The Oldest Surviving Terrestrial Globe

The idea of a spherical Earth was known to ancient Greek scholars; ancient writers also described a terrestrial globe made by Crates of Mallus, but it has not survived. The oldest known terrestrial globe still in existence is Martin Behaim’s *Erdapfel* (“Earth Apple”), made in Nuremberg in 1492. It has no Americas: it reflects European geographic knowledge before Columbus returned from his first voyage. Alongside known lands, it depicts islands whose locations drew on reports and medieval ideas.