The Christian Topography of Cosmas, an Egyptian Monk
Translated from the Greek, and Edited with Notes and Introduction

Volume 98 of the Hakluyt Society publications (1897) describes voyages to South Asia in the mid-sixth century C.E.

Cosmas Indicopleustes (Author), J. W. McCrindle (Edited and translated by)

9781108012959, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 24 June 2010

446 pages, 4 b/w illus.
21.6 x 14 x 2.5 cm, 0.56 kg

The publications of the Hakluyt Society (founded in 1846) made available edited (and sometimes translated) early accounts of exploration. The first series, which ran from 1847 to 1899, consists of 100 books containing published or previously unpublished works by authors from Christopher Columbus to Sir Francis Drake, and covering voyages to the New World, to China and Japan, to Russia and to Africa and India. This volume, first published in 1897, contains the first English translation of the Greek monk Cosmas Indicopleustes' description of the universe and of his voyages to India, written c.550 C.E. His vivid descriptions of India, Sri Lanka and Ethiopia provide invaluable information on vanished monuments and cultures, though his book also insistently proposes that the earth is flat and denounces the 'Pagans' (mainstream ancient philosophers including Ptolemy) who, like most of Cosmas' Christian contemporaries, argued in favour of a spherical earth.

Editor's preface
Introduction
The author's supplication for divine aid
Prologue I
Prologue II
1. The places and figures of the universe
2. The position, figure, length and breadth of the Earth
3. The Tower of Babel
4. A recapitulation of the views advanced
5. Description of the Tabernacle
6. The size of the Sun
7. The duration of the heavens
8. Interpretation of the Song of Hezekiah
9. Courses of the Sun and Moon and other heavenly bodies
10. Passages from the Christian Fathers confirming the author's views
11. Description of certain Indian animals and plants, and of the island of Taprobanê (Ceylon)
12. Old Testament narratives confirmed by Chaldaean, Babylonian, Persian and Egyptian records
Appendix
Index.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP]