Manuscript copy of al-Istakhri's "Book of the Routes and Realms" of the year 7th-8th c./ 14th c. This is a copy of the Persian translation of al-Istakhri's work by ibn al-Savaji (4th-5th h/ 10-11 c.). It shows the standardization of symbols for geographical units and of forms of spatial organization. In the way of placing names and symbols of cities along the border of the sea, this map is visually related to the Mediterranean sea charts that emerged in the late 13th and early 14th centuries. The forms representing mountains resemble those used in Arabic maps linked to the Ptolemaic tradition of cartography. The Mediterranean as presented in this regional map only shows the Vesuvius as an overly large triangle. The land presented to the left is North Africa and that to the right is al-Andalus (the muslim-ruled part of the Iberian Peninsula). As in the tradition of this type of map-making cities are represented as colorful circles with different kinds of patterns, often floral but here apparently geometric. They are linked by lines that indicate traveling routes. The Mediterranean is visually and verbally connected to the circumferential ocean. The word on both mainlands are names of cities, regions, provinces and occasionally people, such as the berbers.
