1571 / 1601 Abraham Ortelius Map of Africa - Kingdom of Prester John

A fascinating map of central Africa issued by Abraham Ortelius in 1598. The map covers from the Bight of Benin to the Indian Ocean and from Arabia and the Red Sea to Mozambique. It includes two decorative cartouches as well as stylized images of African elephants. While the African coast exhibits considerable advances over earlier maps of the region, the interior of Africa exhibits a cartography primarily based on the literature of antiquity and little changed from the days of Ptolemy. Superimposed on these speculative lands is the legendary Kingdom of Prester John (Presbiteri Ioannis) – a persistent and popular figure in European folklore. Cartographically the map is derived from Gastaldi's 1564 eight-sheet wall map of Africa.

The Legend of Prester John

The legend of Prester John dates to about 1145 when a Syrian priest name Hugh traveled to Europe to canvas for a fifth Crusade. Hugh described Prester John as a great Christian king whose empire was located somewhere in India – the idea being that the two great Christian empires, that of John and that of the Pope, would together make war on the Saracens occupying the Holy Land, thus sandwiching the enemy between their two indomitable armies. About 20 years letter a curious letter began to circulate around Europe, purportedly by John himself, wherein the mythical King claimed to be some 562 years old and the ruler of the Three Indias. 'India' at this time referred not just to the subcontinent, but also to much of southern Asia. It was divided into three parts, Farther India or what is today India and Southeast Asia, Nearer India or the modern-day Middle east, and Middle India or the parts of Africa to the east of the Nile River. Having failed to pinpoint the Kingdom of Prester John in Asia, scholars as early as the 14th century began locating John's Kingdom in east Africa. Here they had a bit luck for explorers in the region, starting with the Francisco Alveres of Portugal in the 1500s, soon came into to contact with the Christian Solomonic Kings of Ethiopia or Abyssinia. The Coptic Ethiopian Emperor David II fit the mold of the 'Prester John,' and Alveres believed him to be a descendent of the legendary John, thus firmly entrenching the mythical kingdom Prester John on maps of east Africa well into the 18th century.

Descriptive Text on the Map

In the upper left corner, a strapwork cartouche is topped by a coat of arms, supposedly of Prester John. The text reads, in translation:

Honorary title of Prester John/King David is the highest of my Kings. [I, Presbyterius Ioannes], specially chosen by God, pillar of faith, born from the tribe of Judah, son of David, son of Salomo, son of the pillar of Zion, son from the seed of Jacob, son of the hand of Maria, son of Nahum's flesh, son of the holy Peter and Paul in mercy, emperor of upper and great Aethiopia, and of the legal grounds and countries of the most elevated kingdoms; king of Goa, Caffates, Fatigar, Angota, Baru, Balinguanza, Adea, Vangua, Goiama where the Nile has its sources, of Amara, Banguamedrum, Ambea, Vangucum, Tigremahon, of Saba, homeland of the Queen of Saba, of Barnagassum and Lord of all of Namibia, extending all the way to Egypt.

In Nubia, or Southern Egypt and northern Sudan, another note reads:

Nubia was once a Christian kingdom, but now they do not apply themselves to religion at all. The region is very rich in gold and ivory, and yields sugar and fruits in great abundance. Its main city is Dangala, whose inhabitants are very wealthy, and they trade with Egyptian merchants. Here they make many shoes and bags. Their houses are covered with chalk and straw.

On the east coast, a small island Socotra, merits its own note,

The isle of Zocotra, once called Dioscoriada. From here they export to us excellent aloe, which for this reason is called Zocotorina. The inhabitants call it Catecomar, the Turks, Persians and Arabs call it Cebar, the Spanish Acebar, and the Portuguese call it Azeure, according to Garcias ab Horto in his History of Spices.

. Other notes describe the Arabian Peninsula and the Niger.

Ptolemaic Sources of the Nile

The map follows the Ptolemaic model with regard to the course of the White Nile and its source in two great lakes – the Zaire Lacus (Zembre Lacus) and the Zaflan Lacus, themselves in the foothills of the Mountains of the Moon or Lunae Montes, located at the base of the map. The Blue Nile, which has its source is modern day Ethiopia, is expressed as a complex network of rivers and valleys bearing little resemblance to reality – though the observer will note that many of the place names, Amara, Tigre, Dobas, and Dangali, do reflect real places and remain in use today.

Publication History and Census

Ortelius first issued this map in 1571. There are two states, this being the second, identifiable by the hachuring around Africa being extended from 3 to 6 cm. It was published until about 1641 in various edition of the Theatrum Orbis Terrarum. The preset map was issued in the 1601 Latin edition of the Theatrum, of which 200 were made. Including all editions, Ortelius printed 7300 examples of this map, although it is impossible to know how many might have survived.