نزهة المشتاق في اختراق الآفاق (Book of Roger — Geography with 70 Maps)

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the passage of the sun while it is in the lowest part of its sphere at its meridian, so its waters dried up, and its animals and plants perished due to the lack of moisture, for animal and plant life never exist except where there is water and moisture. The Earth is round in its essence, but it is not perfectly spherical, for it has lowlands and highlands, and water flows in it from its highest point to its lowest. The surrounding ocean encompasses half of the Earth in a continuous circuit, like a belt, and only half of it appears from this perspective. It is as if, in this description, it were an egg submerged in water, and the water is in a basin; likewise, half of the Earth is submerged in the sea, and the sea is surrounded by air. The air pushes it and attracts it, like what we mentioned before this.

This inhabited quarter of the Earth is divided by scholars into seven aqalim climatic zones, each of which passes from the West to the East along the equator. These regions are not defined by natural lines but are imaginary lines existing according to the science of al-nujumi astronomy/astrology. In each of these zones, there are numerous cities, fortresses, villages, and nations that do not resemble one another. Furthermore, in each zone, there are towering mountains, interconnected valleys, springs, flowing rivers, stagnant lakes, minerals, plants, and various animals. We will mention most of these hereafter, with the help and support of God. These seven zones are intersected by seven seas, called gulfs. Six of them are connected, while one sea is separate and does not connect to any of the aforementioned seas. These seas, which are in the inhabited Earth, are the Sea of China, India, Sindh, and Yemen, starting from the East above the equator at thirteen degrees and extending along the equator toward the West.

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