Map of Ancient Israel

This collection traces the evolving visual history of Jerusalem and ancient Palestine through six distinct maps, spanning nearly fifteen centuries. Beginning with the 6th-century Madaba Map, a Byzantine mosaic and the earliest surviving depiction, we witness a theological and geographically significant landscape as understood in early Christianity. The 16th-century map by Tilemann Stella, within Ortelius’s atlas, presents a Renaissance European view, integrating biblical narratives with contemporary cartography, its eastward orientation reflecting different worldviews.

Moving forward, Nicolaes Visscher’s 17th-century map offers a detailed look at Jerusalem during the Dutch Golden Age. The 18th or 19th-century “Palestina Antiqua” exemplifies growing European scholarly engagement with classical and biblical geography. Ahmed-i Enveri’s 1884 Ottoman map captures Jerusalem before modern expansion, offering a unique cultural perspective. Finally, a late 19th/early 20th-century map of “Modern Jerusalem,” designed for education, showcases the city’s contemporary divisions. Together, these maps illustrate the progression of cartographic techniques, accuracy, and the diverse historical, cultural, and religious lenses through which the Holy Land has been visualized.