Nostalgia Sunday – Middle East maps

March 27, 2011 - 7:51 PM by

The Middle East is in upheaval… again and as usual. To put things in perspective, let’s take a look at the map. The old map, that is.

This is the Bunting clover leaf map. A woodcut made in 1581 in Magdeburg, Germany, it puts Jerusalem is the center of the world, surrounded by Europe, Asia and Africa. (Click on the image to see a larger one or go to Wikimedia Commons for the full-sized scans).

The Palestinae Hondius is a Dutch map that dates back to 1570. It was part of Abraham Ortelius’ Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first atlas to produce a uniform series of maps of the world. The map shows all of the Holy Land and details place names all the way from the Nile River in the west to Damascus at the upper right.

The Tirinus Map of the Holy Land (published from 1632 through 1650) was created by the Jesuit monk Jacobus Tirinus as part of his commentary on the New and Old Testament. It is oriented to the east and depicts lands stretching from Syria and Tyre in the north (left) to the Sinai, Egypt and Thebes in the south (right). Inset into the larger map are Biblical objects and maps.

The 1657 Earthly Paradise or the Garden of Eden map by Nicholas Visscher combines actual geography and Biblical depictions (like the Tower of Babel or Jonah’s boat and the whale right off the Mediterranean coast). It was drawn as part of a five part map series for inclusion in Abraham van den Broeck’s 1657 Dutch Staten Bible; the series which would become basis for numerous other Biblical maps appearing through the 18th century.

One such map was the 1702 Visscher-Stoopendaal Map of the Holy Land. Published in the Pieter and Jacob Keur family bible, it was based on Visscher’s original but modified to include decorative work by Dutch engraver Daniel Stoopendaal depicting scenes from Exodus including the Children of Israel’s camps, Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, striking the rock to bring forth water, turning his staff into a serpent and more.

Another map based on Visscher’s original was the 1720 David Funck Map of the Holy Land. It runs on an East to West grid and features a layout of the Second Temple with the Ark of the Covenant, flanked by Moses and Jesus.

For the sake of comparison, here’s an actual topographical shot of our region, courtesy of NASA via Wikimedia Commons. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Terra satellite shows the Mediterranean Sea (left) and portions of the Middle East. Countries pictured are (center) Jordan, (clockwise from top right) Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt (across the Gulf of Aqaba), Israel, the West Bank and Lebanon. It’s surprising how accurate many of those old maps actually were.

Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Tags: • Category: education, General, History and Culture, Nostalgia Sunday, Picture of the Week, Science, Travel 

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3 Comments on Nostalgia Sunday – Middle East maps

  1. Middle East Maps – ALL MAPS on Mon, May 16th 2011 5:05 PM

    2. [...] the Bunting clover leaf map. A woodcut made in 1581 in Magdeburg, Germany, it puts Jerusalem …http://israelity.com/2011/03/2 .. Share and [...]

  2. Middle East Maps - ALL MAPS – ALL MAPS on Sun, Sep 4th 2011 2:41 AM

    3. [...] Nostalgia Sunday – Middle East maps | ISRAELITYDescription : The Middle East is in upheaval… again and as usual. To put things in perspective, let’s take a look at the map. The old map, that is. This is the Bunting clover leaf map. A woodcut made in 1581 in Magdeburg, Germany, it puts Jerusalem …http://israelity.com/2011/03/2 .. [...]

  3. Middle East Maps - MAPS FLAGS – MAPS FLAGS on Tue, Oct 18th 2011 10:07 PM

    4. [...] Nostalgia Sunday – Middle East maps | ISRAELITYDescription : The Middle East is in upheaval… again and as usual. To put things in perspective, let’s take a look at the map. The old map, that is. This is the Bunting clover leaf map. A woodcut made in 1581 in Magdeburg, Germany, it puts Jerusalem …http://israelity.com/2011/03/2 .. [...]

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