prize7-3, Exercise 3: East at the top, and "orient"

Model answer (check the details):

Why east: in Christian tradition Paradise (the Garden of Eden) was placed in the east, and the rising sun, the direction of Jerusalem for many European Christians, and the direction churches faced all gave east a special place. Putting east at the top gave the map a religious orientation.

"Orient": the word comes from the Latin for "rising", meaning the east, the place where the sun rises. To "orient" a map or oneself originally meant to turn towards the east. The related word "Orient" names the east itself.

Other conventions: some Islamic maps put south at the top, as in al-Idrisi's work, and modern maps put north at the top, a convention that became standard later.

Lesson: the direction at the top of a map is a choice that reflects a culture's concerns.