Jerusalem in Old Maps and Views

Jerusalem in Old Maps and Views

  • 9/14/1998
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     JERUSALEM IN OLD MAPS AND VIEWS
     INTRODUCTION  |  6TH-13TH  CENTURY  |  15TH-16TH  CENTURY  |  17TH-18TH  CENTURY  |  19TH  CENTURY
     
     

    		 
       ABRAHAM BAR-JACOB'S  MAP  IN  THE  AMSTERDAM  HAGGADAH  (1695) 
     
    In the past, Hebrew geographical maps were relatively rare, but they all showed the Land of Israel as a
    separate entity, stressing the sanctity and uniqueness of the country to Judaism. Abraham Bar-Jacob, a convert to Judaism, drew a map of the Holy Land following that of Christian Adrichom (1588), incorporating many Jewish elements such as the route of the Exodus from Egypt to Canaan and the designation of the territories of the twelve tribes of Israel. The map was reproduced in a Passover Haggadah as one of the earliest Hebrew printed maps.

     
       PICTURE OF JERUSALEM  BY  MONDHARE  (1770)
    		 
     
    "Jerusalem, capital city under David and solomon, renowned for its Temple and the miracles performed there. It is now under the domination of the Turks." This is the description which Mondhare, a French publisher, gave to this
    completely imaginary view of the Holy City. Near the Dome of the Rock with its characteristic octagonal shape, appears a Greek ediface as well as 14 crescent-crested minarets, but only two spires with crosses. The most extraordinary - and illusory - item is the Brook of Kidron, depicted here as a wide river flowing through the Valley of Josaphath.

     
    		  
       "THE LAND OF ISRAEL,  ITS  DIVISION  AND  BORDERS",  BY  RABBI  ELIAHU  OF  VILNA  (1802?) 
     
    This map is attributed to Rabbi Eliahu ben Shlomo Zalman, known as the Gaon of Vilna. Its original was lost, but the copy displayed here "was copied from the illustrious ... Rabbi Eliahu of the
    (Lithuanian) capital city Vilna" - as stated below the map title. It was intended to serve chiefly as an instrument of religious instruction. Typical for this clerical approach was the belief that the country was surrounded by water, whether seas or rivers. Jerusalem is represented on the summit of Mount Moriah by a vignette and the acronym B'H'M'K, for the Holy Temple.

    		 
     
     
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