Germany: The Ebstorf mappa mundi (map of the world), Ebstorf, 13th century (facsimile)

The Ebstorf Map is an example of a mappa mundi (a Medieval European map of the world). It was made by Gervase of Ebstorf some time in the thirteenth century.

The map was found in a convent in Ebstorf, in northern Germany, in 1843. It was a very large map, painted on 30 goatskins sewn together and measuring around 3.6 by 3.6 metres (12 ft × 12 ft)—a greatly elaborated version of the common medieval tripartite, or T and O, map, centered on Jerusalem with east at the top. The head of Christ was depicted at the top of the map, with his hands on either side and his feet at the bottom. Rome is represented in the shape of a lion, and the map reflects an evident interest in the distribution of bishoprics.

There was text around the map, which included descriptions of animals, the creation of the world, definitions of terms, and a sketch of the more common sort of T and O map with an explanation of how the world is divided into three parts. The map incorporated both pagan and biblical history.

The original was destroyed in 1943, during the Allied bombing of Hanover in World War II. There survives a set of black-and-white photographs of the original map, taken in 1891, and several colour facsimiles of it were made before it was destroyed.

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Supplier: CPA Media Co. Ltd.

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