Madaba Map

Jerusalemon the Madaba Map

TheMadaba Map,also known as theMadaba Mosaic Map,is part of a floormosaicin theearly ByzantinechurchofSaint GeorgeinMadaba,Jordan.

The mosaic map depicts an area fromLebanonin the north to theNile Deltain the south, and from theMediterranean Seain the west to theEastern Desert.

It contains the oldest surviving originalcartographicdepiction of theHoly Landand especiallyJerusalem.The map dates to the sixth century AD.

History

Annotated reproduction of the Madaba Map

The Madaba Mosaic Map depicts Jerusalem with theNew Church of the Theotokos,which was dedicated on 20 November 542. Buildings erected in Jerusalem after 570 are absent from the depiction, thus limiting the date range of its creation to the period between 542 and 570.The mosaic was made by unknown artists, probably for theChristiancommunity of Madaba, which was the seat of abishopat that time.

In 614, Madaba was conquered by theSasanian Empire.In the eighth century, the ruling MuslimUmayyad Caliphatehad some figural motifs removed from the mosaic. In 746, Madaba was largely destroyed by an earthquake and subsequently abandoned.

The newly rediscovered mosaic inside the modern Orthodox church

Elements of the inscribed mosaic were noticed and reported to the Jerusalem Patriarchate in 1884 and 1886, during the preparation work for the construction of a newGreek Orthodoxchurch on the site of its ancient predecessor.PatriarchNicodemus I of Jerusalemwas informed, the church building erected and roofed over (summer 1895-August 1896), but the full mosaic was only noticed during clearing work for a new cement-slab floor in October 1896, and no research was carried out until December of that year, after the floor had already been laid around the mosaic by local workers under the supervision of a Greek architect.

In the following decades, large portions of the mosaic map were damaged by fires, activities in the new church, and by the effects of moisture. In December 1964, theVolkswagenFoundation gave theDeutscher Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas(lit. "German Association for the Exploration of Palestine" ) 90,000DMto save the mosaic. In 1965, the archaeologists Heinz Cüppers and Heinrich Brandt undertook the restoration and conservation of the remaining parts of the mosaic.

Description

Place ofJohn the Baptist's baptism at the mouth of theJordanand a (nearly-obliterated) lion hunting a gazelle

The floor mosaic is located in theapseof the church of Saint George at Madaba. It is not oriented northward, as modern maps are, but faces east toward thealtarin such a fashion that the position of places on the map coincides with the compass directions. Originally, it measured 21 by 7 m and contained more than two milliontesserae.Its current dimensions are 16 by 5 m.

Topographic representation

The mosaic map depicts an area fromLebanonin the north to theNile Deltain the south, and from theMediterranean Seain the west to theEastern Desert.Among other features, it depicts theDead Seawith two fishing boats, a variety of bridges linking the banks of theJordan,fish swimming in the river and receding from the Dead Sea; alion(rendered nearly unrecognisable by the insertion of random tesserae during a period oficonoclasm) hunting agazellein theMoabdesert,palm-ringedJericho,Bethlehem,and otherbiblical-Christian sites. The map may partially have served to facilitate pilgrims' orientation in the Holy Land.All landscape units are labelled with explanations inGreek.The mosaic's references to the tribes of Israel, toponymy, as well as its use of quotations of biblical passages, indicate that the artist who laid out the mosaic used theOnomasticonofEusebius(fourth-century AD) as a primary source. A combination of folding perspective and an aerial view depicts approximately 150 towns and villages, all labelled.

The largest and most detailed element of the topographic depiction is Jerusalem (Greek:ΙΕΡΟΥΣΑ[ΛΉΜ]), at the centre of the map. The mosaic clearly shows a number of significant structures in theOld City of Jerusalem:theDamascus Gate,theLions' Gate,theGolden Gate,theZion Gate,theChurch of the Holy Sepulchre,theNew Church of the Theotokos,theTower of David,and theCardo Maximus.On Jerusalem's southwest side is shownAcel Dama(lit. "field of blood" ), from Christian liturgy. The recognisable depiction of the urban topography makes the mosaic a key source on Byzantine Jerusalem. Also unique are the detailed depictions of cities such asNeapolis,Askalon,Gaza,Pelusium,andCharachmoba,all of them nearly detailed enough to be described asstreet maps.Other designated sites include:

• Archelais(Greek:ΑΡΧΕΛΑΙϹ);
• Azotos Paralos(Ashdod-Coast) (Greek:ΑΖΩΤΟΣΠΑΡΑΛΣ);
• Beit-ḥagla(Greek:ΒΗΘΑΓΛΑ);
• Beth Annaba(Greek:ΒΕΤΟΑΝΝΑΒΑ);
• Beth Zachar[ias](Greek:ΒΕΘΖΑΧΑΡ[ΊΟΥ]);
• Bethlehem(Greek:ΒΗΘΛΕΕΜ);
• Bethoron(Greek:Βεθωρων);
• Coreae(Greek:ΚΟΡΕΟΥΣ);
• Gibeon(Greek:ΓΑΒΑΩΝ);
• The Great Plain (Greek:ΡΟΣΔΑΝ), literally meaning, "The Tribe of Dan";
• Jamnia(Greek:ΊΑΒΝΗΛΗΚΑΙΊΑΜΝΙΑ) (Lit. "Jabneel, which is also Jamnia" ).
• Jericho(Greek:Ίεριχω);
• Lydda(Greek:ΛΩΔΗ);
• Maresha(Greek:ΜΟΡΑΣΘΙ);
• Modi'im(Greek:ΜΩΔΕΕΙΜ);
• Nicopolis(Greek:ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛΙΣ);
• Rama(Greek:ΡΑΜΑ);
• Saphitha(Greek:CΑΦΙΘΑ);
• Socho (Greek:Σωχω), nowKh. Shuweikah(southwest ofHebron);

One site represented on the map that is no longer extant are the stones atGilgallwhich are clearly represented on the Madaba Map and may be hidden underneath one of the churches in Qas'r Al-YahudMany of these sites are marked on the mosaic map with various artistic vignettes representing the site in the Province ofPalestina Tertia.For example, Jericho andZoar(Greek:ΖΟΟΡΑ) are, both, represented by vignettes ofdate palmorchards.Zoar is seen on the far south-eastern side of theDead Sea.

Scientific significance

The mosaic map of Madaba is the oldest known geographic floor mosaic inart history.It is used heavily for the localisation and verification of biblical sites. Study of the map played a major role in answering the question of the topographical location ofAskalon(Asqalanon the map).

In 1967, excavations in theJewish Quarterof Jerusalem revealed the Nea Church and theCardo Maximusin the very locations suggested by the Madaba Map.

In February 2010, excavations further substantiated its accuracy with the discovery of a road depicted in the map that runs through the center of Jerusalem.According to the map, the main entrance to the city was through a large gate opening into a wide central street. Until the discovery, archaeologists were not able to excavate this site due to heavy pedestrian traffic. In the wake of infrastructure work near theJaffa Gate,large paving stones were discovered at a depth of four meters below ground that prove such a road existed.

Copies of the map

• The Archaeological Institute ofGöttingen Universitycontains a copy of the map in its archive collections. This copy was produced during the conservation work at Madaba in 1965 by archaeologists of theRheinisches Landesmuseum,Trier.
• A copy produced by students of theMadaba Mosaic Schoolis in the foyer of theAkademisches KunstmuseumatBonn.
• The entrance lobby of theYMCAin Jerusalem has a small replica of the Jerusalem part of the map incorporated in its floor.At the Byzantine Cardo in the Old City there's another copy of the Jerusalem section, with explanations.

See also

• Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East
• Umm ar-Rasas mosaics
• Eusebiusof Caesarea
• Itinerarium Burdigalense
• Egeria
• Jerome
• Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza
• Chronicon Paschale
• John of Würzburg

Bibliography

Early sources

• Abel, F.-M.(1924)."Le Sud Palestinien d'apres la carte mosaique de Madaba".Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society(in French).IV:107-117.
• Lagrange, M.-J.(July 1897). "JÉRUSALEM D'APRÈS LA MOSAÏQUE DE MADABA".Revue Biblique.6(3). Peeters Publishers: 450–458.JSTOR44101959.
• Palmer, P.; Dr.Guthe(1906),Die Mosaikkarte von Madeba,Im Auftrage des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palätinas

Later sources

• Leal, Beatrice (Fall 2018), "A Reconsideration of the Madaba Map",Gesta,57(2): 123–143,doi:10.1086/698839,S2CID194929753.
• Madden, Andrew M., "A New Form of Evidence to Date the Madaba Map Mosaic,"Liber Annuus62 (2012), 495-513.
• Hepper, Nigel;Taylor, Joan,"Date Palms and Opobalsam in the Madaba Mosaic Map,"Palestine Exploration Quarterly,136,1 (April 2004), 35-44.
• Herbert Donner:The Mosaic Map of Madaba.Kok Pharos Publishing House, Kampen 1992,ISBN90-390-0011-5
• Herbert Donner; Heinz Cüppers (1977).Die Mosaikkarte von Madeba: Tafelband; Abhandlungen des Deutschen Palästinavereins 5.Otto Harrassowitz Verlag.ISBN978-3-447-01866-1.
• Avi-Yonah, M.:The Madaba mosaic map.Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem 1954
• Michele Piccirillo:Chiese e mosaici di Madaba.Studium Biblicum Franciscanum, Collectio maior 34, Jerusalem 1989 (Arabische Edition:Madaba. Kana'is wa fusayfasa',Jerusalem 1993)
• Kenneth Nebenzahl:Maps of the Holy Land, images of Terra Sancta through two millennia.Abbeville Press, New York 1986,ISBN0-89659-658-3
• Adolf Jacoby:Das geographische Mosaik von Madaba, Die älteste Karte des Heiligen Landes.Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung,Leipzig 1905
• Weitzmann, Kurt,ed.,Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century,no. 523, 1979,Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York,ISBN9780870991790

External links

• Article on the map and its Göttingen copy (in German)1999(PDF)
• Madaba Map
• The Madaba Mosaic Mapat the Franciscan Archaeological Institute
• Madaba Mosaic Mapweb page atSan Francisco State University
• Byzantine Jerusalem and the Madaba Map
• Madaba Mapat Bibleplaces.com