Newsgroup: it.discussioni.misteri
Titolo: Antica mappa dell'Africa (inglese)

Siccome mi sembra di aver notato un paio di interessati al discorso mappe
(Diego su tutti), ecco questo link in cui mi sono appena imbattuto:
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/science/184409.htm
Riporto per chi legge off line
---
Ancient map of Africa poses questions
The unveiling in South Africa's parliament on Monday of a replica of an
ancient Chinese map of the then known world which includes a recognisable
outline of Africa is raising intriguing questions of which foreigners first
explored the continent.
"The idea is to take us beyond what we have been ... brainwashed into
believing" declared Speaker Frene Ginwala at the opening of the exhibition,
which includes other maps and rock art.
The "Da Ming Hun Yi Tu", the Amalgamated Map of the Great Ming Empire, dates
back to 1389, decades before the first European voyages to Africa.
Among recognisable features are the Nile River and South Africas Drakensberg
mountain range.
The map also shows a great lake, covering almost half the continents land
mass. Researchers suggest it may have been drawn on the basis of an Arab
legend that stated "farther south from the Sahara Desert is a great lake,
far greater than the Caspian Sea".
(The biggest lake in Africa, Lake Victoria, is in fact only a fifth of the
size of the Caspian Sea.)
"We have the worlds best researchers working on it," said parliaments senior
researcher Heindri Bailey, who was hesitant about drawing conclusions from
it.
"Until we are able to gain the knowledge we wont speculate on it."
The original of the map is housed in Beijing where it has remained wrapped
up, sealed and stowed behind a locked door since the fall of Chinas last
emperor in 1924. Fewer than 20 people have had access to it since then.
The digitised reproduction of the map on silk is almost four metres (around
12 feet) high and more than four metres across.
Place names are written mostly in Manchu, a now virtually extinct language,
and still in need to be translated.
Karen Harris of the historical and heritage studies department at the
University of Pretoria said that as early as the 1st century AD records had
been found in China mentioning places in Africa.
"They had the capability, definitely," she said. "Theres not so much
evidence to prove it, but it isnt a closed book yet."
Harris said that at the time the Chinese were seeking tribute and not trade
for the emperor and therefore would not have set up bases or left behind
significant markings as was the case with Europeans.
This, she said, would make it difficult to uncover evidence in support of
Chinese having been there, adding: "You wouldnt find human remains because
the Chinese took their bodies back to their ancestral lands."
But Bailey said some circumstantial evidence existed in South Africa to
suggest the Chinese had navigated around Africa long before Bartolomeu Dias
rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1488.
"Chinese pottery has been found in (South Africas northern) Limpopo Province
dating back to around the 13th century and there's rock art in the Eastern
Cape depicting Chinese-looking characters," Bailey said.
British amateur researcher Gavin Menzies, a submarine engineer, argues in
"1421", a book which came out this month, that Chinese admiral Zheng He
circumnavigated the globe between 1421 and 1423, 100 years before the crew
of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who was killed en route.
Zheng He, a eunuch who never travelled with fewer than 300 ships, the
biggest carrying 1000 people, is long known to have visited Asia, India,
Gulf countries, and Somalia, from where he took back giraffes and lions.
The official history also mentions "Franca" (France and Portugal) and
Holland, with the Hollanders described as tall people with red hair and
beards.
To meet them in their homeland, Zheng He would have had to sail round the
southern tip of Africa.
This is the first time that a copy of the map has been shown outside China.
The original is a derivative of an even earlier one dated 1320, which was
believed to have been destroyed.
That was before Zheng He's birth (he lived from 1371 to 1435), which deepens
the mystery.
Some of the later European maps on show in parliament illustrate dragons,
snakes and one-eyed monsters in the inland regions.
---
M.

 
http://cooltech.iafrica.com/science/184409.htm
Strana quella carta e interessante l'articolo. Fino ad ora avevo visto
solo alcune carte cinesi che rappresentano anche l'Africa, ma non
quella. Eccone alcune, tratta da questa miniera:
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/227A.html
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/236.html
http://www.henry-davis.com/MAPS/LMwebpages/236A.html
In particolare si vede che l'ultima immagine è molto simile a quella
citata nell'articolo che segnali e presenta il grande lago al centro
dell'Africa. 
-- 
D i e g o  C u o g h i
 
www.diegocuoghi.com

 dell'Africa.
vero, sempre piů interessante l'argomento, auff... averci tempo da
dedicare...
M.