It makes some sense for European-made maps with the north star being a visible part of the night sky, but what about the Arabic, Chinese and other, closer to the equator societies? Did they make their maps with North pointing up?
hi! there's always room for more input on this, but FYI, there's a relevant section in the FAQ* - check it out for previous discussions
Why is north shown as "up" on maps?
*see the link on the sidebar or the wiki tab
Chinese and Japanese (after all, Japan does mean "the origin of the Sun") maps have East pointing up.