Were maps always oriented the way they are now as in north is up?

No, short answer. In fact, they aren't always oriented that way today. This is related to a larger question, I think, about what maps have historically been meant to communicate, which is actually a more complicated answer than you'd think.

Here's my favorite example: the Hereford Mappa Mundi. This is a 14th-century map of the world that does all kinds of interesting things, like placing Jerusalem at the center. So this is an English map; why place Jerusalem at the center, as opposed to, say London? The answer is that instead of trying to communicate a proportionally accurate picture of the world (which happened elsewhere, as with medieval portolan charts used for navigation), it's making a theological point about the centrality of Jerusalem, as the site of Christ's death and resurrection, to the whole course of human history. This map, to your original question, is oriented with the east at the top. Why? Because Christ, who is associated with the east and is supposed to return from the east, reigns in majesty at the top of the map, over all of the world. (Interestingly, we get the word "oriented" from oriens, or east, so even to say "oriented toward the north" is a little funny.)

So, no, maps were not always oriented with the north at the top. The orientation of maps, along with all kinds of other content, depends on the purpose of the map, and maps have historically served all kinds of purposes.

For more, you might have a look at Norman Thrower's Maps and Civilization: Cartography in Culture and Society.