Ottoman Explorations of the Nile ― Evliya まlebi Map of the Nile and the Nile Journeys in the Book of Travels Seyahatname

Before the time of Napoleon, the most ambitious effort to explore and map the Nile was undertaken by the Ottomans, as attested by two monumental documents: an elaborate map, with 450 rubrics, and a lengthy travel account. Both were achieved at about the same time—c. 1685—and both by the same man.

Evliya Çelebi’s account of his Nile journeys, in the tenth volume of his Book of Travels (Seyahatname), has been known to the scholarly world since 1938, when that volume was first published. The map, held in the Vatican Library, has been studied since at least 1949. Numerous new critical editions of both the map and the text have been published over the years, each expounding upon the last in an attempt to reach a definitive version. The Ottoman Explorations of the Nile provides a more accurate translation of the original Çelebi travel account more accurately, while faithfully retaining the spirit and the content of the version held in the Book of Travels. Furthermore, the maps themselves are reproduced in greater detail and vivid color, and there are more cross-references to the text than in any previous edition. The Ottoman Explorations of the Nile gives equal weight and attention to the two parts that make up this extraordinary historical document, allowing readers to study the map or the text independently, while also using each to elucidate and accentuate the details of the other. 

Robert Dankoff is Professor of Turkish in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Nuran Tezcan is Professor Emeritus of Turkish Literature at Bilkent University in Turkey. Michael D. Sheridan is based in the history department of Bilkent University.