An early version of Piri Reis’ naval charts Claus-Peter HAASE Orientalisches Seminar, KielTransmission des textes 266 Le manuscrit Cod. ms. ori. 34 (olim KB 25) de Ia bibliothdque de U'université de Kiel est une version ancienne de Voworage de Piri Reis, Longtemps passé inapercu, ce volume contient une premisre version du texte avec des cartes précises qui parais- sertt avoir servi a des marins — ainsi que semblent Vindiquer diverses notes ajoutées par une main malhabile. Abstraction faite d'un désordre qui est sans doute 'euvre d'un relicur maladroit, Ia séquence des cartes differe de celle de Ia seconde version : une série de marques empruniées & différents systemes de numération permet de reconnaitre un groupement initial par régions, ce qui est fort utile pour un marin. Surprisingly, the bound volume of 22 x 15,5 cm in the University Library of Kiel in Northern Germany (Cod. ms. ori. 34) never aroused the interest of the Ottomanists Georg Jacob and Theodor Menzel, who taught there, even though Menzel himself was a successful manuscript collector. It is listed as a collection of geographical charts with anonymous explanations in the short title catalogue by Henning Ratjen for the previous small collec- tion, but even this reference is missing in the comprehensive list of public collections compiled by Fuat Sezgin!. The manuscript was acquired around 1833 from the library of the scholar and high clergyman J. C. G. Adler, men- tioned below by Stig Rasmussen as a Danish orientalist, when Schleswig- Holstein belonged to Denmark, and who is known for his Bible studies on Hebrew and Samaritan manuscripts in Rome ~Italy could well be the pro- venance of this manuscript. Recently the University Library has been able to acquire over 700 manuscripts, some of them Arabic and Persian but mostly Ottoman, from the most valuable collection of the former Kiel orien- talist, Theodor Menzel (died 1939), and a new catalogue, identifying this as, a copy of Piri Reis’ Naval charts is presently in preparation for the Verzeichnis der orientalischen Handschrifien in Deutschland. According to the fine study by Soucek* and Goodrich’, this manus- cript belongs to the group of practical sailing handbooks which use the shor- ter first version of Piri Reis’ Kitab-i bahriye*. It contains as much of his texts 1. Henning Ratjen, “Handschriften der Universitits-Bibliothek Kiel”, Leipzig, 1870, separate p. 10n° Cod. ms. ori.34 idem, in Sera pew 31, Leipzig, 1870, p. 276; this catalogue not listed in F. Sezgin, Geschichte des arabischen Schrifiums, bibliography in vols. I, VI or VII; but mentioned in idem ed., Bibliographie der deutschsprachigen Arabistik und Islamkunde, vol. I, Frankfurt, 1990, p. 233, and by A.J. W. Huisman, Les manuserits arabes dans le ‘monde, Leiden, 1967, p.5. 2, See Svat Soucek, Piri Reis and Ottoman Car- tography after Columbus, London, 1992; idem, “Islamic Charting in the Mediterranean’, in. J.B. Harley and D. Woodward eds,, The His- tory of Cartography, vol. 11/1, Chicago/Lon- don, 1992, p. 265-269, 272-284, with extensive bibliography; idem, “Piri Reis and Ottoman Discovery of the Great Discoveries”, in Studia Islamniea 79, 1994, p. 121-142, 3. T. Goodrich, [List of mss. of Piri Reis, in Harley and Woodward eds,, op. cit., vol. I/1, , 290 sq. idem, “The Earliest Ottoman Mati- time Atlas the Walters Deniz Atlasi”, in Archi ‘210m Ottomanicum, vol. XI, 1986[1988}, p. 25-50. 4. 1480 or earlier ? - 961 h/ 1553-1554, but see Soucek in EP sw. Piri Reis 1993, who refers to doubts as to whether the cartographer and the admiral of the Ottoman fleet who was decapi- tated were the same person. C.P. Haase - An early version as can be scribbled around the drawings and several additions to them concerning changes in the viability of sea routes and access to harbours. There is no colophon, but some owners have left marks and dates, the ear- liest of which mentions an intended sea journey from Istanbul to Cyprus on 28th Safar 1006 / 10.10.1597 (£. 4a); the same unskilled hand has recorded the goods (food) which he and one Su’ad acquired; another one is probably to be read 1071/1660-1 (f. 1a), one qapudan Hafiz-zade Mustafa is mentioned in connection with a voyage to Azov, North of the Crimea (f. 58a), a region not found in the maps preserved in this manuscript. But it is another definite indication of the fact that these charts were actually used by sea captains and, I believe, it shows the date of the original form of this now incomplete manuscript to be somewhere in the last third of the 16th century, well before the owners’ notations. The 58 folios preserved contain 51 charts of the Mediterranean with several lacunae, at least three of them are in a different hand, two folios are thicker and even stiffer than the others, the watermarks mostly depict the anchor and six-pointed star, more rarely the frelune with the same star, the binding is secondary and upside down. Altogether the manuscript shows signs of having been put together in a disorganized way; the quires or layers are very irregular, and the reasons for this should interest us also, as we are not meeting here just to look at more or less beautiful seacharts. It is a special pleasure to introduce this overlooked manuscript in Paris, as on the front folio a drawing seems to show what the Eiffel Tower could have looked like in the late 16th century, or rather the crown ornament of the stern-post of a ship (Fig. 1). Fig, 1. Stern-post ornament of a ship (?). Ms. Kiel, Universitatsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori 34, £ 4b. 267Transmission des textes ‘Seu cs = = 2 EP OL Cs CIT. FEE [AO IY DI SG (65 7 ( 268 SENT SLO CEE & rank 2p «nee | Fig. 2. Athos and Chalcidice. Ms. Kil, Universittsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori. 34 £29. En passant, it should be noted that most of the coast and island lines are very carefully executed, in spite of the stylized bow form constantly re- peated (Fig. 2), they show far more precision than the elegantly flowing but untrustworthy shore lines of the presentation copies and atlases, especially 55/0 C.P. Haase - ee Fig. 3. Athos and Chaleidice, Ms, Istanbul, Siileymaniye K,, Aya Sofya 2612, £.55b, ater the facsimile edition by E. Z. Okte, Istanbul, 1988, An early version 269Transmission des textes 270 ~but not only- of the enlarged second redaction by Piri Reis (Fig. 3). As has already been observed, the cities, forts and villages depicted do show abbre- viated typical features, like the windmills of Rhodes or the date palms of Djerba (Fig. 4), and vary from copy to copy; not all of them seem to be derived from traditional chart iconography. ‘The latter occurs e.g. in the island of Istambuliye babazligi! Kandaleusa (Fig. 5) with its construction for unloading ships without a harbour, which is the only coloured drawing, and therefore hints at the origin of the major tradition followed by Piri Reis for the Aegean -namely some charts which had also been used for the woodcut Isolario of Benedetto Bordone (1528, 1534) equally showing only this island with a dense inner drawing. Usually they are traced back to the first printed Isolario by Bartolommeo dalli Sonetti (Venice, ca. 1485-1486)°. There are several ins- tances where an owner's hand has scribbled new features into the coastal lines (Fig. 6), and this may indicate the way in which these charts slightly changed their form and remained in practical use until printed versions improved and superseded them. An odd feature is the regional arrangement followed in the original versions of Piri Reis ~ according to the two Turkish editions® of the expanded version and very similar in the unfinished Kahle facsimile” of the first ver- sion. There is a remark by Soucek® that several of the later adapted versions show rearrangements especially of the back parts of the maps. The starting, points are in the first version the island of Bozca (Tenedos), in the second the Dardanelles and Gelibolu, thought to be Piri Reis’ hometown, whenever he was on shore. Originally there was probably no sign for, or depiction of Istanbul and no complete map of the Marmara sea. The islands of Timli/Lemnos or Imroz/Imros are on the first pages, then follow the shores of Thracia and Greece till Agriboz/Euboea, then the author jumps back to West Anatolia with Midilli/Lesbos and the coast of Foca/ Phokas and Izmir, several isles of the Dodekanese follow, then the rest of Greece, both sides of the Adriatic, then Italy, France, Spain, North Africa, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Syria and again Anatolia and the Aegean from South. The series usually ends with Crete and other isles of the Cyclades; the larger isles like Sicily, Sardinia, Mallorca, etc. are depicted alongside the nearest coasts. ‘The larger second redaction shows many isolated islands on single charts, which seems impracticle if one wants to find them from near a shore or another island as no specific compass indications or other navigation aids are given; thus the smaller version shows more practical features in this area 5. Soucek, in Harley and Woodward eds, op. a0, (transl.),4 vols, Istanbul, 1988. cit, p. 277. 7. Paul Kahle, Piri Re’is Bare: Das tirkische 6, Facsimile edition by Fevzi Kurtojlu and Segethandbuch fir das Mittellindische Meer von Haydar Alpagut, Tark Tarih Kurumu, Istan- 7521, 2 vols,, Berlin, 1926-1927. bul, 1935; photographic facsimile with 8, In Harley and Woodward eds., op. cit., modern Turkish and English translation and p.272, and in EP, 1998. maps: Ertugrul Zekai Okte ed,, Vahit Cabuk CP. Haase - An early version as 4, oa ‘a vel tPA ae ee Ge AUS ipa Ess SSSSASS CESS TSas Sos SEO Sar SES SESS GESASES EASE TSC ERE SRSA Goes e BOSSES Sy Uwe e SESE SE SS CAEMEAEE = Seve Shs 5 BSEQe Regrese =, SHAAA SS Sank ALS esses eyes oe ge FF Tae Lisp ors fer muecion SS LEM ie Mabe seb he ap fae ‘CDK. onyeeny, “) ie riewshiomome citings Sent IHRE IO Fenner poarppire dy SR rigsit Y "S, Be yg Ces eeafian fy TETUA Teper 4 clan ee Fig, 4. Djerba and southern Tunisia. Ms, Kiel, Universititsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori. 34, £. 11a, 27.Transmission des textes 272 Fig. 5. The island of Istambuliye babazlijfi/ Kandaleusa. MBs. Kiel, Universitatsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori. 3, f. 35b. C.P. Haase - An early version Fig, 6, Agriboz/ Euboea and Athens, with added (draw 2) bridge. Ms. Kiel, Universitatsbibliothek Cod, ms. ox. 34, f.30b. Fig. 7. liryoz/Lerios and the coast of Karabag with part of Istankéy /Kos and smaller islands Ms. Kiel, Universitatsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori. 34, £. 20b-21a.Transmission des textes CP. Haase - An early version 274 275 ink: wamiaslitoniill AG Fig. 8. Southwestern Anatolia and the coloured island of Istambuliye babazligr/ Kandaleusa.‘Transmission des textes 276 as well since it groups most of the islands together with a coast line, like on f. 21a, but not always, like on f. 20b (Fig. 7). We had the opportunity to arrange photocopies of this manuscript according to the general coastal outlines ~as it is known from portolanes and atlases. The way in which we have arranged the charts in Fig, 8 looks funny but they were obviously not meant to be seen together like this due to the fact that they are not all drawn to the same scale. Now, most of the charts are arranged on their sheets in the same order as in the published versions, so it was noticeable that the author actually had the continuous coastline in mind and tumed each folio so as to get as long a line as possible on face (compare f. 20a on Fig. 9). Also the islands are located so as to fill as much space as possible of the paper -surely in the typical Oriental fashion of using every tiny bit of paper by leaving just the smallest possible margin. Practically every page starts anew with the coastal line somewhere at the margin, with only a few exceptions. As next to nothing is depicted of the hinterland, there are only a few instances of deep gulfs and promontories, where two sheets or more have to be placed next to each other to cover the area, Only f. 22b-23a with Samos, Himaran/Lipso and the coast are in the form of a double page, apparently by accident. Apart from one single and three or four double leaves (bifolia) being out of place in the manuscript as it is bound, slip-folded and foliated now, the main deviation from the usual order occurs in the Aegean coasts and islands. Quire 6, a binion, seems to embrace, as far as I can see, quire 7 as a quaternion, and it is the third double leaf of the latter that contains the ori- ginal starting point of the work with the Dardanelles (f. 28b). In short: since the present order makes no sense, in order to arrive at the original sequence one has to split up this third double leaf, turn it upside down, leave out the (partly empty) fourth and inner double leaf and fold the rest into the obverse direction to arrive at the original order. The confusion may have arisen due to the source of this manuscript, but for practical reasons I do not believe this, Except for the wrong composition of the third double leaf, the mistakes could be explained by confusion due to the binder, and he may have been misled by a short series of catchmarks (réclames, though not in its proper sense, but marking the pages following each other by using identical signs) which occur here as well as in the parts of the generally less well-known wes- tern Mediterranean (Fig. 10). Here they consist of signs of the Arabic nume- rals from 4 to 9 which have hardly been altered, without 7 and with an addi- tion of what looks like 80. They are followed by some signs similar to Greek abbreviations, and, on the Western charts, by a longer series of Arabic letters in the abgad-sequence and further signs of astrological type? (Figs. 11-12). sur- 9. Compare the “alphabets” in Ibn Wahisiya, _ work was studied again by Sylvie Matton, “La . Sang al-mustahar, test, as Ancient Alphabets magic arabe traditionnelle”, an unpublished ‘and Hieroglyphic Characters by Joseph v. Ham- dissertation which I have not seen. met, London, 1806, especially p. 46 s9.; this CP. Haase - An early version Fig. 9. The isle of Kalamaz/ Kalimnos and the gulf of Bodrum. Ms. Kiel, Universititsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori. 34, f. 19b-20a. Now, these do not indicate the original order of the charts in Piri’s other versions, but they do group the charts coherently into regions. Thus the two numbers 5 connect the isles of Lemnos and Lesbos, which actually are not too far away from each other, but which in most manuscripts have five pages between them; further, n° 4 and 5 are one of those cases where the island with some shore and the rest of the coast line would have to be grou- ped parallel to each other on two or more sheets and not in line. Further, the numeration jumps from layer 7 to the latter part of layer 6 and combines the pages forming the gulf of Izmir and that of Mandala south of it. Something similar happens with the gulf of Bodrum/Halikarnassos with the next series of catchmarks, this time with three similar signs like a coarse Latin M. But most noticeable are the series of numbers on the Greek coast after Euboea, not jumping over to Anatolia. This appears to make sense for a captain sailing along the coasts and not between the islands with their dangerous currents. 277Transmission des textes CP. Haase - An early version 1 do not think that the marks date from the first scribe of the maps or texts, but rather from someone who put the rests of a manuscript together for practical use. In some instance, e.g. Italy, the series of marks is not affec- ted by the lacunae of the charts, and they are not to be found on every sheet. Of course seeing a series of réclame-catchmarks, the bookbinder tried to make use of them, but perhaps comparing the effect with a parallel manus- cript he may have given up helplessly and have left the mess to the libra- rian or the cataloguer of manuscripts. The latter would be very grateful for any indication of comparable signs and their usage as we have not come across similar ones anywhere else. 278 Discussion 279 Prof. Kouymjian pointed out that the astronomical-astrological conno- tations of some catchmarks appear in many “alphabets” in use in the occult sciences; Dr, Witkam added that astronomy of course was an indispensable branch of seafaring knowledge and the use of such signs corroborates the impression that they were added by one of the captains possessing this manuscript. Fig. 10. Series of catchmarks as preserved. . ‘pl a \ Ma Fetal a Fig. 11a. Catchmark: the coast of Alexandria and Fig. 11b. Catchmark: the coast of Algeria -after a lacuna?- Libya. Ms. Kiel, Universititsbibliothek Ms. Kiel, Universititsbibliothek Cod. ms. ori. 34, Cod. ms. ori. 34, f.12b-13a (detail), £. 6b (detail).