An Ancient Map in Reverse

A Greeland Map of  the "Ocean"

          One considers maps to be done only with latitudes and longitudes, but a long time ago, there was a need to make certain maps that could be read accurately, but not give information to the enemy.  The above "map" is one of those strange items found in books that are ignored because it is not a map of land, but of water.

          Nevertheless, it is a map of an island called Greenland, dated maybe 1194 AD. Very crudely drawn, but one can recognize what we now call the North Atlantic Ocean with various small, insignificant islands here and there along land masses with strange, awkward shapes, Yet, the cartographer did something that was not very well known, except to Ptolemy in the First Century AD. That cartographer, living in Alexandria, numbered the longitudes and the latitudes in detail. But for what reason?

          The Greenland version also has the longitudes and latitudes done in detail. There  are also the letters of the alphabet, starting, not with A, but with B at the bottom left of the map. These letters: B, A, C, D,E and F, appear to be marking various ports of call. The size and boldness of each letter probably indicated the importance of the port. 

          During the era of wooden ships, there would be many reasons to seek shelter, repairs or even food supplies. They could also deliver travelers who would then continue their journeys on land. 

However, this map seemed to have had a different purpose, that of subterfuge. 

          Was it solely to protect territorial waters from being over-fished by the competitors? Or were they protecting their fur suppliers. That would have been fine, but why does it have Baja California outlined on one side and Florida seemingly connected to the Yucatan on the other side of the map? 

          Yes, this could very well be my imagination, but the islands do seem to be lakes, inlets or harbors.  A cartographer  well-versed the ancient language of Greenland, might find that the words on the map are idiomatic phrases that had a variety of different meanings. 

          Was "subterfuge" the reason that water and land were reversed? Greenland is located much closer than Ireland, that of Saint Brendan's island. What political reason would there have been to subjugate their finds to a higher power?  And which higher power were the voyagers attempting to deceive?

          How were the Ptolemy map and the Greenland map connected? Only by latitudes and longitudes?  How was it possible to do the Longitudes and Latitudes of Ptolemy in the XIIth century, when they had not yet been calculated by Alfonso X, el Sabio in the XIIIth century who had originally placed them on his collection of  Ptolemy maps in 1238 AD? (Keller, John Esten (1967), Alfonso X, El Sabio)

More information can be found in the book called the Hidden Land. soon to be available on www.lulu.com.  Two other books are available there [1] The Popol Vuh, which is NOT a translation;
and [2] A Ten-Sun Day,  A more complete story about the nova and the comets that picked up its debris and carried it all to earth. This version has an interesting Persian reference.