Island
Insula Taprobane
Sri Lanka
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The Greek geographer Strabo thought Insula Taprobane no smaller than Britain, and ancient writers generally inflated it, yet the Tabula gives Sri Lanka a surprisingly modest size and outline. A mountain range runs the length of the island, and the name is written across it, the first word above the ridge and the second below, with a few letters lost to tears in the parchment. Nothing else is marked there, not even Mantai, a major trading port in imperial times, so the map probably preserves the vague knowledge of the Hellenistic age. The name itself probably comes from an Indian word meaning red-leaved.