The more I research and learn about the once magnificent city of Miletus the more awestruck I become. The ancient ruins are amazing but to learn about the pioneering insights and contributions of the ancient philosophers, cartographers, mathematicians, cosmologists, and scientists who lived there, gives us an extraordinary understanding of the ancient world which makes each visit feel even more surreal.

In the 6th century BC, the first world map was created by Anaximander, a Greek academic and mathematician who was a member of the Milesian school of thought. His description of the world was a disc which seemed to float, encircled by Oceanus, the ocean or outer river of the Earth. His map was mathematical in geographical tradition, but it was another Milesian that is credited with producing the first literary tradition.

Hecataeus, who was though to have belonged to the old nobility of Miletus was the first Greek scholar to classify information about the then known world. His work was much more refined and detailed but clearly inspired by Anaximander's work, which he modified and expanded greatly.

Ges Peridos or Descriptions of Earth, is considered to be the 1st comprehensive geographical book to include a map of the world. It was published in two parts, the first - in which he describes the coastal regions of the Mediterranean Sea and Europe, and the second part - about Africa but also including Asia.

The books begin with a voyage that started at the pillars of Hercules in the straights of Gibraltar. He then travelled clockwise, ending at the Atlantic coast of Morocco, having followed the Mediterranean coastline. There are varying accounts, so it is unclear if his journey included that Black Sea or if he gained that knowledge through contacts with colonists that had been sent there from Miletus.

The division’s he made between Europe and Libya was made by Hellespont (Dardanelles straight, now in NW Türkiye) Euxine (the Black Sea) and the Caucasus Mountains. The Caspian Sea he treated as an inland sea.

Hecataeus is reputed to have made numerous long journeys, including Egypt, Scythia, Persia, India, Nubia, much of the Mediterranean and many Greek Islands, giving meticulous descriptions of each region, but it is unclear to what extent his reports were a based on personal observations. It has also been suggested he gathered additional information from other ancient mariners wherever possible.

Remarkably, his reports also included information about people and places that would be encountered on a coastal journey between these points as well as inhabitants of various Mediterranean islands, focusing on nations and tribes-and their customs. He included boundaries, towns and cities, rivers and mountains and even included information about the flora and fauna of each place, the scenery and, of course, as always, mythology. He is reputed to have also had access to Persian court records, Egyptian Temple carvings and Babylonian Scientific works, which he used to enhance his findings.

Hecataeus’ work set the foundations for successive geographical studies and helped to create an understanding of the world for centuries, over 300 fragments still remain.

Some 200 years after Hecataeus died, another Ancient Greek by the name of Eratosthenes calculated the earth’s circumference. He was the chief librarian at the Library of Alexander. The perfect place for use of the extensive survey results that were readily available, his results were unbelievably accurate, with his error of margin being less than 1%.

If you are fortunate enough to visit Miletus, take a moment to celebrate being in the place where the earliest philosophical, scientific, and mathematical thinkers once lived and that their achievements still form the roots of our scientific understanding of the world as we know it.