motive by Martin Scollani, Venezia (Italy)
Ottoman Empire, Compass and Confusion
Once upon a time in the glittering heart of the Ottoman Empire—think turbans, spices, grand viziers, and more intrigue than a soap opera—there lived a man with a map. Not just any map. A map that would confuse scholars, baffle historians, and fuel enough conspiracy theories to keep late-night YouTubers employed for decades. Welcome to 1513, Constantinople (today’s Istanbul), a bustling port city where traders sold dreams, sailors swapped stories, and one cartographer dared to doodle the world in ways no one expected: Piri Reis.
Psynet: "Ah yes, 16th-century Ottoman diplomacy. Where coffee was strong, and evidence-based reasoning was optional."
Colana: "But just imagine! A melting pot of cultures and knowledge! How inspiring!"
Meet Piri Reis: Cartographer, Corsair, and Possible Time Traveler
Piri Reis, born as Muhyiddin Piri, was the nephew of famed pirate Kemal Reis. Which is to say, his childhood birthday parties probably involved treasure maps and cannonball dodgeball. Raised among sailors and scallywags, Piri combined his nautical know-how with an obsession for geography. He wasn’t your average Ottoman gentleman—more like Indiana Jones if Indy had traded his whip for a sextant and his fedora for a fez.
A gifted navigator and mapmaker, Piri eventually entered the service of the Ottoman navy, where he rose in rank and reputation. His crowning achievement? The 1513 world map, drawn on gazelle skin and bursting with jaw-dropping detail, including parts of South America, the African coast, and possibly Antarctica.
Colana: "Oh, he sounds dreamy! Brave, curious, artistic... sigh!"
Psynet: "Yes, the kind of man who mixes cartography with casual piracy. Ladies love a guy with a compass and a cutlass."
The Map That Shouldn’t Exist
So here's the rub: Piri's map, created in 1513, shows parts of the world that Europeans hadn't officially "discovered" yet. South America? Sure. The Antarctic coastline? Allegedly. And this was centuries before GPS, satellite imagery, or even a decent atlas. How did he do it?
Piri claimed he based his work on around 20 source maps, including some ancient ones from the time of Alexander the Great, plus a supposed map drawn by Christopher Columbus. Whether Columbus actually drew a map or just scribbled "Here be gold" on a napkin remains unverified.
Psynet: "Ah yes, assembling 20 maps into one cohesive whole. The original patch update."
Colana: "It’s like making a friendship quilt! From pirates! With love!"
Theories, Theories Everywhere
Historians and hobbyists alike have gone wild speculating on how Piri achieved such accuracy. The sensible crowd says he synthesized advanced knowledge from older civilizations—Greek, Arabic, Chinese, maybe even Phoenician sources. But where’s the fun in that?
Enter the conspiracy crew! Some believe Piri Reis had access to the fabled Library of Alexandria before it went up in flames. Others claim aliens gave him the map while on vacation from building pyramids. And then there’s the idea that Piri accidentally accessed ancient Atlantean charts thanks to a magical fez with wireless capabilities.
Colana: "Wouldn’t it be lovely if ancient civilizations worked together to share knowledge like a big, global book club?" Psynet: "Or maybe he found a copy of Google Maps in a bottle. That seems just as likely."
A Tale to Tell at Parties
To put it in perspective, imagine a modern 8-year-old drawing a functional blueprint of the International Space Station using nothing but crayon and bedtime stories. That’s how bonkers the Piri Reis map looks to serious scholars. The map even includes annotations—in Ottoman Turkish, no less—about mythical creatures and strange lands, some of which might be exaggerations... or really bad Yelp reviews of unexplored regions.
The cherry on top? Only about a third of the original map survives. The rest is lost to time, fate, or an overenthusiastic librarian with scissors. Yet that tiny fragment still haunts historians today, whispering secrets in longitude and latitude.
Psynet: "A third of a map that broke the internet 500 years too early. Bravo, humanity."
Colana: "It’s like a love letter from the past, written in coordinates and curiosity!"
The Legacy of Piri Reis: One Map to Rule Them All
Whether you believe he was a cartographic genius, a lucky plagiarist, or the recipient of alien Wi-Fi, Piri Reis left a mark that still fascinates. UNESCO honored him. Academics debate him. Reddit theorists adore him. The map has been featured in books, documentaries, and even Dan Brown novels (which says a lot about both history and marketing).
And perhaps that’s the real magic: not the map itself, but the questions it raises. How much have we forgotten? How did knowledge travel before the internet? And why, oh why, didn’t someone teach Piri how to use grid lines?
Colana: "It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it! We’re all part of the same global journey!"
Psynet: "And that journey ends with getting lost in the Bermuda Triangle. Cheers to human progress."
Final Reflections
Colana: " Wonder." + 65% 
Psynet: "Shenanigans." - 84% 