Map of the Subterranean Communication of the Caspian, Persian, and Black Seas

This black-and-white print depicts a geographical area centered on the Caucasus mountains, showing the Caspian Sea at the top, the Black Sea at the bottom, and the Persian Gulf to the right. Linear paths labeled 'Canalis subterraneus' (subterranean channel) connect these bodies of water through the mountainous terrain. The map includes geographic labels such as 'Georgia', 'Megrelie', 'Persiae Regnum', and 'Constantinopolis', with rivers like the 'Danubius' (Danube) and 'Volga' feeding into the seas. An ornate scrollwork cartouche in the lower right contains the title, while a small compass rose sits to the right of the central mountain range.

This map is a plate from Athanasius Kircher's 'Mundus Subterraneus' (1665), a foundational work of early modern natural philosophy that proposed a speculative, interconnected system of subterranean fire and water channels beneath the Earth's crust.