Maps

"1491: The inclusion of places from Biblical history, classical times, and mythology emphasize that the function of the map was not to provide a picture of the world as it was in 1475. Rather the map presented an interesting view of the world with some essential things that a beginning student should know about it. The time did not matter. Thus places from different eras, real and mythological, were placed side by side. The map, like most of the other illustrations in the book, was a teaching aide, presenting basic information in graphic form.

Each of the details, the place names and the illustrations as well, was meant to tell a particular tale or to serve as a reminder of some aspect of a particular place. Unfortunately no explanation accompanies the map, and we are often forced to guess at the meaning of individual details. Thus the two men talking with one another in the Garden of Eden have been explained as either a teacher and his student (school is paradise?) or a Jew and a Christian seeking together the road of wisdom." Link and Link