Karte von dem wichtigsten Theil der Provinz Begemder, trigonometrisch aufgenommen von W. Schimper, 1864, 1865
Artist: Georg Wilhelm Schimper
This manuscript map depicts the area to the east of Lake Tana called Bägemder, with part of the shore line of Lake Tana. Georg Wilhelm Schimper spent more than 40 years in Abyssinia collecting specimens of plants hitherto unknown to Europeans, mainly in the Tigray, Semen and the Täkkäze regions of what is now known as the Ethiopian highlands and Eritrea. Schimper is now universally considered to be the single greatest contributor to the knowledge of the flora and fauna of the Horn of Africa. Schimper’s maps are geological and geographical records in which he tried to make visible what shaped the three areas which he crisscrossed over the decades. By explaining the rock formation and conglomerate rock deposits beneath the surface, he could show how the underlying geological facts influenced and determined the geography, which in turn presented the key to understanding the flora and fauna of the country and ultimately its agriculture and life-supporting systems. Schimper sent rock samples with the maps and profiles and they are housed in the Natural History Museum in London and in the Museum für Naturkunde, Mineraliensammlung, in Berlin.