Muhammad al-Idrisi, the famous Arab geographer, served under King Roger II of Sicily in the middle of the 12th century. Roger was an enlightened king and learned scholars from diverse backgrounds and religions served in his court. Al-Idrisi was directed by the King to produce a definitive book on geography. In 1154 AD, after more than 15 years of research, he produced a book that became to be known as Tabula Rogeriana (Roger’s Book). The book contained dozens of elaborate maps and descriptions of various regions of the world. It remained the very best of geographical knowledge in the world for the next three centuries.
A look at its world map offers a glimpse into the prevailing world view at that time. It contains three continents and very little room for the world oceans. Since ships at that time were not able to traverse high seas, the extent of oceans and presence of other land masses were not known. This perception of the earth persisted up till the age of discovery in the 15th century.
Another interesting observation comes to light in its Arabic version. In its northeastern corner, one finds the land of ‘Yajuj and Majuj’ (يأجوج ومأجوج) or Gog and Magog - circled by a mountain or wall-like structure. It roughly corresponds to the wall of China in northern China or eastern Russia (although, the orientation is opposite to the real wall). I wonder whether it was the stories of a great wall in a faraway land to ward off barbarians that gave rise to these prophecies or was it the later interpretations by map makers to connect the wall to such divine predictions.
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