Madaba Map: Difference between revisions

The '''Madaba Map,''' also known as the '''Madaba Mosaic Map,''', is part of a floor [[mosaic]] in the [[Byzantine architecture|early Byzantine]] [[Church (building)|church]] of [[Saint George]] in [[Madaba]], [[Jordan]].

The mosaic map depicts an area from [[Lebanon]] in the north to the [[Nile Delta]] in the south, and from the [[Mediterranean Sea]] in the west to the [[Eastern Desert]].

[[File:Palmer & Guthe image of the Medaba map.jpg|thumb|Annotated reproduction of the Madaba Map <small>(19k×12.5k pixels)</small>]]

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 new [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek Orthodox]] church on the site of its ancient predecessor.<ref name=YM>Studium Biblicum Franciscanum{{cite web |last= Meimaris |first= Yiannis |chaptertitle= The Discovery of the Madaba Mosaic Map. Mythology and Reality |editors= Eugenio Alliata; [[Michele Piccirillo]] |title=: The Madaba Map Centenary. 1897-1997. Travelling through the Byzantine Umayyad Period |editor1= Eugenio Alliata|editor2=[[Michele Piccirillo]] |publisher= Franciscan Printing Press |location= Jerusalem |year= 1999 |pages= 25-3625–36 |series= Collectio Maior (40) |via= ChristusRex.org (Franciscan Cyberspot), 2000 webpage expanding on 1999 book |url= http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/MeimarisMap.html |access-date=9 June 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131003025644/http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mad/articles/MeimarisMap.html |archive-date=3 October 2013 |url-status= dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Patriarch [[Nicodemus I of Jerusalem]] was 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.<ref name=YM/><ref>Donner, 1992, p.11</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Piccirillo |first1=Michele |title=A Centenary to be celebrated |url=https://archive.org/stream/JordanTimes1995JordanEnglish/Sep%2021%201995%2C%20Jordan%20Times%2C%20%236026%2C%20Jordan%20%28en%29#page/n14/mode/1up |access-date=18 January 2019|work=Jordan Times |agency=Franciscan Archaeology Institute |date=21 September 1995 |language=en|quote=It was only Abuna Kleofas Kikilides who realised the true significance, for the history of the region, that the map had while visiting Madaba in December 1896. A Franciscan friar of ltalian-Croatian origin born in Constantinople, Fr. Girolamo Golubovich, helped Abuna Kleofas to print a booklet in Greek about the map at the Franciscan printing press of Jerusalem. Immediately afterwards, the Revue Biblique published a long and detailed historic-geographic study of the map by the Dominican fathers [[Marie-Joseph Lagrange|M.J. Lagrange]] and [[Louis-Hugues Vincent|H. Vincent]] after visiting the site themselves. At the same time. Father J. Germer-Durand of the [[Assumptionists|Assumptionist Fathers]] published a photographic album with his own pictures of the map. In Paris, [[Charles Simon Clermont-Ganneau|C. Clermont-Ganneau]], a well known oriental scholar, announced the discovery at the [[Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres|Academie des Sciences et belles Lettres]].}}</ref>

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, the [[Volkswagen]] Foundation gave the ''Deutscher Verein zur Erforschung Palästinas'' (lit. "German Association for the Exploration of Palestine") 90,000 [[Deutschmark|DM]] to save the mosaic. In 1965, the archaeologists Heinz Cüppers and Heinrich Brandt undertook the restoration and conservation of the remaining parts of the mosaic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Donner |first1=Herbert |title=The Mosaic Map of Madaba: An Introductory Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Pharos |location=Kampen |page=12 |isbn=9789039000113978-90-390-0011-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DD_Vt16eKnAC&dq=Madaba+Mosaic+Map+cuppers+1965&pg=PA99 |access-date=21 Feb 2022}}</ref>

The largest and most detailed element of the topographic depiction is Jerusalem ({{lang-gr|ΙΕΡΟΥΣΑ[ΛΉΜ]}}), at the centre of the map. The mosaic clearly shows a number of significant structures in the [[Old City of Jerusalem]]: the [[Damascus Gate]], the [[Lions' Gate]], the [[Golden Gate (Jerusalem)|Golden Gate]], the [[Zion Gate]], the [[Church of the Holy Sepulchre]], the [[Nea Ekklesia of the Theotokos|New Church of the Theotokos]], the [[Tower of David]], and the [[Cardo#Jerusalem|''Cardo Maximus'']]. On Jerusalem's southwest side is shown ''Acel 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 as [[Nablus#Flavia Neapolis|Neapolis]], [[Askalon]], [[Gaza City|Gaza]], [[Pelusium]], and [[Kerak|Charachmoba]], all of them nearly detailed enough to be described as [[street map]]s. Other designated sites include: [[Emmaus Nicopolis|Nicopolis]] ({{lang-gr|ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛΙΣ}}); [[Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah|Beth Zachar[ias]]] ({{lang-gr|ΒΕΘΖΑΧΑΡ[ΊΟΥ]}}); [[Bethlehem]] ({{lang-gr|ΒΗΘΛΕΕΜ }}); Socho ({{lang-gr|Σωχω}}), now ''Kh. Shuweikah'' (southwest of [[Hebron]]); [[Innaba|Beth Annaba]] ({{lang-gr|ΒΕΤΟΑΝΝΑΒΑ}}); [[Tell es-Safi|Saphitha]] ({{lang-gr|CΑΦΙΘΑ}});<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kallai-Kleinmann|first=Z.|title=The Town Lists of Judah, Simeon, Benjamin and Dan|journal=[[Vetus Testamentum]]|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden |volume=8|issue=2 |page=155 |year=1958|doi=10.2307/1516086 |jstor=1516086|language=en }}</ref> [[Jericho]] ({{lang-gr|Ίεριχω}}); [[Deir Hajla|Beit-ḥagla]] ({{lang-gr|ΒΗΘΑΓΛΑ}}); [[Archelais]] ({{lang-gr|ΑΡΧΕΛΑΙϹ}}); [[Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut|Modi'im]] ({{lang-gr|ΜΩΔΕΕΙΜ}}); [[Lod|Lydda]] ({{lang-gr|ΛΩΔΗ}}); [[Bethoron]] ({{lang-gr|Βεθωρων}}); [[Gibeon (ancient city)|Gibeon]] ({{lang-gr|ΓΑΒΑΩΝ}}); [[Al-Ram|Rama]] ({{lang-gr|ΡΑΜΑ}}); [[Wadi al-Far'a (river)|Coreae]] ({{lang-gr|ΚΟΡΕΟΥΣ}});<ref>Where is now the "Old Roman Bridge" ([[Arabic]]: ''Mukatta' Damieh''), near the confluence of the watercourse ''[[Zarqa River|Naḥal Yabok]]'', not far from Wadi Fara'a, and which once marked the entry into Judea when one passes over the midland countries.</ref> [[Maresha]] ({{lang-gr|ΜΟΡΑΣΘΙ}});<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Donner |author-first=Herbert|title=The Mosaic Map of Madaba: An Introductory Guide |publisher=Kok Pharos Publishing House |series=Palaestina antiqua 7 |location=Kampen, the Netherlands|year=1995 |edition=2 |page=22|language=en |isbn=90-390-0011-5 |oclc=636083006 }}. This particular entry has inscribed in Greek uncials: "Morasthi, whence was [[Micah (prophet)|Micah]] the prophet." The text is said to have been borrowed from [[Eusebius]]' ''[[Onomasticon (Eusebius)|Onomasticon]]''.</ref> [[Ashdod-Yam|Azotos Paralos]] (Ashdod-Coast) ({{lang-gr|ΑΖΩΤΟΣΠΑΡΑΛΣ}}); The Great Plain ({{lang-gr|ΡΟΣΔΑΝ}}), literally meaning, "The Tribe of Dan";<ref>Beside which is inscribed a verse taken from Judges 5:17, "Why did Dan remain in ships?"</ref> [[Yibna|Jamnia]] ({{lang-gr|ΊΑΒΝΗΛΗΚΑΙΊΑΜΝΙΑ}}) (Lit. "Jabneel, which is also Jamnia"), among other sites. One site represented on the map that is no longer extant are the stones at [[Gilgal]]l which are clearly represented on the Madaba Map and may be hidden underneath one of the churches in Qas’r Al-Yahud<ref>{{cite web | url=https://mishpacha.com/where-our-fathers-left-off/ | title=Where Our Fathers Left off | date=12 July 2022 }}</ref> Many of these sites are marked on the mosaic map with various artistic vignettes representing the site in the Province of [[Palestina Tertia]]. For example, Jericho and [[Zoara|Zoar]] ({{lang-gr|ΖΟΟΡΑ}}) are, both, represented by vignettes of [[date palm]] orchards.<ref>{{cite book |author-last=Dalman|author-first=Gustaf |author-link=Gustaf Dalman |title=Work and Customs in Palestine |volume=I/1 |translator=Nadia Abdulhadi Sukhtian |location=Ramallah|publisher=Dar Al Nasher |year=2013 |language=en |page=65 (note 4) |url=https://www.amazon.com/Customs-Palestine-Translation-Gustaf-2013-08-02/dp/B01K3MCDFE |oclc=1040774903|isbn=9789950385-00-9}}</ref> Zoar is seen on the far south-eastern side of the [[Dead Sea]].

* The Archaeological Institute of [[Göttingen University]] contains a copy of the map in its archive collections. This copy was produced during the conservation work at Madaba in 1965 by archaeologists of the [[Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier|Rheinisches Landesmuseum]], [[Trier]].

* The entrance lobby of the [[YMCA]] in Jerusalem has a small replica of the Jerusalem part of the map incorporated in its floor.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Jerusalem Architecture in the British Mandate Period|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jerusalem-architecture-in-the-british-mandate-period|access-date=2021-11-13|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org}}</ref> At the Byzantine Cardo in the Old City there's another copy of the Jerusalem section, with explanations.

* [[Early Byzantine mosaics in the Middle East]]

* [[Umm ar-Rasas mosaics]]

* [[Eusebius]] of Caesarea

* [[Itinerarium Burdigalense]]

* [[Egeria (pilgrim)|Egeria]]

* [[Jerome]]

* [[Anonymous pilgrim of Piacenza]]

* [[Chronicon Paschale]]

* [[John of Würzburg]]

* {{cite journal | author = Abel, F.-M.|authorlink=Félix-Marie Abel| title = Le Sud Palestinien d'apres la carte mosaique de Madaba| url=https://digital.soas.ac.uk/AA00000665/00004/119x| journal = Journal of the Palestine Oriental Society| volume =IV | year=1924 |pages=[https://digital.soas.ac.uk/AA00000665/00004/119x 107]-[https://digital.soas.ac.uk/AA00000665/00004/129x 117]|language=French}}

* Palmer, P.; Dr. [[Hermann Guthe (theologian)|Guthe]] (1906), [https://archive.org/details/diemosaikkartevo00deut/page/n3 Die Mosaikkarte von Madeba], Im Auftrage des Deutschen Vereins zur Erforschung Palätinas

* Madden, Andrew M., "A New Form of Evidence to Date the Madaba Map Mosaic," ''Liber Annuus'' 62 (2012), 495-513.

* Adolf Jacoby: ''Das geographische Mosaik von Madaba, Die älteste Karte des Heiligen Landes''. {{Ill|Dieterich’scheDieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung|de}}, Leipzig 1905

* [[Kurt Weitzmann|Weitzmann, Kurt]], ed., ''[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p15324coll10/id/156533 Age of spirituality: late antique and early Christian art, third to seventh century]'', no. 523, 1979, [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], New York, {{ISBN|9780870991790}}

[[Category:HistoryMedieval history of Jordan]]