Asia Secunda Pars Terrae in Forma Pegasi

dörtnala gelip uzak asya'dan 
akdenize bir kısrak başı gibi uzanan 
bu memleket bizim. 

N.H.Ran 

Mavi Boncuk |
Asia is presented as the mythical winged horse Pegasus..
Map maker : Heinrich Bunting
Date : Magdeburg, 1592.
Size : 9.4 x 13.4 inches. / 24.0 x 34.0 cm.

Copper engraved map of Asia in the form of a Pegasus. Czech edition. The original woodcut map was re-engraved on copper with a stippled sea and the inclusion of several additional embellishments including a coat of arms. 

The seas are adorned with sea monsters and many major cities are indicated and named.

Bünting's work Itinerarium Sacrae Scriptura.. [1] was essentially a theological commentary with other maps of great curiosity.

The title of this map is Asia Secunda Pars Terrae in Forma Pegasi ('Asia, the Second Part of the Earth, in the Form of Pegasus'). The winged horse of Greek mythology is the son of Poseidon and Medusa, was tamed by Athena and became the horse of the Muses. This obviously pagan origin of the image makes its appearance in a Holy Land travel book a bit of a mystery.

On this map, Pegasus is drawn realistically - i.e. Asia is adjusted to horse-shape.
- Asia's front legs, touching Africa with the knees, constitute Arabia.
- Its head, licking Europe, is Asia Minor (present-day Turkey).
- The Tigris and Euphrates rivers run down its neck, on which is marked the area of Mesopotamia.
- Another river indicated, at the horse's thigh, is the Ganges, with India Infra Gangem ('India before the Ganges') to the west and India Extra Gangem ('India across the Ganges').
- The horse's behind is India Orientalis ('East India', which could be used for parts east of present-day India, e.g. Indonesia, formerly the Dutch East Indies).
- Both hind legs are inscribed with India Meridionalis ('South India'), which doesn't at all reflect the single-peninsular nature of the Indian subcontinent.
- The wings are labeled Scythia and Tartaria, names often used to describe the vast unknown areas of Siberia.
- The body of water in between the wings and the horse's body is the Caspian Sea.

[1] Heinrich Bunting - Itinerarium Sacrae Scriptura

Heinrich Bünting  (15451606) was a Protestant pastor and theologian born in Hannover, Germany, in 1545 and studied at Wittenberg University. 

He became a pastor at Gronau and noted Protestant theologian. Bünting rewrote the Bible as a travel book, with in the last part describing the coinage of biblical times. The "Itinerarium Sacrae Scriptura" (Magdeburg 1581) is his most famous work and is in fact one of the rarest despite running to a number of editions in different languages.

The book is illustrated with several maps among the most famous a clover leaf image of the world and the continent of Asia depicted as Pegasus. At least two further new blocks of the maps were produced in 1595 and in 1610.

World map 

The world map in the form of a clover leaf  has three principal continents, Europe, Asia and Africa, are arranged in the form of a clover leaf with Jerusalem at the center. Three countries lie outside this trefoil: England, Scandinavia, and in the lower left hand corner, America. Sea monsters and mermaids adorn this uniquely designed cartographical curiosity. 

Other land mark maps caricatures Asia in the form of Pegasus and Europe as a Queen: one of the most remarkable early cartographic curiosities. Spain is shown with a crown indicating its leadership in Europe. Italy as the right arm and Denmark the left. Although apparently female, it has been suggested that the figure represents Emperor Charles V. 

Europe as a Virgin

The map of Europe as a Virgin was first produced by Joannes Bucius in 1537. It is designed with the west at the top with Spain as a crowned head. Italy is represented by the right arm with Sicily cleverly placed in the orb, Denmark the left one. Eastern Europe forms the dress. It has been suggested that the image in fact represents not a woman, but the Emperor Charles V. It draws on the fact that the image might in fact represent the Imperial power of Spain that was at the time the 'crown of Europe'. The Scepter reaches the British Isles.