In 1995 Syria issued this stamp to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Ahmed ben Maged's death. Ahmed was a cartographer and is pictured drawing a map of the Persian Gulf. Ahmad ibn Mājid , was an Arab navigator and cartographer born in 1421 in Julphar, which is now known as Ras Al Khaimah . This city makes up one of the sevenemirates of the United Arab Emirates , but at that time it was classified as the coast of Oman . He was raised with a family famous for seafaring; at the age of 17 he was able to navigate ships. He was so famous that he was known as the first Arab seaman. The exact date is not known, but ibn Majid probably died in 1500. He became famous in the West as the navigatorwho helped Vasco da Gama find his way from Africa to India, by using an Arab map then unknown to European sailors. Ibn Majid was the author of nearly forty works of poetry and prose.Не wrote several books on marine science and the movements of ships, which helped people of the Persian Gulf to reach the coasts of India , East Africa and other destinations.Among his many books on oceanography , the Fawa'dh fi-Usl Ilm al-Bahrwa-al-Qawaidah (The Book of the Benefits of the Principles of Seamanship) is considered as one of his best. It is an encyclopedia, describing the history and basic principles of navigation, Lunar mansions , rhumb lines , the difference between coastal and open-sea sailing, the locations of ports from East Africa to Indonesia, star positions, accounts of the monsoon and other seasonal winds, typhoons and other topics for professional navigators. He drew from his own experience and that of his father, also a famous navigator, and the lore of generations of Indian Ocean sailors. He grew very famous and was fondly called Shihab Ad-Dein (The Shooting Star) for his fearlessness, strength and experience as a sailor who excelled in the art of navigation.
Syria 1995;18,0;SG1938. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia