Mysterious Piri Reis Map- The Beginning
The story about the map begins in 1501, only nine years after Columbus' famous discovery, when Kemal Re'is (Kemal Reis), a sea captain captured the Ottoman fleet of seven ships near the coast of Spain. Examining the trapped sailors, Kemal Reis finds sailors who sailed on one of Columbus' ships, moreover, in the era of the maritime maps were invaluable and a closely guarded secret, this sailor was in possession of map of the New World that was made by none other than Christopher Columbus! Kemal Reis seized his map, kept, and then bequeathed to his nephew Piri Re'is [Reis], who was also a naval officer in the Ottoman fleet.
His passion was cartography, and his high rank opened him privileged access to the Imperial Library of Constantinople. The story goes that the Piri Reis started to work on the new map in 1511, and he intended to make a map that would incorporate all recent Spanish and Portuguese discoveries. To create this map, he used a dozen of different maps from several sources collected during his many travels. According to him, eight of these maps dating back to the time of Alexander the Great from the fourth century BC. He used the Arab map of India, four Portuguese maps of China and the Indian Ocean as well as the legacy of his uncle, a map of the western areas made by Christopher Columbus. Piri Reis does not specify the origin of the other maps that he used.
The controversy
Piri Reis map shows the western coast of Africa, the eastern coast of South America and the northern coast of Antarctica. The map shows the coast of Antarctica in incredible detail. One of the puzzles is how Piri Reis managed to draw such a precise map of Antarctica whole three hundred years before this continent was discovered. The real problem arises when we try to answer the question of how he managed to draw coastal area under the Antarctic ice with such precision. Irrefutable saying that the Queen Maud Land last time was without ice some 6.000 years ago before, around 4 000 years before Christ!
The official science asserts that the Polar ice cap that covers Antarctica about a million years old. Piri Reis map reveals that the northern part of the Antarctic researched before it was covered ice. This suggests that a map of the area was made a million years ago, but it would be impossible because the human race did not exist at that time. Newer and more accurate studies have proven that this part of the northern coast of Antarctica last time was without ice before 6,000 years ago. There is still disagreement in the scientific community as to when the last ice age ended and different states indicate the period between 9 000 and 13 000 years before Christ. Therefore, the biggest mystery is who is then compiled detailed map of the land at north coast of Antarctic 6,000 years ago. Which unknown civilizations possessed the technology that was able to successfully complete such a project?
