As a land sanctified to Jews, Christians, and Muslims, the Land of Israel has garnered many and manifold accounts in a wide array of literary and graphical genres. Among them there are many maps. The earliest known map to depict the Holy Land is the Tabula Peutingeriana (Peutinger Table). The second earliest cartographic work is the famous sixth-century mosaic from Madaba. There are more than twenty medieval maps of Jerusalem and of the entire Land. Following the advent of the printing press in 1450, numerous maps were printed throughout Europe. Over the course of the nineteenth century, as part of the modern research of the Land of Israel modern accurate maps were developed.
Many of the pre-modern map-makers of the Holy Land and its surroundings drew their maps in accordance with the Holy Scriptures and the classical sources rather than realistic geographical information which they could not acquire. For this reason, the principal challenge of the research on pre-nineteenth century maps of the Holy Land is the gap between content and form.
The research project will explore the historical, cultural, and religious factors that influenced the development and content of maps of the Holy Land that were produced from their outset to the rise of modern cartographic measurement.
A book, based on this project, is in process of writing, together with Dr. Milka Levy-Rubin.