Hydrophilacium of Africa and the Origin of the Nile

The black-and-white print is a stylized map of southern Africa surrounded by the 'Oceanus Aethiopicus' and 'Oceanus Orientalis'. The central feature is a massive, cavernous lake located beneath the 'Montes Lunae', depicted with internal water and large cavernous spaces. A decorative cartouche in the lower-left corner, adorned with putti and mythological figures, contains the title, while the map itself details river networks flowing from the interior towards the coasts.

This map is a quintessential example of Athanasius Kircher’s 'Mundus Subterraneus' (1664), reflecting his scientific attempt to harmonize classical geographical accounts—specifically the Ptolemaic theory of the Nile's origin in the Mountains of the Moon—with his own theories on the subterranean movement of water and heat within the earth.