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Dear Vladimiro Valerio, Ben Olshin, & MapHisters:
Marco Polo Maps of the New World--Authentic
(Examples of maps mentioned in this posting can be found at www.
marcopolovoyages.com, atlanticconference.org, or in the new source:
“Marco Polo’s Daughters—Discovery of the New World” at Lulu.com)
Paleography and Linguistics
Vladimiro raises the issue of paleography and linguistics with respect to the
Rossi Collection of maps and letters by Marco Polo’s daughters (Fantina,
Bellela, and Moretta). He also notes that Franca and Armando Petrucci examined
photocopies of the documents in Pisa in March of 2009--at which time they
concluded the documents were datable to the 19th and 20th centuries (with some
doubt regarding only one of the items).
Of course, if anyone can e-mail to me their specific comments, then I would be
happy to consider each of the items, and I will respond accordingly.
In answer to your question, yes--I do include information of a linguistic
nature in the new resource (“Marco Polo’s Daughters”). Leo Bagrow consulted
with linguistic experts prior to the publication of his article in Imago Mundi
(V, 1948); and these comments are included in the book.
The issue of linguistics arose in 2003 when I met with Prof. David Woodward
(Map History Project, University of Wisconsin). David was concerned with a host
of what he regarded as “recent” or “modernized” words that were used in the RC
(Rossi Collection) letters. These included Ptolemy’s “Sinus Magnus” (for the
Pacific Ocean), “Agathodaemonis” (or Isle of Good Fortune for Sumatra),
“Satyrorum” (Isle of Satyrs for Papua New Guinea), “Cattigara” (literally Port
of Cathay), “Vitiperia” (a Fortunate Isle), “Purpuraria” (another Fortunate
Isle), and “Insulae Fortunatae” (the legendary Roman Fortunate Isles). These
toponyms (place names) are not mentioned in the Travelogue (“Marco Polo’s
Travels” of 1299). Presumably, all of the terms relating to Ptolemy’s
2nd-century geography were unknown in Europe until after the fall of
Constantinople in 1453--at which time Byzantine scholars fled to Europe
(thereby jump-starting the Renaissance). Another place name, “Antillia” stood
for a huge island west of Portugal in the Atlantic Ocean. Most modern scholars
regard this as the term for an imaginary island that entered cartography with
the Pizzigano Chart of 1424 (a.k.a. “Pope Urban’s Map”). The map is not
mentioned earlier in any known historical document (other than the Polo letters
in the RC); although Martin Behaim (1492) mentioned that the Portuguese knew
about this “island” (a.k.a. Island of Seven Cities) by c.900. Zvi Dor-Ner
(Columbus, 1991) calls it “totally imaginary;” although it seems to have been
real enough to the mariners of the 15th century. Columbus planned to stop by
Antillia on his way to China in 1492. (I discuss the Island of Antillia in “The
Friar’s Map” (1996; available in updated format at Lulu in 2011 or 2012). The
“Trans-serica Sinus” (modern Bering Strait) was presumably unknown until after
the Venetian cartographers, Zalteri and Gastaldi, supposedly “invented” the
notion of a strait between Siberia and America in the 1560s. The word
“archibugo” (for musket) was supposedly a derivative Italian word from the
German “hack-but” in the 15th century.
One of my associates on the Team of “Time Detectives” is Victor DeMattei. An
Italian by ethnic heritage, he is a specialist in Balkans history and in the
Upper Adriatic Region (which includes Venice). After noting the discrepancy
between word usage in the Travelogue and in the Polo letters (RC documents), I
asked Victor if there was some reason why Marco might have wanted to conceal
something in a published book. “Certainly,” he replied, “the Venetians wanted
to keep valuable information about New World resources and Chinese inventions
from falling into the hands of rival republics.” This is the principal reason
why Marco did not write his own book; and it is the reason why the book was
produced, by dictation, in Genoa--four years after the Polo’s returned from
China. Victor noted that Marco associated frequently with Arabs, Persians, and
Byzantine navigators; and these were the very people who were familiar with
Ptolemy’s geography and his map at the very same time Europeans were generally
ignorant about the 2nd-century Roman geography. Thus, the fact that the Polo
letters (RC documents) include Ptolemy’s place names should be regarded as
confirmation of Marco Polo’s involvement and not as any sort of “modernization”
that was added by a clumsy copyist or a misguided forger. While the word
“archibugo” would have been regarded by most (uninformed) historians as
evidence of a clumsy “modernization” by a copyist who didn’t realize that the
Italians didn’t have muskets until after they were supposedly invented by the
Spanish in the 14th century; use of the word makes sense when we realize the
true historic fact that Marco first saw the weapons being made in 13th-century
Yuan China. The name makes sense only to someone who saw the “hook” on the
underside of a Chinese gun barrel. Indeed, the name “harquebus” makes no sense
even to modern historians, because the wrought-iron barrels made in Spain or
Germany didn’t have hooks. As for the “Trans-serica Sinus,” it was an obvious
term for the sea between Siberia and Anian (Alaska), considering that Marco had
to take that route on his way to White Gyrfalcon Island (Baffin Island) as
noted in the Travelogue.
As for "Antillia:" One Roman Map (Macrobius, 440) has an island in the right
place west of Spain (but it is not named on this map); and a similar isle shows
up on al-Idrisi as "Far Land" and on Mustawfi (c.1250) as "Ansharus." Jim
Bailey (Sailing to Paradise, 1995) suggests that the Isle was known to the
Phoenicians as Anti Isle--meaning "Copper Island." The "Island" (Ancient
America) was certainly known to the Minoan miners who took thousands of tons of
copper from Isle Royale and the Lake Superior Region across the North Atlantic
to the Mediterranean metals market between 2500 and 1200 BC.
Several names used early in the Travelogue have seemed to have passed unnoticed
by historians. Marco uses the word “pumpkin” in reference to a New World squash
plant that was eaten by Venetians. He also uses the word “brasilwood” which he
distinguishes as a dyewood raised on plantations (as opposed to the local
“sappan” dyewood of Asia. This “brasilwood” is mentioned as a 12th-century
import in Italian port records; and it is later identified as an import from
Venezuela, Belize, and Brazil. Marco notes the presence of “corn” (or maize)
all across Eurasia; and he distinguishes the grain from other grains such as
wheat, millet, rice, and panic. Following my research study that identified
over 400 maize plants in Egyptian tomb murals (and additional maize plants in
Rome, Turkey, Persia, Tibet, Crete, and China), it is evident that New World
maize was a prevalent food plant in China during the travels of Marco Polo.
Marco also uses the word “vermilion” in reference to the dye used for Kublai
Khan’s seal on his paper currency. The source of this dye was identified as
“Mar Vermil” (a.k.a. “the Vermilion Sea”) on early Dutch maps of the Gulf of
California. Hernan Cortes, in about 1534, identified the desert in this region
and the prickly-pear cactus of the Sonoran Desert as the source of a
12th-century import in Italy that was known as “grano de brasil.” See the
encyclopedia on early plant diffusion by John Sorenson and Carl Johannessen
(“World Trade and Biological Exchanges before 1492,” 2005, 2009).
My point is this: while I realize the importance of linguistic examination of
ancient documents, most consultants whom I have come across tend to interpret
the evidence on the basis of outdated paradigms. I realize this is not
intentional; it is the result of overspecialization and a lack of exposure to
advancements in other fields of knowledge. If we look at the Rossi Documents as
being a “Time Capsule” that has fortunately come into our hands--opening up a
new window onto the Past, then we have a new opportunity to revise and improve
our historical models. Victor’s assessment of the linguistic evidence in the RC
is that the words used by Marco’s daughters are appropriate for Venetian women
who knew intimately a world traveler who was himself knowledgeable in at least
5 languages, who associated with Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs, Persians, Syrians,
Jews, Koreans, Chinese, and the riff-raff of mariners who used a common jargon
in their voyages between ports in the Old World and the New.
Thank you, Vladimiro, for your comments. Also, thanks to Ben Olshin for his
numerous efforts and successes with respect to these important historic
documents.
Gunnar Thompson, Ph.D., Director [email protected]
New World Discovery Institute www.marcopolovoyages.com
7516 36th Ave. NE www.atlanticconference.org
Seattle, WA 98115-4821 Lulu.com (books by Gunnar Thompson)
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