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GEOREFERENCING MAPS: A COMPARISON OF MAPS BASED ON PTOLEMY’S “GEOGRAPHY” AND TABULAE NOVAE FROM THE 16TH CENTURY [Abstract ID: 0518-08]
The “Geography” of Klaudios Ptolemaios (c. 100 – c. 170) is a unique source of investigation, not only for historians nowadays but also for geographers and mapmakers of 15th and 16th century Europe in which the “Geography” expanded widely and became a guide and a standard for geographers and mapmakers. This paper compares the geographical knowledge of Ethiopia which existed in the ancient Mediterranean and in 16th century Europe. This paper uses methods from historical geography and also from open data methods in order to compare maps and their toponyms of certain areas of Ethiopia. The open source software QGIS is employed to georeference maps which are based on Ptolemy’s “Geography” and Tabulae novae from the 16th century. Pelagios is used for comparing toponyms, which are mentioned by Ptolemy or were found in the Tabulae novae. Gazetteers like iDAI.gazetteer or Pleiades are applied to identify places which have existed but may not exist anymore. The focus lies on the visualisation of characteristics and differences of the maps and on the presentation of benefits and limits of georeferencing old maps. Furthermore, it will be discussed if georeferencing old maps can help draw conclusions about the knowledge of the mapmakers and if this knowledge can be used as a basis for discussing the location of places.