(North is the top direction on maps these days and I don’t think I ever saw a map with East on top). Does anyone know how that happened?
According to Cecil Adams (author of the column “The Straight Dope”), North ended up on top of the map was originated by Ptolomey. Nonetheless, his system wasn’t universally used. Many maps in the medieval period had East on top. Eventually, however, the “north-on-top” convention won out.
The Wolf