Vol. 6, No. 1, 2023, 205-232 / Cilt 6, Sayı 1, 2023, 205-232 / DOI: 10.37246/grid.1073432
Depiction of Bodrum Halicarnassus in the
historical cartographic materials between 15th
and 19th Centuries
Keywords
Burak BEYHAN1, ORCID: 0000-0001-7301-4639
Feray KOCA2, ORCID: 0000-0003-0351-8123
Urban history; Historical maps;
Critical map history; Eastern
Mediterranean; Bodrum
Abstract
Article Information
Historical cartographic materials provide us with significant evidence not
only about the evolution of spatial setting in a city and region, but also
conception of it from different worldviews. In this context, Bodrum, the
site of ancient Halicarnassus in the Eastern Mediterranean, can be
considered as a perfect laboratory for the observation of this evolution
and conceptions owing to the availability of a number of historical maps
belonging to the different eras and traditions. By revealing four mapping
traditions for elaboration of the historical cartographic materials available
for Bodrum, the study re-read the history of Bodrum city with reference
to, on the one hand, the evolution of spatial configuration of the old and
remarkable buildings in the city, and on the other hand, the manifestation
of the different world views and conceptions, which is realized by
employing a two-folded lens that reformulates history as cartography
while contextualizing cartography as history. Georeferencing is also used
as an auxiliary method of analysis for the fixation of spatial elements.
Received:
14.02.2022
Received in Revised Form:
21.07.2022
Accepted:
17.10.2022
Available Online:
30.01.2023
Article Category
Research Article
Highlights
Contact
•
•
•
•
•
1. Faculty of Architecture, Muğla Sıtkı
Koçman University, Muğla, Türkiye
Study cross-fertilizes history and cartography for urban history.
Study formulates a non-prescriptive approach.
Study reveals the political aims behind the maps depicting Bodrum.
Study questions the possibility of a unifying perspective.
Study presents Bodrum as depicted in the maps.
burakbeyhan@mu.edu.tr
2. Faculty of Architecture, Muğla Sıtkı
Koçman University, Muğla, Türkiye
feraykoca@mu.edu.tr
Beyhan, B., & Koca, F. (2023). Depiction of Bodrum Halicarnassus in the historical cartographic materials between
15th and 19th Centuries. GRID Architecture, Planning and Design Journal, 6(1), 205-232.
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Vol. 6, No. 1, 2023, 205-232 / Cilt 6, Sayı 1, 2023, 205-232 / DOI: 10.37246/grid.1073432
15. ve 19. yüzyıllar arası tarihi kartografik
malzemelerde Bodrum Halikarnas tasviri
Anahtar Sözcükler
Burak BEYHAN1, ORCID: 0000-0001-7301-4639
Feray KOCA2, ORCID: 0000-0003-0351-8123
Kent tarihi; Tarihi haritalar; Eleştirel
harita tarihi; Doğu Akdeniz;
Bodrum
Öz
Makale Bilgileri
Tarihsel kartografik materyaller bize sadece bir şehir ve bölgedeki
mekansal ortamın evrimi hakkında değil, aynı zamanda farklı dünya
görüşlerinin şehir ve bölge anlayışı hakkında da önemli kanıtlar sağlar. Bu
bağlamda, Doğu Akdeniz'deki antik Halikarnas'ın konumlandığı Bodrum,
farklı dönemlere ve geleneklere ait çok sayıda tarihi haritanın mevcudiyeti
nedeniyle bu evrim ve anlayışların gözlemlenmesi için mükemmel bir
laboratuvar olarak düşünülebilir. Çalışma, Bodrum için mevcut olan tarihi
kartografik malzemelerin irdelenebilmesi için dört haritalama geleneğini
ortaya çıkararak, bir yandan, şehirdeki eski ve dikkat çekici binaların
mekansal biçimlenişinin evrimine ve diğer yandan, farklı dünya
görüşlerinin ve anlayışlarının tezahürüne atıfta bulunmak suretiyle,
Bodrum şehrinin tarihini yeniden okumaktadır. Bu, tarihi, haritacılık olarak
yeniden formüle ederken, haritacılığı da tarih olarak bağlamlaştıran iki katlı
bir mercek kullanılarak gerçekleştirilmiştir. Coğrafi-sabitleme de yardımcı
bir çözümleme yöntemi olarak mekansal unsurların sabitlenmesinde
kullanılmıştır.
Alındı:
14.02.2022
Öne Çıkanlar
İletişim
•
•
•
1. Mimarlık Fakültesi, Muğla Sıtkı
Koçman Üniversitesi, Muğla, Türkiye
•
•
Çalışma, kent tarihi için tarihi ve haritacılığı harmanlar.
Çalışma, kuralcı olmayan bir yaklaşım formüle eder.
Çalışma, Bodrum'u tasvir eden haritaların arkasındaki siyasi amaçları
ortaya koyar.
Çalışma, birleştirici bir bakış açısı olasılığını sorgular.
Çalışma, Bodrum'u haritalarda gösterildiği gibi sunar.
Revizyon Kabul Tarihi:
21.07.2022
Kabul Edildi:
17.10.2022
Erişilebilir:
30.01.2023
Makale Kategorisi
Araştırma Makalesi
burakbeyhan@mu.edu.tr
2. Mimarlık Fakültesi, Muğla Sıtkı
Koçman Üniversitesi, Muğla, Türkiye
feraykoca@mu.edu.tr
Beyhan, B., & Koca, F. (2023). 15. ve 19. yüzyıllar arası tarihi kartografik malzemelerde Bodrum Halikarnas tasviri.
GRID Mimarlık, Planlama ve Tasarım Dergisi, 6(1), 205-232.
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INTRODUCTION
Both for the exploration of evolution of historical cities and also for the elaboration of evolution
of mapping traditions, the Mediterranean provides us with a unique laboratory. This is because of
not just its ancient history, but also availability of a rich set of cartographic materials for many cities
in the Mediterranean. One of the exceptional locations for which a good number of historical
cartographic materials is available in the Mediterranean basin is Bodrum, the site of ancient
Halicarnassus. Elaboration of these historical cartographic materials within their time frame
provides us with important inferences not only for city and regional planning, but also for
architecture. Indeed, proper intervention into spatial processes necessitates a more complex
understanding and comparison of both the spatial configuration of entities in a given environment
and various depictions and representations of these configurations. In addition, the analysis of the
spatial processes helps us to decipher the patterns and the relationships in the geographic context.
Ancient Bodrum, home to Halicarnassus, was founded in Caria Region, where the sea-dependent
Minoan colonies coming from Crete and the islands in the Aegean Sea settled in the coastal areas around
1000 BC. While the presence of indented shores in Caria provided natural bay and harbor features, the
forested areas behind the steep mountains in inner Caria provided timber to the sea-dependent colonies
(Gür, 2012). With the Persian invasions in Anatolia in 480-386 BC, the colonies were destroyed and
satrapies were established. Like this; Halicarnassus became the capital of the Carian Satrapy around 400
BC. Under Hekotomnid Rule, Halicarnassus and its local region was Hellenized and a modern Greekstyle metropolis was founded for the first time in Caria (McNicoll & Milner, 1997). It was a first for
Asia Minor that Halicarnassus was a developed maritime trade center and had a defensive power
surrounded by strong fortification walls and adopted a modern lifestyle for its period. Halicarnassus,
which was the synthesis of the political and administrative style of the east and the modern life style of
the west, under the influence of both Persian and Greek, had been significant in terms of influencing
the political and cultural history of Anatolia in ancient times. In the following ages, due to the
importance of being the capital of the ancient period, Bodrum preserved its historical importance and
turned into a research and observation area for many travelers and explorers. The iconic structures of
the city of Halicarnassus have been important landmarks for all travelers' cartographic maps.
The first historical cartographic material in which Bodrum is denoted with its landmarks belongs
to 15th century. It is available in Cristoforo Buondelmonti’s (1465-1475) Liber Insularum Archipelagi.
Although the center of attention of the respective book is islands, some parts of the Anatolian
coasts are also described with reference to the basic landmarks of the time. Similar maps such as
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the ones in Pîrî Reis’ (1521; 1526) Kitâb-I Bahriye were mainly produced from 15th to 17th century.
Beginning from 18th century onwards, one can find the maps in which the center of attention is
directly Bodrum and its close environs (such as Giovanni Battista Borra’s map). In the 19th century,
the modern maps prepared for military purposes also portray Bodrum in a detailed context (such
as Thomas Spratt’s map).
Based on these materials, in this paper there is an attempt to re-read the history of Bodrum as
depicted in maps, which also necessitates a re-reading of the history of maps. The main method of
analysis employed in this paper is actually a two-folded lens. The first fold of the lens is based on
Harley’s (1989a) suggestion for consideration of cartographer as an author using a sign system for
the production of maps that can actually be considered as a form of text. Although both map
readers and cartographers view map as objective and scientific representations of reality, the
selection of elements displayed on maps and the way of their exhibition is determined by the values
of the cartographers and the culture into which they were born (Harley, 1989b).
Thus, cartographer tells the story he or she wants to tell by selecting, omitting, classifying and
symbolizing actions, events, experiences, and ideas, which makes the final product extremely
subjective. In this context, along the first fold of the lens, a deconstructive effort is made. This
deconstruction process is described by Harley (1989b) as a discovery of the silences and
inconsistencies testing the map’s superficial trustworthiness. Hence, main task along the first fold
is an exploration of the social forces structuring cartography and contextualization of the existence
of power together with its effects “in all map knowledge”, which actually contextualizes
cartography as history via critical map history.
The second fold of the lens is based on Ethington’s (2007) suggestion for reformulation of history
as cartography. Accordingly, it is argued that presentation of the past’s knowledge can actually be
considered as a cartographic experience in terms of mapping the places of history. This
consideration is based on the expansion of the meaning of mapping so that it represents the
topological relations among topoi covering not only points, lines, or polygons, but also actions,
events, experiences, and ideas that are imperative in the construction of both space subject to
mapping and mapping over time.
Along the second fold of the lens, the main task is a close examination of interconnections between,
on the one hand, events and experiences accumulated in place, and on the other hand, evolving actions
and ideas in the representation of the space. In this context, along the second fold of the lens, reading
history can be considered as a cartographic experience in terms of establishment of interconnections
between not only the topoi in each layer, but also two sets of particular layers and their topoi. While the
first set of layers can be defined as the various configurations of space evolving over time in Bodrum,
the second set of layers can be defined as the various representations of this space.
In addition to the main method of analysis which is a qualitative one based on a novel combination
of suggestions of Harley (1989a; 1989b) and Ethington (2007), georeferencing method in GIS
(Geographic Information Systems) is also used as an auxiliary method of analysis for the fixation of
spatial elements over time. Georeferencing provides us with a one-to-one match between two sets of
‘ground control points’ (GCPs) that are map elements that can be recognized in both reference map
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whose projection is known and the historical map. In this process, if possible, GCPs should be equally
distributed through the whole raster image of the historical map. GCPs should also be designated as
the spatial elements that are well-identifiable (such as holly spaces that have remained unchanged over
time). The methods used for georeferencing a map can be categorized into two general groups (Balletti,
2006; Cajthaml, 2011; Herrault et al., 2013); (1) those with global & non-exact algorithms using all
GCPs for obtaining a transformation to be applied on the whole raster image, and (2) those with local
& exact algorithms using different sets of GCPs for different portions of the raster image.
Although for the historical cartographic material having a correct map projection or high degree
of accuracy (such as Thomas Spratt’s Bodrum map), global & non-exact algorithms (such as linear
and lower order polynomials) can be used for georeferencing (Podobnikar, 2010), for the historical
maps without any map projection and low degree of accuracy, it is more appropriate to use local
& exact algorithms such as ‘thin plate spline’ (TPS) (Podobnikar and Šinkovec, 2004). Employment
of TPS also requires the fulfilment of basic topological conditions. Since, except for the map
prepared by Spratt, the historical maps used in this study do not fully meet the basic topological
conditions, only Spratt’s map is georeferenced by using Quantum GIS (QGIS), a Free and Open
Source Software (FOSS) for GIS, to produce a map showing the significance of spatial elements in
various depiction of Bodrum.
Within the framework drawn above, the next section is devoted to the contextualization of
different versions of Bodrum in historical maps with an emphasis on the imprints of different geopolitical manifestations encoded in the maps. Later, these manifestations are further deconstructed
by using various perspectives and by revealing the possibility of a unifying framework as opposed
to a polarizing framework. The final section presents some concluding remarks based on the nonprescriptive approach formulated in the paper.
BODRUM IN HISTORICAL MAPS THROUGH A HISTORY OF MAPS
The chart showing Kos Island and its environs in Cristoforo Buondelmonti’s (1465-1475) Liber
Insularum Archipelagi can be considered as the first cartographical material partly depicting Bodrum
(Figure 1). Buondelmonti was a Florentine monk and known for his travels made through Ionian
and Aegean Seas at the beginning of the 15th century (Tolias, 2012). According to Tolias (2007),
Liber Insularum Archipelagi provides us with an example of early regional geography.
Buondelmonti’s Liber Insularum Archipelagi is the first example of a genre called isolario meaning
‘Book of Islands’ (Tolias, 2007). Sometimes, the charts in isolario are also accompanied by
geographical and historical information, textual annotations on the maps, and in rare cases, by a
poem-like structure such as the one authored by Bartolomeo Da Li Sonetti (1485), a Venetian ship
captain. Sonetti’s maps particularly exhibit a nautical character in terms of employment of the
technique of the portolan charts associated with a compass and scale (Tolias, 2012).
As a representation of the Mediterranean region the first isolario was actually part of the territorial
rivalries between the Ottoman Empire and the Western Christian nations in terms of its reflection
of the territorial imperatives of a given society, more precisely the vested interests of the European
powers in the Eastern Mediterranean (Tolias, 2007; Perreault, 2019). Indeed, when examined, a
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clear political aim for the legitimization of the Latin presence throughout the territories of the
Eastern Mediterranean can be found in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi such that the cartographic
images and the accompanying text link the classical heritage to the Latins while reaffirming their
presence and the so-called legitimate and temporal possessions of the Christian Church in the
Eastern Mediterranean (Tolias, 2012; Perreault, 2019).
Figure 1 - Buondelmonti’s (left) and Sonetti’s (right) charts showing Kos Island, Bodrum Harbor and
Knidos. Source: Buondelmonti (1465-1475, p. 26v) and Sonetti (1485, p. 35).
In the cartographic images involved in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi, the island is represented as
surrounded by water, which emphasizes the territory as a piece of land independent of the
mainland. Kos Island is also depicted in a similar fashion. What is remarkable in the chart whose
center is Kos Island is the importance assigned to some locations along the Anatolian coasts such
as Bodrum. Bodrum Castle together with a tower to its north-east in inland can be identified in the
charts of Buondelmonti (1465-75) and Sonetti (1485) in the form of both symbolic and textual
annotations (Figure 1). Although the tower is depicted separate from the castle, most probably it
represents one of the towers in the castle, particularly the highest one known as French Tower.
Bodrum Castle built by the St. Jean Knights in 1402 under the name of St. Peter’s Castle is titled
accordingly in these charts, which reveals the importance of Bodrum for Christianity in the Eastern
Mediterranean. Datça peninsula is also titled Caria showing the antique roots of the region.
In the 16th century, Bodrum can also be seen in the maps in Kitâb-ı Bahriye (usually translated as
“The Book of Navigation”) authored by Pîrî Reis (1526) (Figure 2). Although Emiralioglu (2016)
considers Kitâb-ı Bahriye as the first isolario in Ottoman Turkish, Tolias (2007) positions it in between
a narrative portolan and an isolario. Indeed, Kitâb-ı Bahriye, on the one hand, parallel to the portolan,
follows the seaways along the Mediterranean coasts, and on the other hand, parallel to the isolario,
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provides the readers with a detailed mapping of each island and the nearby coasts. There are two
versions of Kitâb-ı Bahriye (Yilmaz, 2010; Emiralioglu, 2016). The first one is dated 1521 and it was
prepared for the use of sailors in a simpler and handier form. The second one is a more detailed
and ornate work prepared as a deluxe edition to be presented to Suleyman the Magnificent in 1526
for the use of the imperial court.
Pîrî Reis served as the master of one of the ships of Kemal Reis, a famous Admiral of the Ottoman
Navy and his uncle, and sailed with him all around the Mediterranean, which allowed him to
examine the harbors and make the maps which were collected in his Kitâb-ı Bahriye (Yilmaz, 2010;
Nemlioğlu Koca, 2020). As being a narrative portolan, each map in Kitâb-ı Bahriye is associated with
a detailed description of not only maritime conditions, shallow waters and reefs, but also potable
water sources along the coasts and geographical features of both the islands and inland in terms of
history of the settlements and local culture (Pîrî Reis, 1521, 1526). In this respect, in his work, Pîrî
Reis (1526) particularly warns us about the illusion created by the topography of the region.
Accordingly, in his description of Kos Island, he notes that although a high mountain on the south
side of the Island creates an impression of another island from afar, all are one island. As elaborated
in the subsequent part of this section, the cartographers in the Russian Navy seems to have fallen
into a similar failure in their map depicting Bodrum and its environs.
Figure 2 - Kos Island and Bodrum – maps from detailed versions of Kitâb-ı Bahriye. Source: Pîrî Reis
(1526).
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On Pîrî Reis’ maps covering Bodrum (Figure 2), there is no particular symbol showing the castle
or tower in Bodrum harbor. However, in one of the detailed versions of the book, the existence of
a castle in the harbor is explained in a text annotation attached to the entrance of the harbor (the
map on the left of Figure 2). In the map, the island to the south-east of Bodrum harbor is titled as
“Sığır” island that should be Görecek Island, today. Compared with inland, Kos Island is described
by using symbol annotations in a more detailed context, which affirms its similarity with isolarios.
Pîrî Reis’s map can also be contextualized with reference to, on the one hand, the exposition of a
different worldview, and on the other hand, the declaration of an imperial claim in terms of
instrumentalization of maps as a tool of power. For the latter, as Emiralioglu (2016, p. 3) argues, the
Ottoman Empire was the largest empire in the Old World and “was broadcasting its imperial claims
to universal sovereignty in both the East and the West” via practical geographical information, which
reveals the fact the “Ottoman court was aware of the symbolic and practical value of the
geographical works and took advantage of them”. When the name of the book is reconsidered, the
worldview behind Kitâb-ı Bahriye also becomes more traceable. The book can also be translated in to
English as “Book of Seafaring” or “Book of Sea Lore”. Since Pîrî Reis considered the sea as a science
and sailing as an art, he actually named his book only “Bahriyya” designating the image of the sea as
the building block of his work, which has also roots in Sufism (Tasavvuf) (Sır, 2015).
In the 18th century, one of the first maps mainly focusing on Bodrum was produced by Giovanni
Battista Borra in 1750 (Figure 3). Giovanni Battista Borra was an Italian engineer and architectural
draughtsman. After meeting Robert Wood in Rome, he joined Wood’s team as an architectural
draughtsman for his antiquarian expedition to Asia Minor and Syria in 1750-51. Starting their
journey from Izmir, they first followed a route to Istanbul, and then, to the sites of Laodicea
(Eskihisar) and Hierapolis (Pamukkale), and after visiting these ancient cities, they returned back
to the sea at Bodrum on October 10th, 1750 (Hutton, 1927; Mighetto, 1995). Borra’s (1751) sketches
provide us with the first graphical records of many antique cities.
Figure 3 - Topographical Map of Halicarnassus at its Harbor. Source: Borra (1750).
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Borra’s Bodrum map presents a bird’s eye view to the north-east over the harbor and its environs.
The view seems to be segmented by Gümbet Bay, Bodrum Bay, mountains and hills. Towards the
south-west of Gümbet Bay, two islands are visible. The big one to the south of small one should
be Görecek Island. Farming plots with houses (marked on the map with letter A) attached to them
surrounds Bodrum harbor. The Castle (B), parts of the walls (C), and Amphitheatre (D) are
noticeable on the map together with other historical remains. Those remains marked with E should
be “Doric Portico” with 30 columns belonging to Stoa. Compared with the other buildings, the
castle is drawn in a detailed context in the map. The remains marked with F and G indicate a great
platform and its southeastern extension, most probably occupied by the Temple of Mars. The
particular details given in the map for ancient remains are in line with the search for exposition of
Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean and its link with antiquity.
Chronologically, the second map depicting Bodrum in the 18th century was prepared during the first
archipelago expedition of the Russian Navy between 1769 and 1774 (Figure 4). The map made in 1772
presents a panoramic view of Bodrum that was taken from the frigate Tino (marked on the map with
letter D) taking part in Russian-Turkish war of 1768-1774. According to description provided for the
map, the city of Bodrum has an ancient fortification (A) with cannons and the building (B) used by a
military battery. The map also shows the position of Turkish ships (C) in the harbor. Although at first
glance the island to the west of Tino can be considered to be Görecek Island, the symbols on the map
showing five windmills situated on top of the hill between Bodrum and Gümbet bays reveal that it is
actually a small peninsula at the southern end of a relatively bigger peninsula separating these bays. In
spite of this mistake that seems to stem from the illusion created by topography of the region in the
map, it helps us trace the origin of the well-known historical windmills of Bodrum to 1772. In the
Russian map, the island to the south of Tino should be Kara Island.
Figure 4 - Chart and a panoramic view of Bodrum. Source: Modified from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bodrum_1772.jpg
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The third map depicting Bodrum in the 18th century and published in 1782 focuses on the harbor
and town (Figure 5). The map titled “Plan du port et de la ville de Boudroum” (Map of the port
and town of Bodrum) was published in Marie-Gabriel-Florent-Auguste Comte de ChoiseulGouffier’s (1782) well-known Voyage Pittoresque de la Grèce whose illustrations were produced by his
team of skilled artists and draftsmen who were in charge of taking records of the location and
topographical images of the places they visited during his journey to the Ottoman Empire to find
the sites of ancient history and literature (Pedley, 2012).
Figure 5 - Map of the harbor and town of Bodrum. Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plan _du_port_et_de_la_ville_de_ Boudroum_-_Choiseulgouffier_Gabriel_Florent_Auguste_De_-_1782.jpg.
Auguste de Choiseul-Gouffier was a monarchist elite who served as French ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire from 1784 until the fall of the French monarchy. After arriving at the Anatolian
shores along the Gulf of Macri (Fethiye) in 1776, Choiseul-Gouffier proceeded inland for
exploration of the Ottoman territories. As Brummett (2020) remarks, in the Voyage Pittoresque,
Choiseul-Gouffier (1782) created an image of Ottoman local space for his readers with the
engravings serving to illustrate Ottoman space and style to his audience. Choiseul-Gouffier had a
passion for antiquity that can be contextualized within the late 17th century’s historiographical
movement based on not only literature but also the relics and topographical descriptions for
reproduction of imageries of the landscape and the material objects of the past (Pedley, 2012).
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A plan of the ancient Halicarnassus is placed on left corner of Choiseul-Gouffier’s Bodrum map
as a cartouche, which reveals the search of Choiseul-Gouffier for the remnants of the ancient city
in the picturesque remains found on the surface. The detailed version of this cartouche can be
found as a separate map in Arrian & Chaussard (1802) to depict the ancient Halicarnassus for the
contextualization of circumstances of Alexandre the Great’s siege of the city (Figure 6).
Figure 6 - Map of the city of Halicarnassus (left) and original sketch (right) by Barbié Du Bocage. Source:
for published version (left) Arrian & Chaussard (1802), and for sketch (right): modified from
https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b84701203/f20.item.
It is drawn by Jean Denis Barbié du Bocage who also revised the maps accompanying ChoiseulGouffier’s the Voyage Pittoresque in 1782. Barbie du Bocage was a French cartographer and
cosmographer active in Paris during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Although after ChoiseulGouffier’s death, Barbié Du Bocage sustained the publication of the Voyage Pittoresque (Lowe, 1936,
p. 206), he also prepared the maps and plans to accompany some other books of the time. Plan de
la ville d’Halicarnasse seems to be actually product of such a cooperation with Chaussard.
In Choiseul-Gouffier’s Bodrum map, Palace of Agha, the Fort, bazaar area and central mosque of
Bodrum are marked together with the buildings and plots of land and fields (Figure 5). However,
parallel to the map of Borra, except for location of these important buildings and places, the road
network and buildings in the town can be considered as picturesque elements. The bazaar area is
marked next to the castle. To the north of the Fort in Choiseul-Gouffier’s map, there is a Turkish
Cemetery which is not marked in other maps. In the map, there is a symbolic annotation for the
Amphitheatre whose location seems to be wrong.
The mosque marked in the map is Tepecik Mosque which was built in 1740 by Haji Hasan Agha,
the steward of shipbuilder Kızılhisarlı Mustafa Pasha. This mosque is an example of the Yalı Type
Mosques having rare examples in Ottoman architecture. The mosque was built on an island formed
by the sea, and its connection with the land was provided by a bridge, which was due to the fact
that the founder of the mosque was a sailor and it was aimed for sailors to perform their prayers
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immediately before coming ashore (Maden & Eğilmez, 2018). For this reason, Tepecik Mosque
had a pier so that ships could dock.
A close examination of the ancient Halicarnassus map attached to Choiseul-Gouffier’s Bodrum map
provides us with important inputs for the exploration of the hidden agendas. Barbié Du Bocage’s
ancient Halicarnassus map published in Arrian & Chaussard (1802) particularly differs from both
the original sketch and the one attached to Choiseul-Gouffier’s Bodrum map in terms of location
of a specific ancient gate, namely Mylasa gate (Figure 5 and 6). The location of this gate in Arrian &
Chaussard (1802) is wrong. Another issue is related to the location of the castle. In the ancient texts,
the fort is described on an island, called Zephyria or Zephyrion (Newton & Pullan, 1862; Bean &
Cook, 1955). Although it was connected to the land by an isthmus, it seems to have been artificially
sundered (Bean & Cook, 1955). There is further mention of a minor secret port hide by a wall circuit
terminated in the castle. Based on these considerations, it seems that Barbié Du Bocage was loyal to
the description of the ancient texts instead of the scientific considerations. Indeed, according to
Vitruvius’ (Vitruvius & Morgan, 1914) description of the panorama, the secret harbor should have
reclined approximately to the south or even south-east of the palace, which is completely in line
with the spatial configuration of secret harbor and the palace in Barbié Du Bocage’s map.
Overall, these plans and charts prepared by Borra, Russian Navy, Choiseul-Gouffier and Barbié
Du Bocage are different from other geometrically surveyed city plans of the time. Particularly, the
ones produced by Borra and Choiseul-Gouffier’s team for small towns located along the Aegean
coasts were intended to serve as illustrations providing readers with an orientation for the texts of
antiquarian research. Thus, as emphasized by Pedley (2012), these plans can only be properly
considered within the framework of antiquarian mapping of the 18th century during which the
European scholars were particularly interested in everything related to the ancient Greek
civilization. The extent of this interest was such that, as Papachristou and Pazarli (2011) remark,
on the base of descriptions of Pausanias in his Voyage in Greece, a plan showing Olympia sanctuary
was created by Barbié Du Bocage.
In this respect, what is further problematic is the misplacement of some artifacts in these maps.
For example, Papachristou and Pazarli (2011) argue that Barbié Du Bocage’s Olympia plan
published by Barthélemy in Voyage du jeune Anacharsis is wrong owing to the fact that the stadium
positioned to the west of Mount Kronos instead of east. A similar observation can also be made
for the maps prepared for Bodrum by these early surveyors. For example, the Amphitheater is
placed in both Choiseul-Gouffier and Barbié Du Bocage’s maps to the south of Mausoleum in a
location close to the port. On the contrary, the actual location of Amphitheater is to the northwest of Mausoleum in a location farther from the port compared with the Mausoleum.
It is known that due to his post tying him to Paris Barbié Du Bocage produced his maps on the
base of the site work conducted by the civil engineer Foucherot during Choiseul-Gouffier’s
expedition (Della Dora, 2007). Little is known about Foucherot who is identified by some as a civil
engineer and by some others as an architect (Lowe, 1936). This may be the reason for these kinds
of misplacements (such as Amphitheater). It seems that Barbie´ du Bocage didn’t visit the area. He
used what is produced by Choiseul-Gouffier’s team on the site.
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Two other maps depicting Bodrum at the beginning for 19th century can be mentioned. The first
one belonging to 1804 is actually a portolan chart showing Bodrum port and its environs (Figure
7). It was available in the collection of maps of the ports and harbors of the Mediterranean originally
compiled by Joseph Roux and revised by Jean Joseph Allezard, a former captain of the French
Navy (Johnson, 2004), in 1804 and 1817 with the addition of plans generally relating to the Eastern
Mediterranean. The first edition of these maps depicting harbors, gulfs and coves, and the shallows
and deep points of the sea in detailed drawings was published by Joseph Roux, the French royal
hydrographer, in 1764 (Johnson 2004; Faričić & Mirošević, 2017).
Figure 7 - Port du Petes (Bitez), Port Boudron from 1804 (left) and 1817 (right) editions by Allezard.
These maps can be best described as examples of post-portolans which were followed by a
mapping tradition based on modern cartographic techniques. Apart from the information required
to enter the ports, these maps often include details of city buildings, mills, bird’s eye view of castles,
etc. In Allezard’s Bodrum map, a chateau is visible in the place of the Castle. Most probably two
towers-like building symbols shows one of the towers on Salmakis (Kaplan Kalessi) part of
Bodrum. The symbols for buildings surrounding the coastal area of the port is in line with the
description of the town in other maps.
The second map is available in Beaufort (1817) (Figure 8). This map is based on the sketch
produced by Beaufort for Bodrum harbor in 1811. In the British Navy, Beaufort was mainly
responsible for the preparation of the accurate maritime charts of the coastline, harbors, reefs,
shoals and islands, and also investigation of the historical sites and noteworthy features of the
coastline such as climate, inhabitants, settlements, and landscape (Friendly, 1977; Duggan, 2017).
Under Beaufort’s direction, the number of ships involved in navigational and hydrographic
research had increased to 17 in 1855 (Friendly, 1977). With activities of Captain Beaufort and
subsequently his colleagues including Captains Graves in the 1830’s and 1840’s, British
hydrographers produced the maps of the shores of Mediterranean (Duggan, 2017).
In Beaufort’s map, important landmarks such as mosques, burying ground, castle and palace (Seray)
are marked together with the location of Bazaar. Interestingly, Beaufort’s map also informs us
about the existence of a shipyard. Although Beaufort also mentions about the remains of a theatre,
he didn’t show it in his map given in Beaufort (1817). Nevertheless, in his map titled as “Chart of
the Promontory of Boodroom with the Karabaghla Islands and the North Point of the Island of
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Kos”, the location of the ancient theatre is shown. In this map, there is also a “Sketch of the
Harbour of Boodroom” which provides us with further details about the ancient city parallel to his
map in Beaufort (1817, p. 84). In the respective sketch there is also information in relation to the
latitude and longitude for a tower (SE Tower) in the castle: 37° 1’ 21’’ North 27° 25’ 18’’ East.
In his book, Beaufort (1817) provides us with a description of the harbor and its two ancient stone
piers which were then demolished. He further mentions about the fact that the remains of walls of
the ancient city and columns, damaged sculpture, and “broken inscriptions are scattered in different
parts of the bazaar and streets” together with the other ruins in the vicinity of the town (Beaufort,
1817, p. 90).
Figure 8 - Harbor of Bodrum, the ancient Halicarnassus in 1811. Source: Sketch (left) from
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chart_of_the_Promontory_of_Boodroom_with_the_Karabaghl
a_Islands_and_the_North_Point_of_the_Island_of_Kos_-_by_Francis_Beaufort_F.R.
Three mosques and one minaret are marked in Beaufort’s map. The first mosque close to Seray is
Tepecik Mosque. The one to the north of the castle is Kızılhisarlı Mustafa Pasha Mosque. The
mosque was built in 1723 by Kızılhisarlı Mustafa Pasha who came to Bodrum with his sons between
1688 and 1718 to build a shipyard (Maden & Eğilmez, 2018). After the construction of the shipyard,
building activities increased intensively in Bodrum. After his death, Kızılhisarlı Mustafa Pasha was
buried with his son, Cafer Pasha, who was a captain (kaptan-ı derya) like himself, in the tomb located
in the Tersane District of Gemibası Neighborhood. Burying ground marked with the third mosque
in Beaufort’s map actually shows the location of this tomb. The minaret marked in Beaufort’s map
inside the castle is the evidence of another mosque in Bodrum harbor. It was actually Bodrum’s
oldest mosque known as “Kale Mosque” which was converted by Suleyman the Magnificent from
a church in 1523 (Evliya Çelebi, [1671-1672] 1935).
The last map analyzed was prepared by Thomas Spratt in 1847 for the United Kingdom
Hydrographic Office (UKHO) (Figure 9). The map has the latitude and longitude information for
Kalessi Point (37° 1’ 52’’ North, 27° 27’ 35’’ East) that interestingly corresponds to one of the
towers known as English Tower in Bodrum Castle. In the map, there is a note in relation to
“Magnetic variation in 1901, decreasing 5’ annually”. Thus, some information in Spratt’s map may
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have been added or modified after the original survey. When examined, it becomes evident that
this seems to be valid for the lighthouse located at the entrance of Bodrum harbor. It is known
that the Lighthouse was constructed in the second half of 19th century (Nemlioğlu Koca, 2018).
Thomas Spratt served in the flotilla of ships developed under Beaufort’s direction for navigational
and hydrographic research (Friendly, 1977; Maempel, 1986). He was a man with a strong interest
in the geology and archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean for the identification of ancient cities
(Maempel, 1986; Della Dora, 2007). In his map, Bodrum castle is titled as the Castle of St. Peter
recalling its connection with the Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean, which confirms his
interest in antiquity. Thanks to his interest in archeology, the site of Mausoleum is also depicted in
its correct location.
Figure 9 - Bodrum – the Ancient Halicarnassus (focus on harbor - right).
Source: modified from UKHO (1847).
Three additional mosques are marked on Spratt’s map. The first one located on the map to the
north of Bazaar on the coast cannot be followed today. The second one located to the east of
Mausoleum is Türkkuyusu Mosque built in 1767. There is no information about the builder of this
mosque (Maden & Eğilmez, 2018). To the north of this mosque, the Ruins of Greek Church of St.
Marina is marked on Spratt’s map. The third additional mosque marked on the map is either
Tulumba Masjid or most probably Eski Çeşme Masjid built in 1746 by a person named Haji
Ibrahim for whom there is no information (Maden & Eğilmez, 2018). Although the mosque in the
Eski Çeşme Neighborhood is also referred to as Tulumba Mosque, it is known that Tulumba
Masjid was built by Tabak Haji Ali in the same neighborhood near the shipyard in 1780. As a matter
of fact, when Spratt visited Bodrum, the settlement mentioned as a town in Ottoman official
documents was consisting of nine districts (Umurca, Çarsi, Kelerlik, Greek, Kiliseli, Tepecik,
Yenikoy, Turk-Kuyusu and Eski Çeşme Neighborhood) (Erdoğru & Özgiray, 2017).
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The ruins of a Greek Church to the west of the site of Salmakis (Kaplan Kalessi) and St. Nikolo
Church to the east of Kızılhisarlı Mustafa Mosque are also marked on Spratt’s map which describes
the part of Bodrum settlement around St. Nikolo Church as Greek Quarter. Inside the harbor, a
line of aqueduct can be followed from Kızılhisarlı Mustafa Pasha Mosque in the east to Eski Çeşme
Mosque in the west to convey water. St. Georgio point can be seen in the map together with Ikinji
and Meshrik Points to the east and Deguir Point to the west. Windmills are particularly visible
together with these points in Spratt’s map.
It is important to remark that neither the ruins of the churches nor the location of Mausoleum are
depicted in Thomas Graves’ map, which confirms Spratt’s strong interest in the archaeology and
history of the eastern Mediterranean. Spratt’s map can also be easily distinguished from the
preceding maps of Bodrum by its depiction of ancient remains in a more scientific manner. Instead
of depiction of the existence of apparently missing items and being loyal to the ancient texts, Spratt
relied on the actual evidences observed in the field for spatialization of the artifacts mentioned in
the ancient texts.
It is observed that Spratt’s map was actively used and enriched in the subsequent years by the
scholars focusing on the area. For example, Newton and Pullan (1862) marked the fields and
gardens of remarkable residents of Bodrum on the map produced by Spratt in their book about
the history of discoveries at Halicarnassus, Cnidus & Branchidæ. Bean and Cook (1955) also uses
Spratt’s map in their study depicting ancient remains in Bodrum peninsula. Overall, the depiction
of ancient city walls, ruins of both churches and ancient landmarks in Spratt’s map reveals the
effort to expose the presence of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean and its link with
antiquity. Nevertheless, the map also increasingly depicts the components symbolizing Islamic
values. This may be attributed to the strategic military concerns requiring objective knowledge
about the social and cultural characteristics of the geography subject to mapping.
For the fixation of the spatial elements discussed in this section, a map (Figure 10) showing the
location of the elements concerned is produced on the base of Spratt’s map. For this purpose, 19
couples of GCPs are identified on the historical map and reference map already georeferenced in
WGS 84 / UTM zone 35N. Tanks, Windmills, corner of old buildings such the Castle, Mosques
and ruins were used as GCPs. After designation of GCPs, Spratt’s map is georeferenced by using
the first order polynomial transformation (POL1). In QGIS (2022), the list of residuals for
individual GCPs can also be exported as a table that can be further processed to calculate Root
Mean Square Error (RMSE) values for the historic map georeferenced in this study. RMSE
provides us with a quality assessment in terms of map’s mathematical correctness by reviewing the
positional accuracy of the individual transformed points (Podobnikar, 2010; Panecki, 2015).
Accordingly, RMSE value for Spratt’s map is calculated as 20.631 meters. When the scale and time
of the map is considered this error seem to fall within the acceptable limits. The existence each of
spatial elements in various historical maps analyzed in this paper can also be checked in Table 1.
The next section will further address the silence of the maps for those elements in connection with
the method of analysis developed in the paper by combining the suggestions of Harley (1989a;
1989b) and Ethington (2007).
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Figure 10 - Some of the spatial elements traced over time and maps used in the study. Source: Authors’
(2022) elaborations on the map modified from UKHO (1847).
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Table 1 - Comparison of the existence of some of the spatial elements in the maps used in the Study.
Historical Maps Depicting Bodrum
id Name
Russian
Buondelmonti Pîrî
Borra
Navy
and Sonetti
Reis
ChoiseulDu
Allezard Beaufort Spratt
Gouffier Bocage
1
Castle
2
Amphitheater
3
Mousoleum
4
Tepecik Mosque
5
Mosque
6
Musafa Pacha
Mosque
X
X
7
Kale Mosque
X
X
8
Palace (Seray)
X
X
9
Doric Portico
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X?
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
10 Tomb
X
X
11 Light House
X
Türkkuyusu
Mosque
X
12
13 Ruins of St.Marina
X
14 Eski Çeşme Masjid
X
15 Ruins of a Church
X
16 St. Nikolo Church
X
17 Temple of Mars
X
X
AN ELABORATION OF THE VARIOUS PERSPECTIVES
The attempt to re-read history of Bodrum in maps reveals the importance of also re-reading maps
in history in terms of exposition of the hidden agendas encoded in the maps and the evolution of
the spatial configuration of the landmarks encapsulated in the maps. The chronological order and
the dominant characteristics of the historical cartographical materials used in this study is
summarized in Figure 11 together with their short descriptions. Overall, four mapping traditions
can be identified for the period analyzed with a specific focus on Bodrum; (1) charts and maps
produced between the 15th and 17th centuries for various types of isolarios and similar books (such
as the ones in Buondelmonti, Sonetti and Pîrî Reis’ books); (2) the 18th century mappings of
antiquity (such as Borra and Choiseul-Gouffier’s maps) characterized by picturesque
representations; (3) post-portolans (such as Allezard’s map) mainly serving for navigational
purposes before the military surveys; and (4) the 19th century military surveys (such as Spratt’s map)
characterized by modern cartographic techniques.
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Figure 11 - Chronological order and characteristics of the historical cartographical materials for Bodrum
(Produced by the authors).
The Menteşe Principality, which dominated the Southern Aegean before the era of “Book of
Islands and Narrative Portolans”, provided an important economic activity between the east and
the west by developing maritime trade with the Genoese and Venetians, who held the
Mediterranean trade, due to its strategic position in Anatolia and the Mediterranean (Metin, 2013).
In addition, due to the fact that the Menteşe Principality was not strong enough to threaten the
Venetians as a navy power, it made the development of commercial relations beneficial for both
parties by keeping the Venetians unresponsive to the Turkish advance (Laiou, 2003). However;
during the era of “Book of Islands and Narrative Portolans”, southern Aegean region covering
Bodrum witnessed the increasing Ottoman Rule in both the inland and sea thanks to the
institutionalization of the Ottoman Navy during the same era, which resulted in the complete
restructuring of the administrative, political and economic life in the region. Although the ongoing
trade with the Venetians in the South Aegean under Ottoman rule was interrupted, new ships were
built in the shipyards on the shores of Bodrum in order to strengthen the Ottoman Navy, which
would pave the way for the Ottomans to become a military power in the Mediterranean.
It is actually for this interruption that “Book of Islands” came into existence. As argued in the
previous section, an obvious political strategy for the legitimization of presence of the Latin over
the territories of the Eastern Mediterranean can be observed in the Liber Insularum Archipelagi. In
this paper, the second fold of the lens is developed to further explore the inner dynamics of
construction of this strategy. Along the second fold of the lens used in this study, each map or
chart can be considered as a layer whose topoi involves not only the physical entities forming a
spatial configuration in terms of accumulation of events and experiences, but also the ideas and
actions giving direction to the representation of these configurations. Actually, the trajectory of
each topoi between different layers provides us with the material evidence of historical categories,
which can, in turn, be examined for the possible implications for continuity, interruption and
evolution of various styles of narratives and world views imperative in the mapping practice at the
very beginning along the first fold of the lens that looks for conceptualizations behind various
representations.
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Continuity of trajectories of both representations of physical entities and conceptualizations of the
representations can easily be first observed in the tradition of isolario as exemplified in the works of
Buondelmonti and Sonetti. This mapping tradition with small interruptions in the method of
narration evolves into a hybrid model in the case of Pîrî Reis’ Kitâb-ı Bahriye imprinted with the
characteristics of both isolario and portolans. Although the early charts and maps prepared by
Buondelmonti, Sonetti, and Pîrî Reis seem to serve for navigational purposes, as elaborated in the
paper, a hidden agenda can be easily identified behind their creation in terms of declaration of a
particular world view with reference to visual enjoyment of the ancient narratives or the imperial
power. In this respect, the particular silences and inconsistencies embedded in the maps provides
us with some further clues about the social norms and values encoded in the maps. Particularly,
the discontinuity of trajectories can be considered as a special case of silences and inconsistencies
because ignorance occupies the initial phase of any silence.
Indeed, the silence of Borra’s map about the mosques in Bodrum deserves attention. It is a known
fact that in 1750 when Wood’s team visited the town, there were at least four mosques in Bodrum.
Although this ignorance is relatively interrupted with the depiction of a mosque in ChoiseulGouffier’s map, it seems that this is an acceptance of the reality of the time owing to the fact that
the basic intention for this particular map can also be easily read via the cartouche depicting the
ancient Halicarnassus and placed on left upper corner of the map. One can easily sense the tension
and inconsistency between the images of the ancient city given in the cartouche and the actual one
depicted in the map. For example, the secret port marked in the cartouche suddenly disappears in
the map of the town. By revealing the existence of apparently missing items, as Della Dora (2007)
argues, Choiseul-Gouffier meant to do justice to ancient narrators one of whom is Herodotus born
in Halicarnassus. Based on this argument, Della Dora (2007) further argues that ChoiseulGouffier’s work was not only antiquarian and ideological but also metaphysical in character.
Nevertheless, some inconsistencies between different maps depicting Bodrum seem to have
stemmed from technical issues not conscious interventions that can be considered as being part of
deliberate strategies. For example, the inconsistencies between different Bodrum maps in relation
to the location of ancient Mylasa Gate and the Amphitheater are illustrative for the technical
problems experienced in the translation of an observation to the map or in the finalization of a
sketch as a map.
While, probably owing to its military intention, there is, again, no written depiction for Islamic
symbols in Bodrum map prepared by the cartographers in the Russian Navy during their first
archipelago expedition; in the panoramic view attached to the bottom of the map, a minaret like
structure can actually be identified (Tepecik Mosque in Table 1).
For a fuller depiction of those landmarks symbolizing overwhelming existence of Islamic values in
Bodrum maps, one should wait the maps prepared by the members of UKHO in line with the
modern cartographic techniques, which again seems to stem from a necessity of the reality of the
time because of the fact that a more detailed depiction of the ancient Halicarnassus prevails the
other elements in these early modern maps. In these mapping practices, while a trajectory of reality
is extended by inclusion of some previously neglected topoi such as mosques probably because of
military strategic concerns, a trajectory of retrospectivity evolves into a trajectory of evidences as
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in the case of depiction of ancient Halicarnassus with reference to material evidence. Thus,
although a comparison of the volumes authored by Beaufort (1817) preceding the maps of UKHO
and Choiseul-Gouffier (1782) reveals, as Duggan (2017) remarks, rather different approaches for
the use of both the textual narrative and the illustrations; sharing a common ancestral past their
maps are characterized by a search for the presence of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean
and its link with antiquity.
Of course, the silence observed in the early maps prepared by the European surveyors for some
elements in the depiction of Bodrum can also be argued to be valid on the other side of rivalries
between the Ottoman Empire and the Western Christian nations. On the Ottoman part, as
remarked in the previous section, Pîrî Reis marks neither the castle nor the tower with a symbol in
his maps showing Bodrum. With relative interruption in the trajectory concerned, the symbolic
importance attached to them is weakened in the representation of Pîrî Reis, who exposes a different
worldview in his map that can be characterized by the declaration of imperial claims together with
the other maps in his book.
Instead of providing a perspective polarizing the various depictions of Bodrum in historical maps,
a perspective uniting what is in hand can also be formulated. Interestingly, the help comes from
Cevat Sakir Kabaagaçlı, a famous novel and story writer known as the Fisherman of Halicarnassus
who lived in Bodrum. According to Özveren (2017), many parallels can be found between the
views and thoughts of “Fisherman of Halicarnassus” and Fernand Braudel. Özveren (2017, p. 15)
argues that “[b]y characterizing the Mediterranean as a continent in its own right, the Fisherman
accomplished a revolution of almost equal significance to that of Braudel who relocated the
Mediterranean from the subordinate status of a backdrop or stage to history to becoming its main”
central character. The 16th century is particularly important for Braudel in his characterization of
the Mediterranean world as a unit of analysis in terms of establishment of a certain balance of
power between the rival poles of not only East and West, but also North and South. According to
Braudel (1972), the Mediterranean world as “a meeting place of many peoples” functions as a
“melting-pot of many histories” such that almost identical worlds with the same rhythm of life and
without any need for adaptation in case of a movement from one world to the other can be found
in the countries bordering the Mediterranean.
The unity of the Mediterranean as conceived by Braudel can also be observed in the Fisherman’s
(Halikarnas Balıkçısı, 1991) conception of the Mediterranean as a continent in its own right.
According to Özveren (2017), this can be considered as the Fisherman’s reaction to the claims
about the Western civilization’s superiority having philhellenic foundations that he was taught at
Oxford University while he was studying history there. Instead of counterpoising himself in the
East as against the West, the Fisherman conceived the Mediterranean as distinct from the West
(Özveren, 2017).
At a higher level, the general similarity between the charts and maps presented in isolarios and Pîrî
Reis’ Kitâb-ı Bahriye can actually be conceptualized on the basis of this melting pot characteristics
of the Mediterranean that should be definitely considered as a unit of analysis. This seems to be an
alternative and yet more convincing way of re-reading the history in maps via the historical
evolution of mapping traditions in the Mediterranean. The continuity in the general style of
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narration in the charts and maps of Buondelmonti, Sonetti, and Pîrî Reis can be considered as a
special case of the continuity in the life styles of the Mediterranean people mentioned by both
Braudel and Fisherman of Halicarnassus.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
In recent years, a number of researchers has reinforced the consideration of maps as tools of
projection of world perspectives of the central powers by using Harley’s (1989a; 1989b)
methodology. In this context, it can be easily argued that without exception those European
cartographers and surveyors having a common ancestral past tried to reflect past in the present by
superimposing history on geography with an intention to master territory through a search for
exposition of Christianity in the Eastern Mediterranean and its link with antiquity. Nevertheless, it
is observed that over time the symbols revealing the prevalence of Islamic values were increasingly
and inevitably depicted in the maps of which Bodrum is part thanks to the empirical observations
made on the site to frame the truth instead of prioritizing the ancient narratives for the formulation
of the truth.
Overall, maps depicting Bodrum help us trace the origin of not only basic spatial elements involved
in the construction of a place, but also various and different representations of this place as a
configurational framework of these elements. In this respect, based on the maps produced for
Bodrum, although this study reaffirms Harley’s (1989a; 1989b) argument about the fact that
“cartographic facts are only facts within a specific cultural perspective” and maps are "a particular
human way of looking at the world", it also put forward a new agenda and perspective via the
elaboration of Braudel (1972) and the Fisherman of Halicarnassus’ (1991) contributions for the
contextualization of the historical cartographical materials by questioning the possibility of a
unifying perspective instead of a polarizing one.
A unifying perspective is valuable as a connotation for the legitimization of intervention into the
spatial processes at different scales. In this context, for geographical studies of the settlements, with
particular reference to Bodrum Halicarnassus, this study exemplifies the provision of a complex
understanding of what is manifested not only in the spatial configuration of entities in a given
environment, but also in various depictions and representations of these configurations.
By shedding some light on the sociocultural and political context of Bodrum maps’ creation, the
study also reveals the importance of conceptualization of history as cartography, as suggested by
Ethington (2007), in the provision of a non-prescriptive approach. The possibility of looking at the
maps from various and different perspectives balances the analytical priorities assigned to the highand low-level trajectories of topoi. While the traces of a low-level trajectory tend to reveal opposing
world views, the trace of a high-level one may well support a shared destiny and world view that
also seems to epitomize the history of civilization having roots in the Mediterranean.
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Conflict of Interest Statement | Çıkar Çatışması Beyanı
There is no conflict of interest for conducting the research and/or for the preparation of the article.
Financial Statement | Finansman Beyanı
This work received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or notfor-profit sectors.
Ethical Statement | Etik Beyanı
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.
Copyright Statement for Intellectual and Artistic Works| Fikir ve Sanat
Eserleri Hakkında Telif Hakkı Beyanı
In the article, copyright regulations have been complied with for intellectual and artistic works
(figures, photographs, graphics, etc.).
Author Contribution Statement | Yazar Katkı Beyanı
A. Fikir / Idea, Concept
B. Çalışma Tasarısı, Yöntemi / Study
Design, Methodology
C. Literatür Taraması /
Literature Review
D. Danışmanlık / Supervision
E. Malzeme, Kaynak Sağlama / Material,
Resource Supply
F. Veri Toplama, İşleme /
Data Collection, Processing
G. Analiz, Yorum / Analyses,
Interpretation
H. Metin Yazma / Writing Text
I. Eleştirel İnceleme / Critical
Review
AUTHOR 1: A/B/C/G/H
AUTHOR 2: C/E/G/H
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BIOGRAPHIES OF THE AUTHORS
Burak BEYHAN (Prof. Dr.)
Burak Beyhan is a Professor at the Department of City and Regional Planning, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman
University. He received his degrees (Bachelor of City Planning - B.CP., Master of Regional Planning
- M.RP., and Doctor of Philosophy - Ph.D.) in the Department of City and Regional Planning at
Middle East Technical University, in Ankara, Turkey. His main research interests are in the areas
of urban and regional planning, regional development and innovation systems, geographic
information systems (GIS) in planning, and urban and planning history in Turkey.
Feray KOCA (Assoc. Prof. Dr.)
Feray Koca is an Associate Professor at the Department of City and Regional Planning, Muğla Sıtkı
Koçman University. She received her Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) degree in the Department of
Landscape Architecture, Ankara University, and her Master of Urban Design - M.UD., and Doctor
of Philosophy - Ph.D. degrees in the Department of City and Regional Planning at Middle East
Technical University, in Ankara, Turkey. Her main research interests are in the areas of urban
design and planning, urban morphology, environmental policies, management and issues,
traditional settlements, and settlement pattern in Turkey.
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