Atlas of Mercator testimony of Daarija (Hyperborea)

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Gerard Mercator (Latin Gerhardus Mercator; March 5, 1512, Rupelmonde - December 2, 1594, Duisburg) is the Latinized name of Gerard Kremer (both Latin and German surnames mean "merchant"), a Flemish cartographer and geographer.

When Gerard (in Flemish he was called Gheert Cremer) was 14 or 15 years old, his father died and the family was left without a livelihood. Gerard's tutor was his father's uncle, the priest Gisbert Kremer. Thanks to him, Gerard is educated at the gymnasium in the small town of 's-Hertogenbosch. The basics of theology, classical ancient languages and the beginnings of logic were studied here. One of Gerard's teachers was Macropedius. Presumably, it was in the gymnasium years that Gerard, following the fashion of that time, "translated" his German surname Kremer ("merchant") into Latin - and became Mercator. He graduated from high school very quickly, in three and a half years, and almost immediately (September 29, 1530) continued his studies at the Louvain (Leuven) University (now - on the territory of Belgium), again thanks to the support of Gisbert Kremer. Louvain was the largest scientific and educational center in the Netherlands, it housed 43 gymnasiums, and his university, founded in 1425, was the best in Northern Europe. The city turned into a center of humanistic education and free thought thanks to Erasmus of Rotterdam (1465-1536), who lived for some time in Louvain. Mercator became a student of the geographer, engraver and encyclopedist Frisius Renier Gemma (who was only three years older than Mercator). After graduating from university in 1532, Mercator worked with Gemma-Freese to create the globes of the Earth and the Moon; at the same time he was engaged in the manufacture of precision optical instruments, as well as teaching geography and astronomy.

In 1537 he issued a 6-sheet map of Palestine, and in 1538 - a map of the world (on which he first showed the location of the southern continent, the existence of which had long been in doubt). These two works brought Mercator the fame of an outstanding cartographer, and Flemish merchants commissioned him to map Flanders, which he drew in 1540. In the same year, Mercator published a brochure "The way of writing Latin letters, which is called Italian italics." In it, the author proposed using italics for a uniform spelling of geographical names - and his proposal was soon accepted by the scientific community.

The following year, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V commissioned Mercator to make a set of astronomical instruments. In 1541, Mercator created the globe of the Earth, 10 years later - the globe of the Moon, and in 1552 presented them to Charles V.

In 1544, Mercator published a 15-sheet map of Europe. On it, for the first time, he correctly showed the outlines of the Mediterranean Sea, eliminating mistakes that have been repeated since the time of the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy. In 1563, Mercator made a map of Lorraine, and in 1564 - the British Isles (on 8 sheets). In 1569, Mercator published the Chronologia, an overview of astronomical and cartographic works. Three years later, he released a new map of Europe on 15 sheets, and in 1578 - engraved maps for a new edition of "The Geography of Ptolemy", then began work on the Atlas (this term was first proposed by Mercator to designate a set of maps). The first part of the Atlas with 51 maps of France, Germany and Belgium was published in 1585, the second with 23 maps of Italy and Greece in 1590 and the third with 36 maps of the British Isles was published after the death of Mercator by his son Rumold in 1595.

The most reliable of them is the map of the famous 16th century cartographer and geographer Gerard Mercator, published in 1595. This map depicts the legendary mainland Arctida (Daariya) in the center, around the coast of the North Ocean with quite recognizable islands and rivers.

It is these detailed descriptions of the North coast of Eurasia and America that provide the basis for arguments in favor of the authenticity of this map.

V. N. Demin in his work "Hyperborea. Historical roots of the Russian people", gives the following facts about the existence of the northern continent:

Many ancient authors reported about the inhabitants of Hyperborea. One of the most authoritative scientists of the Ancient World, Pliny the Elder, wrote about the Hyperboreans as a real ancient people who lived near the Arctic Circle. The Natural History (IV, 26) literally says: “Behind these Ripean (Ural) mountains, on the other side of Aquilon (the name of the northern wind Boreas), a happy people (if you can believe this), which are called Hyperboreans, reaches a very advanced age and glorified by wonderful legends. They believe that there are the loops of the world and the extreme limits of the circulation of the luminaries. The sun shines there for six months, and this is only one day when the sun does not hide (as the ignorant would think) from the spring equinox to the autumn one, the luminaries there rise only once a year at the summer solstice, and set only at the winter one. This country is all in the sun, with a fertile climate and devoid of any harmful wind. Homes for these residents are groves, forests; the cult of the Gods is managed by individuals and by the whole society; there is no discord or disease of any kind. Death comes there only from satiety with life."

Even from this small excerpt from "Natural History" it is not difficult to form a clear idea of Hyperborea. First - and most importantly - it was placed where the sun might not set for several months. In other words, we can only talk about the circumpolar regions, those that in Russian folklore were called the Sunflower Kingdom. Another important circumstance: the climate in the north of Eurasia at that time was completely different. This is confirmed by the latest comprehensive research carried out recently in the north of Scotland under an international program. They showed that even four thousand years ago the climate at this latitude was comparable to that of the Mediterranean, and a large number of thermophilic animals lived here.

However, even earlier, Russian oceanographers and paleontologists found that in the period from 30 to 15 millennium BC. e. the Arctic climate was quite mild, and the Arctic Ocean was warm, despite the presence of glaciers on the continent. Academician Aleksey Fedorovich Treshnikov came to the conclusion that powerful mountain formations - the Lomonosov and Mendeleev ridges - relatively recently (10 - 20 thousand years ago) rose above the surface of the Arctic Ocean, which itself then - and the strength of the mild climate - was not completely bound by ice. American and Canadian scientists came to approximately the same conclusions and chronological framework. In their opinion, during the Wisconsin glaciation in the center of the Arctic Ocean, there was a zone of temperate climate, favorable for flora and fauna that could not exist in the polar and polar regions of North America. In line with the same ideas, Pyotr Vladimirovich Boyarsky, the head of the Marine Arctic Complex Expedition, successfully substantiates the hypothesis of the Grumantsky Bridge, which once connected many islands and archipelagos of the Arctic Ocean.

Convincing confirmation of the indisputable fact of a favorable climatic situation that existed in the past is the annual migrations of migratory birds to the North - a genetically programmed memory of a warm ancestral home. Indirect evidence in favor of the existence of an ancient highly developed civilization in the northern latitudes is also found everywhere here powerful stone structures and other megalithic monuments: the famous cromlech of Stonehenge in England, the menhir alley in French Brittany, the stone labyrinths of Scandinavia, the Kola Peninsula and the Solovetsky Islands. In the summer of 1997, an ornithological expedition discovered a similar labyrinth on the coast of Novaya Zemlya. The diameter of the stone spiral is about 10 meters, and it is made of slate slabs weighing 10-15 kg. This is an extremely important find: until now, labyrinths at such a geographical latitude have never been described by anyone.

A map of Mercator, based on some ancient knowledge, has survived, where Hyperborea is depicted as a huge arctic continent with a high mountain in the middle. The universal mountain of the ancestors of the Indo-European peoples - Meru - was located at the North Pole and was the center of attraction for the entire heavenly and heavenly world. It is curious that, according to previously closed data leaked to the press, in the Russian waters of the Arctic Ocean there really is a seamount that practically reaches the ice shell (there is every reason to assume that it, like the above-mentioned ridges, plunged into the abyss of the sea relatively recently).

Actually, two maps of Mercator are known: one belongs to the most famous cartographer of all times and peoples Gerard Mercator and dates from 1569, the second was published by his son Rudolph in 1595, who did not ascribe authorship to himself, but relied on the authority of his father. On both maps, Hyperborea is depicted in sufficient detail in the form of an archipelago of four huge islands separated from each other by deep rivers (which generally gives reason to consider Hyperborea-Arctida a mainland). But on the last map, in addition to Hyperborea itself, the Northern coasts of Eurasia and America are also detailed in detail. This is what gives the basis for arguments in favor of the authenticity of the map itself, or rather, those sources that have not come down to us, on the basis of which it was compiled.

And there is no doubt that such cartographic documents were held in the hands of the father and son of Mercator. Their map shows the strait between Asia and America, discovered only in 1648 by the Russian Cossack Semyon Dezhnev, but the news of the discovery did not reach Europe soon. In 1728, the strait was again passed by a Russian expedition led by Vitus Bering, and later named after the famous commander. By the way, it is known that, while heading to the North, Bering intended to discover, among other things, Hyperborea, which he knew from classical primary sources.

Based on the discoveries made, the strait was mapped in 1732 and only after that it became truly known throughout the world. Where did it come from then on the Mercator map? Perhaps from the same source from which Columbus drew his knowledge, who set off on his immortal voyage by no means on a whim, but with information obtained from secret archives. After all, it became in the XX century. the property of scientists and the reading public is a map that once belonged to the Turkish admiral Piri Reis: it depicts not only South America within the borders not yet discovered by Europeans, but also Antarctica. According to the unanimous opinion of archaeological experts, the unique map is an authentic document and dates back to 1513.

Piri Reis lived in the era of the great geographical discoveries and became famous for the fact that he utterly defeated the united Venetian fleet, which was previously considered invincible. True, the renowned naval commander finished very sadly: he was accused of receiving a large bribe from the enemy and, by order of the Sultan, they cut off his head. Although the admiral himself never sailed further than the Mediterranean Sea, his specific cartographic knowledge far outstripped the discoveries of not only Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan and Amerigo Vespucci, but also the discovery of the southern continent, made by Russian navigators Bellingshausen and Lazarev only in 1820. Where did he get it from information Turkish admiral? He himself did not make a secret of this, and on the margins of his portolan he drew with his own hand that he was guided by an ancient map created during the time of Alexander the Great. (Amazing evidence! It turns out that in the Hellenistic era they knew about America and Antarctica no worse than at the time when these continents were rediscovered by Europeans.) But that's not all! Queen Maud Antarctic Land is shown on the ice-free map! According to the calculations of experts, the last date on which this was possible at all has been pushed back from our days by at least six thousand years!

At the same time, Piri Reis brings Columbus out into the open. It turns out that the legendary navigator, whose name has long become a household name, used secret information, which he preferred to keep silent about. “An unfaithful named Colombo, a Genoese, discovered these lands [meaning America. - V. D]. In the hands of the named Colombo, one book fell into which he read that on the edge of the Western Sea, far in the West, there are shores and islands. All kinds of metals and precious stones were found there. The aforementioned Colombo studied this book for a long time …”Unfortunately, the northern part of the Piri Reis map was lost. Therefore, it is difficult to judge his knowledge of Hyperborea. But the Northern continent is well described by other cartographers of the 16th century, and in particular, by the French mathematician, astronomer and geographer Orontius Phineus. His 1531 map depicts not only Antarctica, but also Hyperborea. Hyperborea is represented in the same detail and expressiveness on one of the Spanish maps of the late 16th century, kept in the Madrid National Library.

In accordance with modern ideas, the Kola Peninsula is also depicted on the Mercator map. "What a marvel!" - someone will say. But no! In the XVI century. geographical knowledge of Northern Europe and, accordingly, its cartographic images were more than approximate. In the "History of the northern peoples" and the famous "Sea [northern] map", compiled in the first third of the XVI century. By the Swedish scientist Olaus Magnus, the Kola Peninsula is described and depicted as an isthmus between the Arctic Ocean and the White Sea, closed by both ends with the mainland, and the latter, in turn, is presented as an internal lake and placed almost in the place of Ladoga. So let us bow again to the great Mercator and his son.