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presumably Sheba's. It may be the most peculiar 3D model known (
Fig.3b
).
Maps portrayed in preceding movie adaptations maintained their function-
ality (to navigate); in this case, the function of the map can be hardly
understood. Nevertheless, the style of the map portrayal can be a reflection of
a different problematic. As it was written above, the Eurocentric point of
view, seemingly hardcoded into the topic, was in movie adaptations slowly
shifted into Afrocentrism. It can be presumed, that the figurine represents a
work of African art, including marks in unknown language. As such, the
map can be also viewed as the last step to African emancipation - King
Solomon's mines are located in Africa and so the map is also of African
origin.
Sheba's figurine in movie adaptation from 1985 represents the type of
map, where the definition of the term map is stretched to its limits. This
“no-map” or “puzzle map” became for adventure movies something typi-
cal. In 1885, it was enough of an adventure to struggle through the hostile
environment of an unexplored area. A hundred years later the way to the
final location must be hidden (compare also the folding map in Romancing
the Stone 1984 or the concentric rotating map in Pirates of Caribbean III
2007 -
Figure 4a-b
).
There are also “quest movies” with a map without a map. In these cases
the treasure hunter must follow a chain of “clues” to reach the destination
(for example Indiana Jones movies 1981, -84, -89, National treasure 2004,
-07, DaVinci Code 2006, Angels and Demons 2009 etc.). These clues in
fact represent landmarks on the hunter's mental map, which is not only
spatial but also temporal and cultural. To bring viewers imagination nearer
to this mental map, a running commentary or insets of “inner” movies
documenting events long past are used. This approach is as well known
from popularisation of archaeology (for example BBC's Lost Cities of the
Ancients 2006).
