A historical atlas of the world
Pick a year. Watch the world redraw.
Five thousand years of borders on one map. Move the timeline and the philosophers, gods and creatures of that moment appear where people knew them.
Opens on Mythology. Creatures and Philosophy are one click away.
Choose an atlas
Each one opens on the same map. Drag the timeline to change the year, then click a pin to read about who was there.
World
everywhere, all of it
Creatureswhat people said was out thereDragon, Div, Bahamut, Yeti and 55 moreOpen Creatures
MythologyStart herewho was worshipped, where, and whenEnki, Turan, Ixchel, Nyame and 156 moreOpen Mythology
Philosophywhere ideas were thought, and whenLaozi, Boethius, John Locke, Frantz Fanon and 77 moreOpen Philosophy
Closer in: the same figures and the same years, drawn at a finer scale.
India
the subcontinent, kingdom by kingdom
Creatureswhat people said was out thereNāga, Rākshasa, Unicorn, Yeti and 2 moreOpen Creatures
Mythologywho was worshipped, where, and whenAgni, Yama, Lakshmi, Kālī and 13 moreOpen Mythology
Philosophywhere ideas were thought, and whenVasubandhu, Ādi Śaṅkara, Madhva, Swami Vivekananda and 6 moreOpen Philosophy
Take a guided tour
A short story told stop by stop. The map moves with it, and you can leave at any point to explore on your own.
World
A Single Year: 1175The year never moves. Only the camera does.8 stops, about 6 minutes
Gods Who EmigratedDeities travel with the people carrying them8 stops, about 6 minutes
Monsters at the Edge of the MapThe beast always lives just past where you have been8 stops, about 6 minutes
The Argument That Crossed Three ReligionsAthens to Baghdad to Córdoba to Paris, over sixteen centuries9 stops, about 7 minutes
When the Gods Grew QuietHow explaining the world stopped being a story about someone13 stops, about 10 minutes
Who Am I?Twenty-four centuries of looking inward and disagreeing8 stops, about 6 minutes
Coming to Chronotope
What we are building next. None of it is here yet.
Planned
- Daily puzzleOne figure, one map. Guess where and when they lived.
- Build your own tourPick the stops, write the story, share the link.
- Compare two yearsSplit the map and see 1914 beside 1920.
- Follow a lifeTrace one person's journey across the map, city by city.
- New atlasesExplorers, empires, inventions and languages.
- More regionsEurope, China and the Islamic world drawn as closely as India is.