Sea in culture of barbarian invaders and knowledge of geography took a backward step. In the seventh century, Isidore of Seville produced a "wheel map" in which Asia, Africa and Europe were arranged like segments in an orange, separated by the "Mare Mediterranean", "Nilus" and "Tanais" and surrounded by "Oceanus". It was not until the fifteenth century that Ptolemy's maps were used again and Henry the Navigator of Portugal initiated ocean exploration and maritime research. Encouraged by him, Portuguese navigators explored, mapped and charted the west coast of Africa and the Eastern Atlantic and this knowledge prepared the way for the great voyages
Cluster of Excellence "Asia and Europe in a Global Context" interactions between and within Asia and Europe. During the first funding period from 2008 to 2012, the Cluster's focus was on "Shifting Asymmetries in Cultural Flows". During the second funding period until October 2017, the Cluster is focused on "The Dynamics of Transculturality". The Cluster is located at the Karl Jaspers Center for Advanced Transcultural Studies (KJC) at Heidelberg University, Germany. The KJC provides facilities and infrastructure for collaboration, research and teaching. A branch office of the Cluster is located at the “Heidelberg Center South Asia” in New Delhi, India. The Cluster is headed by three directors, who are Joseph