The Idea of Geographical Space in Ancient Greek-Roman Thought and the Institutionalisation of Geography

Erman Gören

Makale detayları

The Idea of Geographical Space in Ancient Greek-Roman Thought and the Institutionalisation of Geography

Yazarlar:

Erman Gören

Yayıncı:

Hitit University

Ana Başlıklar:

Eskiçağ Felsefesi | Helenistik Felsefe | Felsefe Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi:

Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi Vol.23 Issue Din ve Coğrafya, pp.27-53

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

4/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001316469

pISSN:

2757-6949

Anahtar kelimeler:

Özet:

 A certain conception of the earth gē emerges from the Homeric verses, the first work surviving in written form in ancient Greek literature. Therefore, from the very beginning, Greek people accepted the idea of a place where they lived and shared with the gods as a requirement of the concept of nature they adopted. Both the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad and the travels in the Odyssey describe the borders of the Mediterranean, presenting views of this notion intertwined with myth. Early approaches in which myth and reality are intertwined within the framework of the definition of space were gradually replaced by solid perspectives based on observable data. The definition and framing by a calculating mind of the earth by specialized knowledge epistēmē, which was thought to be purely uncanny in the early period, takes place gradually, due to the variety of disciplines of Ancient Greek acquired knowledge  mathematics, geometry, astronomy, geography, and history, etc.  in close contact with one another. The accumulation of other efforts, especially in the Greek Classical Age, is embodied in work that gained momentum under the auspices of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty and focused on the problem of defining the inhabited earth oikoumenē. The work of Eratosthenes, a polymath who lived in the 3rd century BC, plays an important role in the formation of certain notions of geography, especially its name geōgraphia. Although his work has survived mostly in fragments, Eratosthenes systematizations, such as the seven climates hepta klimata, which subsequently affected the scientific world profoundly, may also be included within this framework. While Eratosthenes marks the initial emergence of geography as an established science, the works by the 2nd century AD scholar Ptolemy centuries later, who lived in the Roman Imperial Period, constitutes the complementary endpoint of the institutionalization of geography, both by virtue of his solid criticisms of Eratosthenes and the establishment of certain systematic principles. A precise description of the inhabited earth accords with an astronomical sky made precise by mathematical calculation also. The landscape presented by means of this process makes understandable certain details, such as the idea of hodological space in pictorial cartography, a result of the human desire to dominate the earth, as well as the role that certain notions play in the institutionalization of geography. Thanks to the precise relationship established between the earth and the cosmos that surrounds him, mans desire for this domination also gains altitude over time. Institutionalization, at first glance, brings with it independence, and over time, independence brings with it separation from companions such as astrologyastronomy. Therefore, the institutionalization of geography needs to be evaluated within the framework of certain conceptualizations and their relations with neighboring sciences, and the seemingly isolated geography needs to be reconsidered together with the metaphysical thinking it is associated with. The details of this institutionalization process reveal the main tendencies that shaped the science of geography. The determination of the trends in question is largely the tendency of political will to define and define the boundaries of space, that is, the inhabited earth, and the cosmos in general, from a geographical perspective. The unique tendencies of the early period of the Islamic civilization, which was closely influenced by Greco-Roman geography, are related to these defining and boundary-setting purposes. As a result, the institutionalization of geography as a science in the Greco-Roman tradition and the consequences of the legacy left by its independent guise can be observed in some attitudes in the first centuries when Islam spread in a very early period. Although a full understanding of the connection of these attitudes with the Greco-Roman tradition requires a detailed analysis, revealing some clear presumptions will expand the research horizon on this subject. In this article, it will be discussed how geography emerged as an established and in certain respects independent science in the Greco-Roman tradition, as well as from what perspective and thanks to which presumptions Early Islamic scientists can be considered as heirs of the Greco-Roman tradition. A closer examination of this heir-decedent relationship shows that philologically based textual transmission is only one of how inheritance is transmitted. Therefore, one branch of the idea of institutionalized geographical space continued its own process of independence in the hands of the early Islamic geographers. From this perspective, the article also aims to suggest which aspects of the detachment should be examined in detail.

 Eski Yunan edebiyatından yazılı bir formda günümüze kalan ilk eser olarak Homerosçu mısralardan itibaren belirli bir yeryüzü gē tasavvuru karşımıza çıkar. Dolayısıyla Yunan insanı, yaşamını sürdürdüğü ve benimsediği doğa mefhumunun bir gereği olarak tanrılarla paylaştığı bir mekân fikrini başından itibaren kabul eder. Gerek Iliastaki Gemiler Kataloğu gerek Odysseiadaki Akdenizin sınırlarını hikâye eden seyahatler bu fikrin mitlerle iç içe geçmiş görünümlerini sunar. Mekânın tanımlanışı çerçevesinde mitle gerçeğin iç içe geçtiği erken yaklaşımlar zamanla yerlerini gözlemlenebilir verilere dayanan muhkem bakış açılarına bırakır. Erken dönemde bütünüyle tekinsiz olduğu düşünülen yeryüzünün hesaplayıcı bir akılla tanımlanması ve uzman bilgisi epistēmē temelinde bir çerçeveye oturtulması Eski Yunan müktesebatının matematik, geometri, astronomi, coğrafya ve tarih gibi birbiriyle yakın temastaki farklı disiplinleri sayesinde peyderpey gerçekleşir. Özellikle Yunan Klasik Çağındaki diğer çabaların sağladığı birikim, Hellenistik Ptolemaios hanedanının himayesinde ivme kazanan çalışmalarla tam anlamıyla meskûn yeryüzünün oikoumenē tanımlanması problemine odaklanarak ete kemiğe bürünür. MÖ 3. yüzyılda yaşamış bir hezarfen olan Eratosthenesin çalışmaları, bu bilimin kendi adı geōgraphia başta olmak üzere coğrafyanın belli başlı mefhumlaştırmalarının oluşmasında önemli bir rol oynar. Eseri büyük ölçüde fragmanlar halinde günümüze ulaşmış olmasına rağmen, Eratosthenesin yedi iklim hepta klimata gibi kendisinden sonraki bilim dünyasını derinden etkileyen sistemleştirmeleri de bu çerçevede sayılabilir. Eratosthenes, coğrafyanın müesses bir bilim olarak ortaya çıkmasının bir başlangıcıyken, asırlar sonraki bir halefi olarak Roma İmparatorluk Çağında yaşayan, MS 2. yüzyıl âlimi Ptolemaiosun eserleri, gerek Eratosthenese yönelik sağlam eleştirileri gerek belli başlı sistematik ilkeleri yerli yerine oturtmasıyla müessesleşmenin tamamlayıcı son noktasını oluşturur. Meskûn yeryüzünün dakik bir tanımlaması aynı zamanda matematik hesabın kesinleştirdiği bir astronomik gökyüzüyle birlikte anlam kazanır. Bu sürecin sunduğu manzara belirli mefhumlaştırmaların coğrafyanın müessesleşmesinde oynadığı rol kadar, insanın yeryüzüne hâkim olma arzusunun neticesi olan kartografik resmin hodolojik mekân fikri gibi kimi ayrıntılarını da anlaşılır kılıyor. Yeryüzüyle kendisini kuşatan kosmos arasında kurulan dakik ilişki sayesinde insanın arzuladığı bu hâkimiyet de zamanla irtifa kazanıyor. Müessesleşme ilk bakışta bir müstakilleşmeyi, müstakilleşme de zaman içinde astrolojiastronomi gibi yoldaşlardan ayrılışı beraberinde getiriyor. Dolayısıyla coğrafyanın müessesleşmesinin belli başlı mefhumlaştırmalar ve bunların komşu bilimlerle ilişkileri çerçevesinde değerlendirilmesinin, müsatakilleşmiş gibi görünen coğrafyanın ilişkili olduğu metafizik düşünmeyle birlikte yeniden ele alınması gerekiyor. Bu müessesleşme sürecinin ayrıntıları coğrafya biliminin hangi ana yönelimlerle biçimlendiğini ortaya seriyor. Mevzu bahis yönelimlerin belirleyicisi büyük ölçüde siyasî irade tarafından mekânın, yani özelde meskûn yeryüzünün genelde bir bütün olarak kosmosun coğrafi bir bakış açısıyla tanımlanması ve sınırlarının belirlenmesi eğilimidir. Yunan-Roma coğrafyacılığının yakından etkilediği İslâm medeniyetinin erken dönemindeki kendine has yönelimleri, bu tanımlayıcı ve sınırları belirleyici maksatlarla ilişkilidir. Sonuçta coğrafyanın Yunan-Roma geleneğinde bir bilim olarak müessesleşmesi ve müstakil kisvesinin bıraktığı mirasın neticeleri, oldukça erken bir dönemde İslâmın yayıldığı ilk yüzyıllardaki kimi tutumlarda gözlemlenebilir. Her ne kadar bu tutumların Yunan-Roma geleneğiyle irtibatının tam olarak anlaşılması tafsilatlı bir tahlili gerektirse de, bazı belirgin karinelerin ortaya çıkarılması bu konudaki araştırma ufkunu genişletecektir. Bu makalede, Yunan-Roma geleneğinde müesses ve belirli açılardan müstakilleşmiş bir bilim olarak coğrafyanın nasıl ortaya çıktığı kadar, Erken İslâm bilim insanlarının nasıl bir perspektifle ve hangi karineler sayesinde Yunan-Roma geleneğinin mirasçıları olarak değerlendirilebileceği ele alınacak. Bu vâris-mûris ilişkisinin daha yakından incelenmesi, filolojik temelli metin aktarımının mirasın intikalindeki vasıtalardan sadece bir tanesi olduğunu gösterir. Dolayısıyla müessesleşen coğrafi mekân fikrinin bir kolu İslâmın ilk dönem coğrafyacılarının elinde kendine has bir müstakilleşme sürecini sürdürmüştür. Makale bu bakış açısıyla, aynı zamanda, bahsedilen müstakilleşmenin öncelikli olarak hangi yönlerden enine boyuna incelenmesi gerektiğini önerme gayesini taşımaktadır.

 A certain conception of the earth gē emerges from the Homeric verses, the first work surviving in written form in ancient Greek literature. Therefore, from the very beginning, Greek people accepted the idea of a place where they lived and shared with the gods as a requirement of the concept of nature they adopted. Both the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad and the travels in the Odyssey describe the borders of the Mediterranean, presenting views of this notion intertwined with myth. Early approaches in which myth and reality are intertwined within the framework of the definition of space were gradually replaced by solid perspectives based on observable data. The definition and framing by a calculating mind of the earth by specialized knowledge epistēmē, which was thought to be purely uncanny in the early period, takes place gradually, due to the variety of disciplines of Ancient Greek acquired knowledge  mathematics, geometry, astronomy, geography, and history, etc.  in close contact with one another. The accumulation of other efforts, especially in the Greek Classical Age, is embodied in work that gained momentum under the auspices of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty and focused on the problem of defining the inhabited earth oikoumenē. The work of Eratosthenes, a polymath who lived in the 3rd century BC, plays an important role in the formation of certain notions of geography, especially its name geōgraphia. Although his work has survived mostly in fragments, Eratosthenes systematizations, such as the seven climates hepta klimata, which subsequently affected the scientific world profoundly, may also be included within this framework. While Eratosthenes marks the initial emergence of geography as an established science, the works by the 2nd century AD scholar Ptolemy centuries later, who lived in the Roman Imperial Period, constitutes the complementary endpoint of the institutionalization of geography, both by virtue of his solid criticisms of Eratosthenes and the establishment of certain systematic principles. A precise description of the inhabited earth accords with an astronomical sky made precise by mathematical calculation also. The landscape presented by means of this process makes understandable certain details, such as the idea of hodological space in pictorial cartography, a result of the human desire to dominate the earth, as well as the role that certain notions play in the institutionalization of geography. Thanks to the precise relationship established between the earth and the cosmos that surrounds him, mans desire for this domination also gains altitude over time. Institutionalization, at first glance, brings with it independence, and over time, independence brings with it separation from companions such as astrologyastronomy. Therefore, the institutionalization of geography needs to be evaluated within the framework of certain conceptualizations and their relations with neighboring sciences, and the seemingly isolated geography needs to be reconsidered together with the metaphysical thinking it is associated with. The details of this institutionalization process reveal the main tendencies that shaped the science of geography. The determination of the trends in question is largely the tendency of political will to define and define the boundaries of space, that is, the inhabited earth, and the cosmos in general, from a geographical perspective. The unique tendencies of the early period of the Islamic civilization, which was closely influenced by Greco-Roman geography, are related to these defining and boundary-setting purposes. As a result, the institutionalization of geography as a science in the Greco-Roman tradition and the consequences of the legacy left by its independent guise can be observed in some attitudes in the first centuries when Islam spread in a very early period. Although a full understanding of the connection of these attitudes with the Greco-Roman tradition requires a detailed analysis, revealing some clear presumptions will expand the research horizon on this subject. In this article, it will be discussed how geography emerged as an established and in certain respects independent science in the Greco-Roman tradition, as well as from what perspective and thanks to which presumptions Early Islamic scientists can be considered as heirs of the Greco-Roman tradition. A closer examination of this heir-decedent relationship shows that philologically based textual transmission is only one of how inheritance is transmitted. Therefore, one branch of the idea of institutionalized geographical space continued its own process of independence in the hands of the early Islamic geographers. From this perspective, the article also aims to suggest which aspects of the detachment should be examined in detail.

 A certain conception of the earth gē emerges from the Homeric verses, the first work surviving in written form in ancient Greek literature. Therefore, from the very beginning, Greek people accepted the idea of a place where they lived and shared with the gods as a requirement of the concept of nature they adopted. Both the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad and the travels in the Odyssey describe the borders of the Mediterranean, presenting views of this notion intertwined with myth. Early approaches in which myth and reality are intertwined within the framework of the definition of space were gradually replaced by solid perspectives based on observable data. The definition and framing by a calculating mind of the earth by specialized knowledge epistēmē, which was thought to be purely uncanny in the early period, takes place gradually, due to the variety of disciplines of Ancient Greek acquired knowledge  mathematics, geometry, astronomy, geography, and history, etc.  in close contact with one another. The accumulation of other efforts, especially in the Greek Classical Age, is embodied in work that gained momentum under the auspices of the Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty and focused on the problem of defining the inhabited earth oikoumenē. The work of Eratosthenes, a polymath who lived in the 3rd century BC, plays an important role in the formation of certain notions of geography, especially its name geōgraphia. Although his work has survived mostly in fragments, Eratosthenes systematizations, such as the seven climates hepta klimata, which subsequently affected the scientific world profoundly, may also be included within this framework. While Eratosthenes marks the initial emergence of geography as an established science, the works by the 2nd century AD scholar Ptolemy centuries later, who lived in the Roman Imperial Period, constitutes the complementary endpoint of the institutionalization of geography, both by virtue of his solid criticisms of Eratosthenes and the establishment of certain systematic principles. A precise description of the inhabited earth accords with an astronomical sky made precise by mathematical calculation also. The landscape presented by means of this process makes understandable certain details, such as the idea of hodological space in pictorial cartography, a result of the human desire to dominate the earth, as well as the role that certain notions play in the institutionalization of geography. Thanks to the precise relationship established between the earth and the cosmos that surrounds him, mans desire for this domination also gains altitude over time. Institutionalization, at first glance, brings with it independence, and over time, independence brings with it separation from companions such as astrologyastronomy. Therefore, the institutionalization of geography needs to be evaluated within the framework of certain conceptualizations and their relations with neighboring sciences, and the seemingly isolated geography needs to be reconsidered together with the metaphysical thinking it is associated with. The details of this institutionalization process reveal the main tendencies that shaped the science of geography. The determination of the trends in question is largely the tendency of political will to define and define the boundaries of space, that is, the inhabited earth, and the cosmos in general, from a geographical perspective. The unique tendencies of the early period of the Islamic civilization, which was closely influenced by Greco-Roman geography, are related to these defining and boundary-setting purposes. As a result, the institutionalization of geography as a science in the Greco-Roman tradition and the consequences of the legacy left by its independent guise can be observed in some attitudes in the first centuries when Islam spread in a very early period. Although a full understanding of the connection of these attitudes with the Greco-Roman tradition requires a detailed analysis, revealing some clear presumptions will expand the research horizon on this subject. In this article, it will be discussed how geography emerged as an established and in certain respects independent science in the Greco-Roman tradition, as well as from what perspective and thanks to which presumptions Early Islamic scientists can be considered as heirs of the Greco-Roman tradition. A closer examination of this heir-decedent relationship shows that philologically based textual transmission is only one of how inheritance is transmitted. Therefore, one branch of the idea of institutionalized geographical space continued its own process of independence in the hands of the early Islamic geographers. From this perspective, the article also aims to suggest which aspects of the detachment should be examined in detail.

Makale detayları

The Idea of Geographical Space in Ancient Greek-Roman Thought and the Institutionalisation of Geography

Yazarlar:

Erman Gören

Yayıncı:

Hitit University

Ana Başlıklar:

Eskiçağ Felsefesi | Helenistik Felsefe | Felsefe Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi:

Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi Vol.23 Issue Din ve Coğrafya, pp.27-53

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

4/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001316469

pISSN:

2757-6949

Geography

Earth

Eratosthenes

Ptolemaios

oikoumenē

Seven Climates

Islamic GeographyCoğrafya

Yeryüzü

Eratosthenes

Ptolemaios

oikoumenē

Yedi İklim

İslam Coğrafyacılığı

Sayı

Makale detayları

Yazarlar: Erman Gören

Yayıncı: Hitit University

Ana Başlıklar: Eskiçağ Felsefesi | Helenistik Felsefe | Felsefe Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi: Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi Vol.23 Issue Din ve Coğrafya, pp.27-53

Belge Tipi: Makale

Yayın Tarihi: 4/2024

Belge Dili: Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.): 2001316469

pISSN: 2757-6949

Sayı

Yazarlar:

Erman Gören

Yayıncı:

Hitit University

Ana Başlıklar:

Eskiçağ Felsefesi | Helenistik Felsefe | Felsefe Tarihi (Diğer)

Dergi:

Hitit İlahiyat Dergisi Vol.23 Issue Din ve Coğrafya, pp.27-53

Belge Tipi:

Makale

Yayın Tarihi:

4/2024

Belge Dili:

Türkçe

Document ID (Org No.):

2001316469

pISSN:

2757-6949