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In December 1876, at Madaba
(Medeba), during
the excavation of one of the 6th Century AD churches found there, a
mosaic map was discovered. The map was of Palestine, encompassing
the area from Beth-shan to the Nile river in Egypt and from the
Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Arabian desert in the east.
What is significant about it, is that it is the earliest extant map
of Palestine known today.
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The map is now housed in the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George that
was built over the remains of the Byzantine church. The map is about
20 by 5 meters in size and was made from more than 2 million tesserae.
The map is oriented to the east and the more than 150 captions are
written in Greek.Once a Moabite border city, cited in the Exodus
account at Numbers 21:30 (But we have cast them down, Heshbon is
ruined as far as Dibon, Then we have laid waste even to Nophah, Which
reaches to Medeba).and
Joshua 13:9, (8 With the other half-tribe, the Reubenites and the
Gadites received their inheritance which Moses gave them beyond the
Jordan to the east, just as Moses the servant of the LORD gave to
them; 9 from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon,
with the city which is in the middle of the valley, and all the plain
of Medeba, as far as Dibon;
10 and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in
Heshbon, as far as the border of the sons of Ammon; 11 and Gilead, and
the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon,
and all Bashan as far as Salecah; 12 all the kingdom of Og in Bashan,
who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the
remnant of the Rephaim); for Moses struck them and dispossessed them.)
Madaba dates from the Middle Bronze Age. The present-day city is known
for the many mosaics found in the remains of floors of private homes
and public buildings. It is the site of the famed Madaba Mosaic Map.
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One of the most
illuminating, and accurate, sources of our knowledge of Byzantine
Jerusalem is the Madaba Map. The map is part of a mosaic on the floor
of a church built in the town of Madaba, in what is present-day
Jordan, in the sixth century. Taking an eastern orientation, the map
portrays the Holy Land, showing Jerusalem at the center. And at the
center of Jerusalem is the most conspicuous building on the map, the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher - although to achieve this the artist had
to relocate the church. The Cardo, extending in a straight line
southward from Damascus Gate is clearly seen, as are side streets such
as the secondary Cardo and various east-west thoroughfares. The Nea
Church is visible at the southeast extremity of the Cardo. The city's
walls and gates are plainly marked, and the northern gate (today's
Damascus Gate) is given special emphasis. The Temple Mount, despite
its large area, is only alluded to in the map. This may have been a
reflection of the small importance which the Byzantine Christians
attached to the Temple Mount, then a long-neglected heap of ruins
One of the most
illuminating, and accurate, sources of our knowledge of Byzantine
Jerusalem is the Madaba Map. The map is part of a mosaic on the floor
of a church built in the town of Madaba, in what is present-day
Jordan, in the sixth century. Taking an eastern orientation, the map
portrays the Holy Land, showing Jerusalem at the center. And at the
center of Jerusalem is the most conspicuous building on the map, the
Church of the Holy Sepulcher - although to achieve this the artist had
to relocate the church. The Cardo, extending in a straight line
southward from Damascus Gate is clearly seen, as are side streets such
as the secondary Cardo and various east-west thoroughfares. The Nea
Church is visible at the southeast extremity of the Cardo. The city's
walls and gates are plainly marked, and the northern gate (today's
Damascus Gate) is given special emphasis. The Temple Mount, despite
its large area, is only alluded to in the map. This may have been a
reflection of the small importance which the Byzantine Christians
attached to the Temple Mount, then a long-neglected heap of ruins
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