],"sum":"In 1513 the Ottoman admiral Piri Reis drew a world chart, and wrote on it that for the lands in the west he had used a map drawn by Columbus. The surviving fragment turned up in the Topkapı Palace library in Istanbul. Writers on lost civilisations later claimed its bottom edge shows Antarctica before the ice.","why":"Turkish nominators to UNESCO call it the earliest cartographic record of Columbus's voyages; its fame outside history books comes from the Antarctica claim, which sceptical writers reject.","nfacts":8,"nsrc":7,"yt":"Overlay the southern coast on both South America and the Queen Maud Land subglacial topography.","rel":["W16A04"],"hook":"Piri Reis wrote on his map that he drew on older charts, including one by Columbus.","date":"drawn 1513"},"S":{"87":["Wikipedia Piri Reis map","https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"],"88":["UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"],"462":["Wikipedia: Piri Reis map","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map"]},"rec":{"id":"W11A16","alias":["ART010"],"ms":[{"a":"compiled_date","v":"1513 (Muharram 919 AH)","u":"date","unc":"","by":"Piri Reis","yr":"1513","m":"colophon","b":"S","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M049","s":["W11S21"],"c":"Wikipedia Piri Reis map","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"},{"a":"length","v":"87","u":"cm","unc":"","by":"UNESCO MoW nomination","yr":"2016","m":"","b":"V","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M058","s":["W11S21","W11S38"],"c":"Wikipedia Piri Reis map","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"},{"a":"width_top","v":"63","u":"cm","unc":"","by":"UNESCO MoW nomination","yr":"2016","m":"","b":"V","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M059","s":["W11S21","W11S38"],"c":"Wikipedia Piri Reis map","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"},{"a":"width_bottom","v":"41","u":"cm","unc":"","by":"UNESCO MoW nomination","yr":"2016","m":"","b":"V","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M060","s":["W11S38","W11S21"],"c":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","url":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"a":"illustrations","v":"58","u":"count","unc":"","by":"UNESCO MoW nomination","yr":"2016","m":"","b":"S","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M061","s":["W11S38"],"c":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","url":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"a":"source_maps_consulted","v":"34","u":"count","unc":"","by":"Piri Reis","yr":"1513","m":"map inscription","b":"S","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M062","s":["W11S38"],"c":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","url":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"a":"reconstructed_original_size","v":"140x165","u":"cm","unc":"recent study, unnamed","by":"UNESCO MoW nomination","yr":"2016","m":"","b":"S","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M063","s":["W11S38"],"c":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","url":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"a":"colours","v":"8","u":"count","unc":"","by":"UNESCO","yr":"2016","m":"","b":"S","t":"MEASUREMENT","id":"W11M064","s":["W11S38"],"c":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","url":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"}],"lab":[{"k":"Materials","v":"gazelle-skin parchment","b":"S","s":["W11S21"],"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"}],"eng":[],"ori":[],"gaps":[{"a":"find_circumstances","r":"not in staged/legacy artifact record (free sources)"}],"dat":[],"aa":[{"id":"AA089","a":"Shows ice-free Antarctica (Hapgood)","who":"popular AA literature/TV","main":"Compiled from earlier charts incl. Columbus; southern coast = distorted S. American coast (McIntosh 2000)","ms":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map ; McIntosh 2000 UGA Press ; https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf","st":"contradicted","n":"status from artifacts row; no new lab rows this batch","nl":1},{"id":"AA169","a":"~87 cm long, 63 cm wide at top, 41 cm at bottom","who":"Charles Hapgood 1966","main":"Compiled from Columbus & Portuguese sources; no evidence of land south of Cananeia","ms":"W11S21;W11S38","st":"contradicted","n":"","nl":"1"}],"ac":[],"me":[],"ci":[{"who":"Erich von Daniken","med":"book","ep":"Chariots of the Gods? (von Daniken, 1968)","v":"Shows Earth as seen from space","b":"S","s":["W11S117"]},{"who":"Erich von Daniken","med":"book","ep":"Chariots of the Gods? (1968)","v":"Shows Earth as seen from space","b":"S","s":["W16S04"]},{"who":"Erich von Daniken","med":"book","ep":"Chariots of the Gods? (Eng. pb, IA scan), ch.3 \"The Improbable World of the Unexplained\" (TOC p.13)","v":"Piri Reis maps handed to Arlington H. Mallery; precise Antarctic contours","b":"S","s":["W17S17"]}],"cq":[],"sd":[],"art":{"claimed_anomaly":"~87 cm long, 63 cm wide at top, 41 cm at bottom","mainstream_reading":"Compiled from Columbus & Portuguese sources; no evidence of land south of Cananeia","provenance_flag":"genuine historical (1513)","current_location":"Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul","find_circumstances":"rediscovered 1929 in Topkapi","claimant":"Charles Hapgood 1966","status":"contradicted","dimensions":"parchment (Wikipedia: gazelle skin)","material":"gazelle-skin parchment","date":"","culture":"","museum_accession":"Revan Kosku Collection no. 1633","b":"V","s":["W11S21","W11S38"]},"alias_rows":[{"id":"ART010","v":"Shows ice-free Antarctica (Hapgood)","main":"Compiled from earlier charts incl. Columbus; southern coast = distorted S. American coast (McIntosh 2000)","b":"V","s":[]}],"sub":[],"src":[{"id":"W11S21","t":"Wikipedia Piri Reis map","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"},{"id":"S0661","t":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","u":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"id":"W11S117","t":"Wikipedia: Chariots of the Gods?","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chariots_of_the_Gods%3F&oldid=1379551837"},{"id":"W16S04","t":"Wikipedia Chariots of the Gods?","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Chariots_of_the_Gods?&oldid=1379551837"},{"id":"W17S17","t":"von Daniken, Chariots of the Gods? English pb (Internet Archive OCR full text; saved prim/chariots_ia.txt)","u":"https://archive.org/download/chariots_of_the_gods/chariots_of_the_gods1_djvu.txt"},{"id":"W11S38","t":"UNESCO Memory of the World nomination 2016-34, Piri Reis map","u":"https://media.unesco.org/sites/default/files/webform/mow001/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"id":"S0576","t":"Wikipedia: Piri Reis map","u":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map"},{"id":"VW11A16-8","t":"Hapgood, Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings (Internet Archive)","u":"https://archive.org/details/HapgoodCharlesHutchinsMapsOfTheAncientSeaKings"},{"id":"VW11A16-9","t":"University of Georgia Press: McIntosh, The Piri Reis Map of 1513","u":"https://www.ugapress.org/9780820321578/the-piri-reis-map-of-1513/"}],"qs":["Hapgood saw ice-free Antarctica; historians see a bent coastline. How do we decide what an old map is really showing?","Piri Reis copied a lost Columbus chart. What did the maps behind his map look like?","If ancient sailors had mapped Antarctica, it would rewrite history. What evidence beyond a map would we need?"],"gal":[{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg/1280px-Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg","title":"Piri reis world map 01.jpg","lic":"Public domain","licurl":"","by":"Piri Reis","cap":"Map of the world by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis, drawn in 1513. Only part of the original map survives and is held at the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul. The map synt"},{"src":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/Topkapi_B16-07.jpg/1280px-Topkapi_B16-07.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail","page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Topkapi_B16-07.jpg","title":"Topkapi B16-07.jpg","lic":"CC BY-SA 2.5","licurl":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5","by":"User:Roweromaniak","cap":"Stambuł, pałac Topkapi, widok z Bosforu; Istambul, Topkapi palace, a view from Bosphorus"}],"article":{"id":"W11A16","mode":"rewrite-plus-quick-research","research":"quick","title":"The Piri Reis map: an admiral’s chart of a new world","dek":"An Ottoman admiral drew a world map in 1513 that copied a lost chart by Columbus. In the 1960s it was claimed to show Antarctica without its ice, a reading that collapses once the map’s own words are read.","byline":"The Nommo","updated":"1 Nov 2026","sections":[{"h":"The strangest true fact","p":["The oldest surviving map to show what Columbus saw in the Caribbean was drawn not in Spain or Italy but by an Ottoman admiral, and it turned up in an Istanbul palace library in 1929 [1].","Piri Reis signed it in Arabic and wrote that, for the lands in the west, he had used a map drawn by Columbus himself [1] [2]."]},{"h":"What it is and why it matters","p":["The map is a fragment of a world chart that Piri Reis made in 1513, now kept in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library in the Revan Köşkü collection under number 1633 [1].","Its Turkish nominators to UNESCO call it the earliest cartographic record of Columbus’s voyages, with place names given by Columbus himself [1].","It also carries more information on Cabral’s voyage to Brazil than any other surviving map [1].","Piri Reis presented the map to Sultan Selim I in 1517, and in 1521 he gathered his sailing knowledge into the Kitab i Bahriye, a book of sea directions with some 210 maps [2].","He wrote that he learnt of Columbus’s voyages from a man who had served his uncle Kemal Reis and had sailed with the Spanish captain three times [1].","The fame it has outside history books comes from a different claim, that the land along its bottom edge is Antarctica as it looked before the ice [2] [3].","That claim turned a working chart into a favourite exhibit for writers on lost civilisations and ancient astronauts [2] [3]."]},{"h":"Key data","p":["The nomination gives the parchment as 87 centimetres long, 63 centimetres wide at the top and 41 centimetres at the bottom, painted in eight colours [1].","Bad Archaeology gives 860 by 610 by 410 millimetres on camel skin, with nine colours of ink [2].","The map holds fifty eight illustrations, including eleven sea vessels, eighteen fortresses or walled cities and twelve parrots [1].","It has two large compass roses with thirty two points, plus three smaller ones [1].","Since a full portolan chart of the globe carries seventeen roses, the surviving piece points to a much larger original [1].","It is commonly held that the fragment is about a third of the whole, and one recent study puts the original at 140 by 165 centimetres [1].","Piri Reis wrote that he consulted thirty four old maps, by the nomination’s count [1].","His own source note, as quoted by Bad Archaeology, names twenty charts and world maps, eight maps from the time of Alexander, an Arab map of India and China and the Columbus map [2]."]},{"h":"How it was found","p":["The nomination says the map first came to light in 1924, when Halil Edhem was working to unite the libraries inside the palace [1].","The same document says it was found in 1929, when the German scholar Gustav Deissmann was studying manuscripts in the palace and recognised its importance [1].","Deissmann brought in the orientalist Paul Kahle, who published a copy of the map in 1931 [1].","In 1932 Yusuf Akçura published articles about it in The Illustrated London News, which spread its fame in Europe [1].","Because the original is fragile and sensitive to light, it is not on permanent display and comes out only on special occasions [1]."]},{"h":"The strongest cases, mainstream and alternative","p":["The mainstream case is that Piri Reis built his map from Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Arab and Turkish sources, exactly as he says [1] [2].","Bad Archaeology points out that the Caribbean place names come from Columbus’s second voyage, and that the odd shape of Hispaniola echoes how Cipango, or Japan, was drawn on charts Columbus trusted [2].","Cuoghi reads the southern land as the tip of South America, bent sideways perhaps to fit the shape of the parchment [3].","He also asks why, if the bottom edge were Antarctica, some 1,200 miles of Argentine coast would be missing and the southern land would stick out of Brazil [3].","He notes that a note beside it speaks of hot, barren land with large snakes, which does not fit Antarctica at all [3].","The alternative case began, according to Bad Archaeology, with a retired sea captain, Arlington Mallery, in 1956, and was taken up by the history teacher Charles Hapgood [2].","Bad Archaeology reports that Hapgood had to redraw the map on four separate grids at different scales and angles, finding five equators, and had to ignore the place names [2].","Erich von Däniken then repeated the ice free Antarctica reading and suggested the source must have come from extraterrestrials, in Bad Archaeology’s account [2].","Against any ice free coast in human times, research reported by Imperial College London shows permanent ice began forming on Antarctica around 34 million years ago [4]."]},{"h":"What is still unexplained","p":["No one knows exactly how much of the original map is lost, and the size of the whole remains a debated topic [1].","The lost Columbus chart that Piri Reis copied has never been found [2].","Cuoghi suggests a cluster of islands near the bottom may record an early sighting of the Falklands, though he says it is not officially documented [3].","Did a Portuguese pilot pass on a chart that no European archive kept?"]},{"h":"Related places","p":["The Oronce Fine map of 1531 was drawn into the same Antarctica debate."]},{"h":"A last thought","p":["Piri Reis wrote down his sources plainly on the map, which sets his work apart from most charts of his day [1].","The strangest thing about the Antarctica story may be that the admiral answered it himself, five centuries before anyone asked."]}],"sources":[{"n":1,"text":"General Directorate of Cultural Heritage and Museums, Republic of Turkey, and the Turkish National Commission for UNESCO, “The Piri Reis World Map (1513) in the Topkapı Palace Museum Library”, nomination form for the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, ID 2016-34, archived copy of the UNESCO PDF (UNESCO, government)","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/2020id_/http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/CI/pdf/mow/nomination_forms/turkey_world_map_piri_reis_en.pdf"},{"n":2,"text":"Fitzpatrick-Matthews, Keith, “The Piri Re‘is map”, Bad Archaeology (2011), archived copy via the Internet Archive (secondary, sceptical website by an archaeologist)","url":"https://web.archive.org/web/2024/http://www.badarchaeology.com/old-maps/the-piri-reis-map/"},{"n":3,"text":"Cuoghi, Diego, “The mysteries of the Piri Reis map”, English translation of a chapter first published in Gli enigmi della storia (2003) (secondary, art historian)","url":"https://www.cartageo.com/doc/Piri%20Reis%20ENG.pdf"},{"n":4,"text":"Imperial College London, “Study reveals where and when Antarctic ice sheet first formed”, news release on a study in Science, 8 July 2024 (university)","url":"https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/254678/study-reveals-where-when-antarctic-sheet/"}],"source_note":"Record figures checked against opened sources. Kept: Topkapı, Revan Köşkü no. 1633, 1513, 1929 (UNESCO). The 1924 first sighting given in the same nomination is shown beside 1929. Size 87 x 63 x 41 cm and eight colours (UNESCO) shown beside 860 x 610 x 410 mm and nine colours (Bad Archaeology). Hapgood, Mallery and von Däniken are described only through the two secondary critics. The record’s McIntosh rebuttal is not used because his book was not opened. Wikipedia sources from the record are dropped.","related":["W16A04"]}},"img":null,"md":null,"hh":[{"v":"1513","h":"World map compiled by Ottoman admiral Piri Reis","s":[196]},{"v":"Columbus","h":"Includes a partial copy of an otherwise lost map by Christopher Columbus","s":[196]},{"v":"Disproven","h":"The popular hypothesis that it shows Antarctica has been disproven","s":[196]},{"v":"parchment","h":"Recorded dimensions: parchment (Wikipedia: gazelle skin)","s":[197]}],"hs":{"196":["Wikipedia: Piri Reis map (and sources cited there)","https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piri_Reis_map"],"197":["Wikipedia Piri Reis map","https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Piri_Reis_map&oldid=1376840318"]},"lh":{"s":"img/h/W11A16.webp","w":1280,"h":1707,"o":"https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg/1280px-Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail"}}