On Oct. 29, 1929, researchers looking through old, disregarded documents at the Library of Topkapi Palace in Istanbul, Turkey unexpectedly stumbled across one of the most important artifacts in world history – the Piri Reis map.
Lost since the 1500s, the map’s discovery caused an international sensation as experts scrambled to explain its mysteries. No wonder: the map revealed entirely new and previously unimagined insights into the voyage of Christopher Columbus, the continent of Antarctica, even the very history of humanity itself.
Yes, the Piri Reis map is real … and it’s spectacular.
Who Was Piri Reis And Why Is He Important?
Piri Reis was born in 1465 in the historic seaport of Gallipoli, then part of Ottoman Turkey. He began his career at sea sailing alongside his uncle, a notorious pirate and later an admiral in the Ottoman navy, participating over the course of more than 30 years in many naval battles.
After his uncle died suddenly during a storm in 1511, Piri Reis returned to Gallipoli and began what would truly become his life’s work – the study of navigation. It was through this work that Piri Reis became one of the most influential maritime figures in world history.
In 1521, Reis put the finishing touches on The Book of Navigation. Known as “one of the early geographical masterpieces,” it contained detailed maps of the harbors and shores of the known world, alongside meticulous notes on everything from settlements to shipbuilding. The book would serve as a guide to captains in the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas for 300 years.
Yet, The Book of Navigation was not the most incredible thing Piri Reis produced during his career. No, that came years earlier, in 1513, when Reis put together the most detailed map of the world ever created at that time.
The Creation of The Piri Reis Map In 1513
To construct his historic map, Piri Reis used 20 different maps and charts collected from different cultures and different points in history. There were eight Ptolemaic maps from 2nd century Greece, four Portuguese maps, one Arabic map; most significantly, there was even one map drawn by Christopher Columbus himself during his journey to the New World only 20 years prior, which Reis had fortuitously acquired in 1501 from a captured seaman who had been with Columbus.
He combined all his sources into one comprehensive final form – the Piri Reis map. As one inscription on the map simply put it, “No one now living has seen a map like this.”
Despite being one of the most incredible documents human beings had ever produced, the Piri Reis map was eventually lost to history, forgotten about for hundreds of years, until it was surreptitiously rediscovered in 1929.
As modern scientists, researchers, and naval experts all over the world got their hands on copies of this historic artifact, they began to notice remarkable, almost unbelievable features.
The Piri Reis Map Has Amazingly Accurate Geography
First, the Piri Reis map displayed an extraordinary knowledge of global geography. It showed the western coasts of Europe and North Africa, the continent of South America, as well as numerous islands throughout the ocean.
Moreover, it had lengthy notes written by Piri Reis himself, telling the stories behind the places on the map, a sort of running commentary on the maritime history of humanity. There were detailed notes on Columbus’ first voyage, including his difficulties obtaining sponsorship and his encounters with native populations; there were notes on Cabral’s accidental discovery of Brazil in 1500, and even notes on the voyage of St. Brendan, a 6th century Irish monk who discovered an island in the North Atlantic he called “the promised land of the saints.”
Think about how closely guarded maritime information was at this time – the secrets of the seas were what empires were built on. For Piri Reis to have all of this information in one place was truly extraordinary.
But there was more than that …
The Piri Reis Map Shows South America in Impossible Detail
Experts quickly noticed something which could not be explained, the incredible detail in which the Piri Reis map showed South America. How was this possible? Piri Reis used the map of Christopher Columbus, but Columbus had only been to the Caribbean; he had not visited nor mapped South America.
Even the European expeditions which had, by 1513, only just begun to map the South American coast had not mapped inland. Yet, the Piri Reis map showed inland geographical features – the Andes Mountains, rivers, territories, even animals.
The only explanation seemed to be that Columbus must have had access to local maps which showed him these things. In other words, like Piri Reis, Columbus had created his map not only from what he had seen directly, but from the maps of others.
The Piri Reis Map Uses Advanced Spherical Trigonometry
Upon closer examination, researchers noticed something even more unbelievable. It was clear that the map was using advanced spherical trigonometry in its measurements, a technique unavailable in the West until the 18th century.
Prior to that point, it was impossible to accurately determine a ship’s latitude in the Southern Hemisphere, since the only known method for doing this involved sighting the North Star, which can’t be seen in the Southern Hemisphere. Yet, somehow, the Piri Reis map had accurate latitude measurements in the Southern Hemisphere.
This meant that whatever local source maps Columbus had access to, those who made them had possessed an understanding of spherical trigonometry; they had the technology to navigate oceans and accurately chart the globe.
The Piri Reis Map Shows Antarctica Without The Ice
The most astonishing part of the Piri Reis map was not its detailed geography, nor even its seemingly impossible advanced spherical trigonometry, but that it appeared to show Antarctica, a continent which was not officially discovered until 1773 by James Cook.
But it was more than just the appearance of the continent on a map created in 1513, it was that the Piri Reis map showed Antarctica without the ice. How could this be possible, since the last time Antarctica was free of ice was over 6,000 years ago.
Skeptics gave their best explanation for the Piri Reis map supposedly showing the continent of Antarctica without the ice. They argued that the portion of the map which appeared to show Antarctica was actually just an extension of the South American coastline, that Piri Reis simply ran out of room and curled South America along the bottom.
This explanation seemed to make sense, until 1961. That year, US Air Force Captain and cartographer Lorenzo W. Burroughs compared the Antarctic coastline depicted on the Piri Reis map to modern maps constructed using satellite mapping technology. His conclusion was that the Antarctic coastline was “truly represented on the southern sector of the Piri Reis map.” Piri Reis’ Antarctica … was Antarctica.
Burroughs asserted this meant “beyond a reasonable doubt that the original source maps must have been made before the present Antarctic ice cap” covered the continent. Since the last time Antarctica was free of ice was over 6,000 years ago, this meant that the local source maps used by Christopher Columbus had to be at least that old.
Who could have made such advanced maps that long ago?
The Piri Reis map is real, it just doesn’t make sense.
The Piri Reis Map Explained
According to some, the mystery of the Piri Reis map has been solved. The secret is something called the pole shift theory.
A pole shift is when the entire surface of the earth suddenly moves as one solid piece over the layers of liquid rock that make up the earth’s core. The illustrative analogy most often used today is that of a loose peel moving around an orange.
The pole shift theory entered popular consciousness thanks in large part to Charles Hapgood’s 1958 book The Earth’s Shifting Crust. The book’s forward was written by none other than Albert Einstein, who helped Hapgood to develop the theory. As usual, Einstein was ahead of his time – science has now proven that polar shifts have happened in the past.
But it was Charles Hapgood who put the pieces together and used the shifting poles theory to explain the Piri Reis map. According to Hapgood, some of the local source maps that Christopher Columbus used showed Antarctica in such incredible detail because they were created by the inhabitants of the Antarctic continent, before a rapid pole shift buried them under ice thousands of years ago.
The reason these ancient source maps were so advanced, using spherical trigonometry, was that they must have come from an incredibly advanced ancient civilization. For Hapgood, the identity of this advanced ancient civilization was obvious – Atlantis!
Yes, according to Hapgood, Antarctica is Atlantis, and the Piri Reis map is proof.
Mystery solved … or is it?
Want to know more about pole shifts? Click below, or watch the documentary: