There Piri Reis map it is a Renaissance cartographic representation (a pilot book, to be precise) created by the Ottoman Turkish admiral Piri Reis between 1513 and 1517, which according to some authors would show the profile of some stretches of the coast ofAntarctica three centuries before the latter was officially discovered at the beginning of the 19th century. The map actually represents one of the most interesting testimonies of thecartographic art of Renaissancebut it does not represent Antarctica, but rather a long stretch of the coast of South America. It was rediscovered in 1929 in the library of Topkapi Palace of Istanbul and is the fragment of a larger map depicting the world known at the time. The dimensions of the scroll were probably double compared to what remains today.

The map is a pilot bookthat is, a map describing ports, seabeds and navigation routes, specifically designed for use at sea. It was made on parchment (87 x 63 cm the dimensions of the surviving section) of gazelle skin for the sultan Selim I (1470-1520) and depicts theAtlanticthe western coasts of Africathe eastern coasts of South America and some Caribbean islands. What is striking is how surprising it is accuracy with which some areas were represented by Piri Reis, considering the era and cultural context in which it was designed. In fact, in the Islamic world there was interest in the new European geographical discoveries of the late 15th and early 16th centuries discontinuous. Piri Reis began working on it in 1513, and offered it to the sultan in 1517. In the following years some adjustments of a different nature were made.

The paper fits perfectly into the style of the pilot books used in the Renaissance era. The sources used by the Ottoman admiral to draw up the map were various and denote one broad knowledge of European cartography despite the substantial lack of interest in the topic at the Ottoman court of the time. The major inspiration for Piri’s work were i Portuguese pilot bookswhich at the time were among the best in the world, but also the most ancient cartographic tradition of the Islamic world. Another of the sources that the Ottoman admiral claims to have used is a map (unfortunately lost) drawn up by Christopher Columbuswhich is called “Qolōnbō, Cinevizden kâfir“, in Ottoman Turkish “Columbus, Genoese infidel“. Piri Reis’ use of Portuguese and Columbus maps certainly denotes a great interest for the new discoveries made by the admiral, in contrast with the Ottoman court of Constantinople, which had no interest in the nascent Atlantic trades that would make the fortune of Spain and Portugal within a few decades.
There bottom of the map depicts some stretches of the coasts ofSouth America. These are some regions of the present Brazilin particular the area where it stands today Rio de Janeiro (called by Piri Reis in Ottoman Turkish”Healthy Saneyro“). The southernmost areas are sketched in a manner less precise compared to the rest of the map, and this is compatible with the knowledge that Portuguese navigators had of the coasts of South America at the time. In the early 1500s the Portuguese had pushed forward very recently in those areas, therefore the papers from which Piri Reis could draw were less precise for the area south of present-day Rio de Janeiro. At this point however, the coasts represented by the Turkish cartographer they orient themselves sharply towards the east. How come?
Some authors who have studied this map have speculated that the territory that Piri Reis represented in the lower part could be the coast of Patagoniaor even of Antarctic continent. Much more likely it would be always on the coast of Brazil south of Rio de Janeiroso represented because subordinate to the dimensions of the parchment sheet on which Piri Reis worked. In fact, it was not unusual for cartographers of the time distorted their drawings depending on the support on which they were made (let’s not forget that the parchment was extremely expensive), a bit like when we realize that we are running out of space on the paper and we write with a different orientation.

The coast of Patagonia in fact it would be explored a few years later, in 1520s from the shipment of MagellanWhile Antarcticaalthough its existence had been postulated since ancient times, it was discovered only in first half of the 19th century.
The theory according to which the Piri Reis map constitutes the first representation of the Antarctic continent was formulated by the amateur archaeologist Arlington Mallery (1877–1968). This theory was made known by Charles Hapgood (1904-1982), who believed that during the Prehistory Antarctica was not alone free of icebut which also constituted the cradle of an advanced civilization who had colonized the planet. This theory, which has had great success in fantasy archaeological circles, is devoid of any scientific basis. Not only that there is no archaeological trace of this mother civilization, but science has demonstrated that thelast time when Antarctica was ice-free about 10 million years agolong before the appearance of humans on earth.
Sources
Soucek S., Piri Reis and Ottoman Discovery of the Great Discoveries
McIntosh G., The Piri Reis Map of 1513
Jolly D., Was Antarctica Mapped by the Ancients?
Heinrich P., Fingerprints of the Gods Re: Piri Reis Map