Italy Gallery

Al-Idrisis world map, 1154

Al-Idrisi's world map. This world map, known as the Tabula Rogeriana, dates from 1154, and is orientated with North at bottom. It was drawn by Muhammad Al-Idrisi (1100-1165), an Islamic and Andalusian scholar working for King Roger II of Sicily. It is considered to have been the most accurate world map for the next three centuries. Regions shown include Europe (lower right), the Mediterranean Sea (centre right), North Africa (upper right), the Arabian Peninsula (upper centre), the Black Sea and Caspian Sea (lower centre), and parts of Asia (left). This is a restoration and transliteration carried out in 1927 by the German scholar Konrad Miller (1844-1933)

© LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY

Maps of Italy in ancient times

Map of early tribes in Italy (top). of the Roman hills (lower left). and the vicinity of Rome (right) in the time of the Roman Empire.
Printed color lithograph of a 19th-century illustration

© North Wind Picture Archives

Ancient, Ancient Civilization, Ancient History, Ancient Roman, Ancient Rome, Antiquity, Art, Civilization, Classical, Classical Civilization, Europe, European, Historic, History, Illustration, Italian, Italy, Map, Regions, Roman, Rome, Territory, Tribe, Vintage

Roman statue of Asclepius

Roman statue of Asclepius. The cult of the deity of Greek medicine, known as Asclepius, dates from the 6th century BC. Asclepius is represented in statues holding a staff around which a serpent twines, a symbol which survives today as a medical emblem. He was taught surgery and the use of drugs by Chiron the centaur. Asclepius was slain by a thunderbolt from Zeus because of complaints the ministrations of Asclepius were reducing the population of Hades (the underworld for the dead). This statue is displayed in the Archaeological Museum of Naples, Italy

© SHEILA TERRY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY