{"product_id":"aral-sea-before-its-decline-per-khanikoff-kazakhstan-petermann-swanston-1856-map-p-6-112124","title":"Aral Sea before its decline per Khanikoff—Kazakhstan—Petermann\/Swanston 1856 map","description":"\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e'The Aral Sea, According to Khanikoff'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp align=\"left\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eAn unusually focused mid-nineteenth-century map of the Aral Sea and the lower Amu Darya, drawn by Augustus Petermann from Yakov Khanikoff’s 1851 cartography and engraved by George Heriot Swanston. It records a vast, continuous inland sea before the twentieth-century diversions of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya caused catastrophic contraction. Islands, bays, river mouths, settlements and the irrigated lands around Khiva are shown in fine detail, together with explorers’ routes and dates—including Mouravieff’s route of 1819 and Abbott’s of 1840. The complicated Amu Darya delta and former channels are particularly prominent. Beyond its Central Asian geographical interest, the map now has exceptional environmental resonance: it records the shoreline and hydrography of a landscape whose eastern basin has largely become the Aralkum Desert. A compact but remarkably eloquent historical record of one of the modern world’s most dramatic ecological transformations.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53843344949595,"sku":"P-6-112124","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0923\/9583\/1643\/files\/P-6-112124a_c273b81e-ffb6-47aa-98d1-bacc43e9eec6.jpg?v=1787249403","url":"https:\/\/www.antiquemapsandprints.com\/products\/aral-sea-before-its-decline-per-khanikoff-kazakhstan-petermann-swanston-1856-map-p-6-112124","provider":"Antiquemapsandprints.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}