Cartography in the Islamic golden age

Cartography wasn’t very accurate in the Islamic golden age: Arabic maps from the height of the medieval Islamic golden age are now on display at a new exhibition in Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries until March 8. Despite being rather different from their modern counterparts, these old maps made a “vital contribution to the history of cartography,” says the National.

Pictured above is a circular map from the collection. It centers around Baghdad and the Arabian peninsula, and shows the Nile flowing in an opposite direction toward the center.