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A T and O map or O–T or T–O map (orbis terrarum, orb or circle of the lands; with the letter T inside an O), also known as an Isidoran map, is a type of early world map that represents world geography as first described by the 7th-century scholar Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) in his De Natura Rerum and later his Etymologiae (c. 625) [1]
Utilizing the contemporary medieval styled T-O map of the time, the map is a biblically inspired map which shows Jerusalem drawn in the centre of the circle; east is on top, showing the Garden of Eden in a circle at the edge of the world (1). [38] Great Britain is drawn at the northwestern border (bottom left, 22 and 23).
T-O maps were designed to schematically illustrate the three land masses of the world as it was known to the Romans and their medieval European heirs. The larger mappae mundi have the space and detail to illustrate further concepts, such as the cardinal directions, distant lands, Bible stories, history, mythology, flora, fauna and exotic races.
The Map was a greatly elaborated version of the medieval tripartite or T and O map; it was centred on Jerusalem with east at the top of the map. It represented Rome in the shape of a lion, and had an evident interest in the distribution of bishoprics. [30]
Traditionally, western European medieval mappaemundi, or world maps, have been divided into two categories: T–O maps and zonal maps. T–O maps are named as such because of their tripartite structure – a T rests inside an O, dividing the world into the three known continents.
In European history, "post-classical" is synonymous with the medieval time or Middle Ages, the period of history from around the 5th century to the 15th century. It began with the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and merged into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery .
The map was found in a convent in Ebstorf, northern Germany, in 1843. [2] 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 map (), centered on Jerusalem with east at the top.
The map was unusual in the Islamic cartographic tradition for incorporating many non-Muslim sources. Historian Karen Pinto has described the positive portrayal of legendary creatures from the edge of the known world in the Americas as challenging the medieval Islamic idea of an impassible "Encircling Ocean" surrounding the Old World.