Etymologiarum

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TITLE: Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XXDATE: 1472(7th century A.D.)AUTHOR: St. Isidore of Sei!!e" #$$ %

# A.D.D'SRITIO*:This work was initially compiled inmanuscript form on vellum, with drawings in red and lack.!easuring aout "#.$ % ." cm, the Etymologiarum consists of"' (ooks on &)# leaves, including a mappamundi, and wasmeant to e an encyclopedia that summed up the knowledgeaccumulated y early )th century Europe. *o signi+cant was itsimpact that during the following centuries it served as a modelof style and composition, as well as a primary source for manymedieval writers. hile the original manuscript has notsurvived, many copies of it have, reaching ack to the -thcentury. The title of Etymologiae, or simply Originesas it is alsoknown, refers to the fact that the author always gives theetymology of everything that he descries or de+nes. Indeed,the %th (ook contains only the etymological de+nition of wordsalphaetically arranged. f speci+c interest, however, are the%IIIth and %I/th (ooks which deal with geographical topics andwhere Isidore attempts a survey of the world in a rief,de+nitive and educational manner. The %lllth (ook discusses theearth as a whole 0 the oceans, the seas, oth open andenclosed, the tides, rivers and winds 0 in other words, physicalgeography. In the %l/th (ook Isidore enumerates and rie1y

descries the political divisions of the world.The author, a )thcentury (ishop of *eville 2*pain3, leaned heavily himself onclassical writers, as well as the teachings of the 4hurch 5athers.5or the %lllth and %l/th (ooks speci+cally, Isidore6s sourceswere primarily the *panish presyter rosius and, secondarily,*olinus, who is 7uoted some "'' times, and 8omponius !ela.9owever, this is not to imply that Originesis the compilation ofa estiary, or that his oects are those of the faulist in anyshape. ;ather, this work y Isidore is a imle3 re1ects some of Isidore6s geographical concepts:4oncerning the earth we are told that it is named from itsroundness 2oris3 which is like a wheel? whence the small wheelis called


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Gri'ens . . . The Gri'ensor 6Cryphes6 are so called ecausethey are winged 7uadrapeds. This kind of wild east is found inthe 9yperorean !ts. In every part of their ody they are lions,and in wings and head are like eagles, and they are +erceenemies of horses. !oreover they tear men to pieces. . . The

land of (yrcania, ordering Scythiato the west, has many trieswandering far a+eld on account of the unfruitfulness of theirlands.Europe, in the true classical fashion, is divided from Asiay the river TanaisDon and is ordered on the north y the)orthern Ocean. 9ard y it, and forming the ne plus ultraof theknown world, is the land of *arbaria, so called on account of thewild tries inhaiting it. Enumerated among these tries are the

+lanithe Dacians, the Goths and the Suevi.


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faulously said to dwell. This concession y Isidore as e=pressedin the rief 7uote aove indicated that he more than halfelieved in the sphericity of the earth and 7uite fully in thedoctrine of the+ntipodes. hile Isidore was not consistent inthe aMrmation of his adherence to the theory, this particular

passage was repeated so often y his successors that it ecamethe formula through which those of the !iddle Ages whoaccepted the e=istence of the+ntipodesor+ntichthone=pressed their elief. As can e seen in the many e=amples ofIsidorean maps included herein, there is no attempt to depictthis fourth continent graphically. 9owever, the chief in1uencecartographically at least, in keeping the theory alive during thisperiod was the *eatusgroup of maps 2*lide G"')3. In this latermap 6family6 or group, there appears a statement on the strip ofland located south of the Indian cean which is recogni@ed as a7uotation, with some curious errors, of the essential passagefrom theEtymologiarumust translated aove.As far as his owngraphic e=pression of the world6s geography, one of the mapdesigns fre7uently associated with Isidore of *eville is actually asurvival of the ancient Creek tripartite division of the world intoAsia, Africa and Europe, surrounded y the cean *ea. As cane seen, this simple design y no means re1ects the readth ofknowledge and ideas that can e found in the te=t. 8roalyconceived as early as the #th century (.4. y Ionicphilosophers, this popular scheme of dividing the world into thethree known maor land masses is eKected y using a T0shaped

partition, a T within an . /ariously laelled ImagoMundi"otunda )oachidmaps, T&in&O Orbis Terrarum andHor #heel&maps, this simplistic, diagrammatic plan formed the asis forone of the maor design features of most suse7uent


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derived from+fer, a descendent of Araham, and has B' racesin B' towns


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portrayed in *lide G"'#((the domain of Europe is e=tendedacross the !editerranean to the southern and eastern coastswhere the 4rusaders made inroads. 4orrespondingly, /artagoMagna greater 4arthage, an e=tension of !uslim Jorth Africa,controls southern *pain. !ore prominently than in any other

e=ample of the ilical school, the 9oly Land dominates thecenter of the map. This area is divided +rst into the lands of

Nudea, Calilee, and 8alestine, and further y the names of sevenof the Twelve Tries. The Nordan 1ows southward, startingsouthwest of Ja@areth and passing east of Nerusalem. Thedividing line etween Asia and Europe0Africa is replaced y

Nerusalem. The 9oly 4ity is 1anked on the south y Nericho, andthe site of the 4ruci+=ion is identi+ed ust north of center. !t.Pion is in the e=act center.Inscriptions con+rm the idea that themap was composed in the (y@antine world. The directions ofthe compass are given in Creek as well as Latin. *everal notesidentify the regions in which various Disciples preached. 8aul islocated at+thens, Nohn in Ephesus, 8eter in-aesarea, andAndrew in+chaia. In Ephesus, the (y@antine emperor Nustinian2$-"0##3 uilt a temple to *t. Nohn the Divine, one of the sevenwonders of the ancient world. At -aesarea $hilippi, 8eterreceived his commission and the


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4olumus 2*lide G"B- 3. In &$)" the Origineswas printed in anedition pulished y Cunther Painer who displayed Isidore6stripartite world0picture traditionally ust as it had een handeddown in the manuscripts? this eing so even though moreaccurate geographical knowledge was oviously availale at

this time. !easuring ust ".# inches in diameter, this littlewoodcut diagram map has the added distinction of eing the+rst known map printed in Europe.The T0 maps received theirclassical e=planation in a th century poem y the Italianhistorian, Leonardo Dati 2&B# 0 &$"$3, in his La Sfera2c.&$"'3Fn T denttro adun monstra ildisegno chome inttre partti fudiviso ilmondo elasuperiore emagor rengno che7uasi piglalameta delmondoasia chiamatta elgreno ritto segno chepartteiltter@o nome dalsechondo africho dicho daleuropia elmaremediteraneo traese ime@@o apare.A T in an gives us thedivision of the world into three parts. The upper part and thegreatest empire take nearly the half of the world. It is Asia? thevertical ar is the limit dividing the third from the second,Africa, I say, from Europe? etween them appear the!editerranean *ea. The T0 map tradition did not die out as acartographic form of e=pression until as late as the &)thcentury, as may e seen from a ook such as the 4ariae Orbis9niversiy 8etrus (ertius, &"-.R'+'R'*'S:R(ea@ley, 4.,

The Dawn of !odern Ceography, volume II, pp. #))0#)-? "-0B".R(ricker, 4., Landmarks in !apmaking, p. $#.R(rown, L.,

The *tory of !aps, pp. Q0Q).R(rown, L.A., Theorld

Encompassed, numers Q, &', and &&.RDestomes, !.,!appemondes, A.D. &"''0'', "Q0B$, #$0$.R9arley, N.(., The9istory of 4artography, /olume ne, pp. "##, B'&0B'B, B"',B$B.R9arvey, 8.D.A., !edieval !aps, 8late & 2color3.R>imle,C., Ceography of the !iddle Ages, p. "B.RJeen@ahl, >., !aps ofthe 9oly Land, p. BB, 8lates B, -, Q, &' 2color3.RJeedham, N.,*cience and 4ivilisation in 4hina, volume B, pp. #"Q0#B&.Rright, N., Ceographical Lore at the Time of the 4rusades, pp.0)? &"B.R illustrated

The sma (eatus map 28late %%%I/3, although one ofthe latest 2&"'B3, is regarded as one which is in many of its importantfeatures most like its prototype. It gives, for instance, alone of all the copies, the

pictures of the Twelve Apostles in the regions over which they ruled. It also gives

a realistic picture of the inhaitants of the *outhern continent or Antichthones,

still unknown00those monstrous eings known as *kiapodes or *hadow0footed

men, who must always lie or sit in such fashion that their great feet were as

umrellas shading them from the otherwise deadly *un. There were other

faulous races of this austral land? one whose huge lips, instead of feet,

protected

them from the scorching +re of the *un? another whose heads had sunk to aplane almost level with their shoulders? and still another whose heads had sunk
http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/boe/boe25.htm#img_pl34http://www.sacred-texts.com/earth/boe/boe25.htm#img_pl34


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7uite elow the shoulders and had ecome asored in the trunk of

TheBeatus MaporBeatine Mapis one of the most relevant cartographic works ofthe European High Middle Ages: It was originally drawn by the Spanish monkBeatusof Libana, based on the accounts given bySaint Isidore of Seville,Ptolemyand the

Holy Bible. Although the original manuscript is lost, there still remain several copies,which retain a high fidelity with respect the original.The European world view in the High Middle Ages

According to the descriptions of theBook of Genesis(which was one of the mainsources of Beatus), the Earth was thought to be plane and to sustain the vault ofheaven, where the Sun, the Moon, and many other minorluminarieslike planets andstars, moved. There were two sorts of water masses: Thewaters abovethefirmament, which were contained by the vault of heaven and occasionally fell to Earthin form of rain, when the floodgates opened, and thewaters below, which nurturedthe rivers, the streams and the great salt water masses.

In thisMapa Mundi, the world is represented as a circular disc surrounded by theOcean. The Earth is divided in three continents: Asia (upper semicircle), Africa(right lower quadrant) and Europe (left lower quadrant), which belongedrespectively to the descendants of the three sons of Noah:Shem,HamandJapheth. The continental masses are separated by water streams and inner seaslike the Mediterranean (Europe-Africa), the Nile River (Africa-Asia) and theBosporusand the Aegeus Sea (Europe-Asia). In the center of the world laysJerusalem, sacred city to Christianity and Judaism alike, where Abraham wasabout to sacrifice his own son, Isaac, and where the happenings of the Passionand Resurrection of Jesus did take place. The conception ofJerusalemas anombilicum mundiwas quite usual in the medieval Christian spirituality: In the

Divine Comedy, Dante starts his travel to hell from the soils of this city.

ASIAAt the eastern end of Asia is found theGarden of Eden, a paradisical territorywhere it is never cold or hot, and where trees and wood of all kinds grow. In itscenter stands the Tree of Life, and next to it there is a fountain from which thefour rivers of Paradise:Tigris,Euphrates,PisonandGihonflow. The entranceto Paradise is protected by a Cherub who brandishes a sword of fire.

On the southern coast of the Asian continent is foundIndia, an enormousterritory traversed by three rivers, theIndus,Gangesand Hipane. It is

abundant in men of dark color, elephants, rhinoceroses, spices and preciousstones such as rubies, emeralds or diamonds. Its fields are blessed by thewest wind, Favonio, and for that reason they yield two harvests a year. In thatlocation are found the Mountains of Gold, access to which is forbidden tohumans by griffins and dragons. Off the Indian coast are the islands ofTaprobane (Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon), abundant with gems and elephants,Chrysa and Argyre, rich in gold and silver respectively, and finally Tyle, whosetrees never lose their leaves (it has been speculated that this is some island ofIndonesia).

To the west of India one findsParthia, a region that extends between the rivers

Indus and Tigris. It is divided into five different provinces: Aracusia; Parthiaproper, called thus by the Parthians, brave soldiers from Scythia who founded an
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_of_Li%C3%A9banahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_of_Li%C3%A9banahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isidore_of_Sevillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japhethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Comedyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Edenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigrishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gihonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_of_Li%C3%A9banahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatus_of_Li%C3%A9banahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isidore_of_Sevillehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Biblehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminaryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japhethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalemhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_Comedyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_of_Edenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigrishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gihonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthia


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empire that dealt with Rome on an equal basis; Assyria, called thus by Asshur,the son of Shem, famous for its purple dyes and all types of perfumes andointments, in it situated Nniveh, the capital of the old empire of the Assyrians,and where Jonas the prophet went to preach futilely; Medes (northwestIran),which is divided in two parts, Greater Medes (Hamadan,Kermanshahan,Qazvin,

TehranandEspahan) and Smaller Medes (Azarbaijan); and finallyPersia,birthplace of King Cyrus, the anointed one of God, and the region where magicalscience arose for the first time, introduced by Nebroth the giant, after theconfusion of languages had emerged inBabel.Mesopotamia s the region located between the riversTigrisandEuphrates.There we find the regions of Babylon and Chaldea.Babylonwas the ancientconqueror of the kingdom of Judah and the place where the Jewish peoplewere exiled. In that city the revelations of the prophet Ezekiel took place, whichhad so much influence on the creation of the Prophetic Chronicle. FromChaldea(South of Mesopotamia), the Asturian Chronicles supposed, came thehordes that invaded Spain and were defeated by Pelayo in Covadonga. Amongthe most important cities of this region can be mentioned Ur, the birthplace ofthe patriarch Abraham, as well as Erech (or Uruk), which was founded byEnoch.

To the south of the Euphrates river and sinus Persicum (Persian Gulf), Arabiawas located, a desert region whose southern part (present-day Yemen) receivedthe name of Arabia Felix, Happy Arabia. It was a rich, fertile land where preciousstones, myrrh and incense abounded. In it lived the fabulous bird phoenix, whichafter dying surrounded by fire was reborn of its ashes. On the northeast border ofArabia, already in territories of the old Roman Empire, extended the province ofSyria, whose limits were the Caucasus and Taurus Mountains to the north, the

Euphrates to the east, the Mediterranean Sea and Egypt to the west, and Arabiato the south. Syria had three different provinces: Comagena, Phoenicia, andPalestine. The territory of Phoenicia extended from the Mediterranean Sea toMount Lebanon and the sea of Tiberiades. In Phoenicia were found the famouscities of Sidon and Tyre. In the latter they preached so much that the prophetElias was Jesus Christ. Further south was located Palestine, which wassubdivided into four different provinces: Galilee, where they nailed Jesus ofNazareth, the sea of Tiberiades, where a good part of the apostles worked asfishermen, and Monte Tabor, the place where the Transfiguration occurred.
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