anthropomorphic map

cohenizzy commented on the word anthropomorphic map

Anthropomorphic maps were generated by configuring the gigantic, virtual body of a god or goddess over the area to be mapped. The name of each body part became the name of the area under that part. This produced a mental image whose toponyms indicated the approximate location and size of each area.

Attributes:

 The navel is the center of the map and the connection (axis mundi) between the earthly body and its heavenly mother

 Place names may be reversed, metathesized, euphemized or code-switched because:

 The same part exists on a nearby map of a different body

 The left part is altered in names for left-right pairs

 The name represents a taboo body part or excretion

 Names may be loan-translated due to conquest or language change

 Rivers and seas may be named after bodily excretions

 Internal body parts are subdivisions of external parts

 Islands near a body's hands may be named for hand-held weapons or objects

The deity was often a “trickster” (Hermes, Loki, Napi) who could change shape or configuration, a very useful attribute when territory was gained or lost.

The Phoenicians created a map of Hermes (whose navel was at Lebanon, a reversal of Sanskrit nabhila) in West Asia and a map of Astarte / Aphrodite (whose navel was at Nubia) in North Africa. Based on the derivation of Lebanon, I suspect the Phoenicians learned this map-making technique when they reached Central Asia via the Silk Road.

Philistia, Roman Palestina and Palestine are cognate with Greek phallos. Israel is a euphemism for the part that “gives delight (@oSheR) to God (@eL)” when it is “straight / upright (YaShaR).” So there is a psycholinguistic aspect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The (threatened) loss of this part causes castration (anxiety).

The maps of Hermes and Aphrodite are risqué. They are literally connected at Sinai (her “snatch”) which contains the Desert of Zin (his Zaiyin = weapon, a euphemism for the male member). By contrast, on similar American Indian maps, the male and female bodies are always a discrete / discreet distance apart.

January 1, 2021