The world according to Hecateus (520 BC)

This is a copy of the world map according to Hecataeus of Miletus, published by George Franklin Cram in his 1901 atlas. Hecataeus' map is one of the best representations of the ideas established by Anaximander's map, of which no copy has survived to this day.

According to Eratosthenes, Anaximander's map was the first known representation of the world in Ancient Greece. Hecataeus of Miletus drew on Anaximander's work to produce a map with greater detail, as shown in this reproduction by Cram.

In this view, the world is divided into three main parts: Europe, Asia and Libya, the latter being part of Asia. In other reproductions of Anaximander's map, Libya appears completely separated from Asia by the Nile River. The entire known world is completely surrounded by the ocean.

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