Arab world map – Ibrahim al-Jaʿfarī, c. 1970

مصوّر الجهات الأرض  “Muṣawwar al-jihāt al-arḍiyya”, zincography, made around 1970 in Aleppo by Ibrahim al-Jaʿfarī. Size: approx. 61.5 × 92.5 cm.

This large, colour-printed world map is a characteristic example of Arab cartography of the late 1960s, in which the geographical consciousness of the Arab world is clearly articulated. It reflects a period in which geographical knowledge in the Arab world was consciously linked to its own scientific and cultural traditions, independent of a Western, Eurocentric frame of reference.

The title “Muṣawwar al-jihāt al-arḍiyya” [literally: Illustrated terrestrial directions] deliberately recalls classical Arabic geographical terminology. Rather than employing a modern designation such as “world map,” a cosmographic formulation is used, presenting the earth as a coherent whole of directions, continents, and seas. At the same time, the map is cartographically modern: it is provided with a regular graticule, an explicit scale (1:43 million), and a key to cartographic symbols under the heading al-iṣṭilāḥāt.

Prominent are the large calligraphic inscriptions placed across oceans and continents. Names such as the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Arctic Ocean are rendered in generous Arabic calligraphy across the water surfaces, presenting the seas as structuring elements of the global image rather than as empty spaces.

The map includes several inset maps. Two polar maps depict the North and South Poles in azimuthal projection. The North Pole map focuses on the Arctic Ocean and the surrounding landmasses; the South Pole map shows Antarctica with sectoral divisions corresponding to cartographic practice after the Antarctic Treaty (1959/1961), in which territorial claims were formally frozen but still visually represented.

In a thematic map of the Arab core region at lower right, geographical, economic, and political elements are brought together to present the Arab world as a cultural and strategic unity. The emphasis on oil and indistinct state boundaries reflects the pan-Arab thinking of the late 1960s.

The strip of national flags at the bottom of the map does not constitute a complete list of the world’s countries; Arab and Islamic states are overrepresented. The presence of states such as South Yemen and the absence of later political entities, including the United Arab Emirates (founded in 1971), support a dating around 1969–1971.

Price: Euro 975,-