Ebstorf Mappaemundi

Ebstorf Mappaemundi

(c. 1234)

Latin.

[Locu]s qui dicitur [Moyse] id est aquae [ortus]. Quae hic habitant [Nybiae voca]ntur. Gens... semper nuda... u modum ue[neratur], christianissima, auro [dives es]t, negotio vivit, tres... [hab]ens et totidem episcopos. Jeru[salem] cum multa turma et cum [mul]ta pecunia frequenter venit et [sepu]lchrum domini multa pecunia hono[r]at et ditat

Portae Nybiae Caspiarum similes, ubi custodiae Nybiarum positae aditum prohibent advenarum. Distat a Sais, civitate Aegypti, itinere LXX dierum.

(The country that is called Moïse, it is said to be the birthplace of the water. The nation that lives in this area are called the Nubians, who go everyday naked, they do not love God, they are very Christian, they are rich in gold, they exchange in commerce, they posses three... [lacuna] ... and other bishops. They often go to Jerusalem with a grand party of people with a lot of silver. They embellish the temple of the lord with a lot of silver and enrich it.

The ports to the towns of Nubia are similar to the Caspian ports. They are places for troops to guard the Nubians and stop external attacks. It is a distance from Sais, a town in Egypt, by a distance of 70 days.)

Selected editions

Monumenta Cartographica Africae et Aegypti. Tome IV.1, ed. Y. Kamel (Leiden: 1936).