Books in Brief
004
Two Atlases
The Harper Atlas of the Bible
James B. Pritchard, General Editor
(New York Harper & Row, 1987) 254 pp., $49.95
The Harper Atlas of the Bible is a lavish production containing approximately 130 attractive, full-color maps (not counting map insets), a wide variety of full-color photos and an exceptionally rich collection of diagrams, reproductions, line-drawings, charts and graphs. The text is lucid, even though it was written by nearly 50 authors. The atlas makes use of newer geographical technologies (photogrammetry, for example) that make possible improved simulations of three-dimensional relief maps.
Eight pages are given over to a chronological timeline that spans the period between 1,500,000 B.C. and 150 A.D., with each time frame further subdivided into such categories as technology, climate, social organization, architecture, significant events and the like. The book contains a complete gazetteer that includes helpful information for both scholar and layperson. In a somewhat novel section entitled “People of the Bible,” the atlas presents the names of many Biblical characters who figure prominently on the maps, arranged alphabetically, together with a list of the places where each name is cited in the Biblical text. The atlas is well bound and printed on first-quality glossy paper.
In my opinion, the standards against which modern atlases ought to be measured are those established at the turn of the century by George Adam Smith, the venerable doyen of historical geographers, whose pioneering volume, The Historical Geography of the Holy Land, has undergone some 25 editions since its-first appearance in 1894. Smith declared that five essential ingredients must compose any historical atlas. These are: some representation of the world to which the land belongs, the general features of the physical and economic geography of the land itself, a succession of maps of the political geography of the land, some illustrations of the conceptions of the land in former times and a series of notes to the maps. Smith’s ingredients remain applicable criteria for any atlas review.
When these criteria are applied to the present volume, the Harper Atlas must be considered a superior product. The world to which the land belongs is well represented in various Mediterranean or Near Eastern regional and empire maps that often include the delineation of the main lines of communication. Second, there is an adequate supply of maps detailing the general features of the land itself: physical topography, roads and highways, towns and villages with their names at various periods, geology, vegetation, rainfall, archaeological sites and the like. The Harper Atlas is particularly rich in its display of maps showing political history routes taken by numerous Biblical characters, many maps exhibiting political frontiers and divisions, maps showing Israel’s geographical relationships with its neighbors, maps of Jerusalem in successive periods and maps showing the growth of Christianity. Conceptions of the land in former times have not been overlooked here either: A map of the world based on Genesis 10, a map of the environs of Jerusalem from the 19th-century journey of explorer Edward Robinson, maps of the world as seen by two Greek geographer-historians—Strabo (c. 63 B.C.–21 A.D.) and Hecataeus (c. 550–476 B.C.)—have all been included in the Harper Atlas. Finally, the text accompanying each map is almost always found on the same or facing page, facilitating the volume’s use.
The cartographic procedure adopted is at once the most innovative and the most problematic feature of this book. Struggling, like all mapmakers since the time of Ptolemy, with the problem of how to draw the round earth on a flat sheet of paper, the Harper Atlas has employed a nontraditional projection system, one that the preface claims to be “more realistic.” Professional cartographers label this projection as an “oblique pseudo-perspective” viewpoint, one that can be generated or manipulated by a computer or drawn as a schematic piece of art, but a viewpoint that does not exist in reality.
The contrived nature of this projection is illustrated by the map on pages 30–31, to cite but one example, in which all the east-west parallels are drawn without curves, and yet the edge of the map portrays a curved horizon. A crucial problem that I see with this kind of projection is that the reader unfamiliar with this technique will find it difficult to account for the spatial unevenness, or distortion in linear relationship, presented on most of the maps.
Marks indicating the exact location of towns and cities vary frequently from map to map, probably because the data on these maps came from sources that used a more traditional projection system.
Many maps in the Harper Atlas do not follow the convention of assigning maps a north orientation. Although this can be beneficial, on this projection scheme it may have a further disorienting effect upon the user. This will be the case particularly when an arrow orienting the user to north is missing entirely, as it is on at least 17 maps, including quite a few maps that are not oriented to a north compass. Were this volume targeted to a scholarly or classroom audience, where visual, linear and orientation compensation could easily be made, the force of my objections would be significantly lessened. But these problems will be acute for nonspecialist users. A considerably more detailed explanation of the implications of the Harper Atlas’s nontraditional projection system is needed if the maps are to become “user friendly.”
Hammond Past Worlds: The Times Atlas of Archaeology
Chris Scarre, General Editor
(Maplewood, NJ: Hammond, 1988) 319 pp. $85.00
This ambitious atlas surveys the history of human existence over the past 2,500,000 years. Chris Scarre, the general editor, was assisted in the project by four consulting editors and by almost 90 contributors, mostly from Great Britain. There is a remarkable liveliness to the text, though the book’s layout and editorial design have created some duplication of material. Hundreds of maps, illustrations, photographs and meticulous reconstructions of ancient sites complement the text nicely.
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Past Worlds is a reference volume that is easily used: Each neatly arranged section—with headings, text and illustrative material for a particular topic—covers two facing pages. The selective bibliography is especially helpful, because it has been broken down and keyed to the corresponding topics that appear in the body of the atlas (“Burials,” “Farmers of the Near East,” etc.). A multicolored chronological timeline divided into five geographical regions spans the vast period from about 2,500,000 B.C. to 1869 A.D. Then the textual material divides this span into six historical periods, each with a chapter in the book.
The volume’s weakest feature is the mixed quality of its maps: While many maps are rather elaborate and mindful of the latest research, some maps are in need of correction. On page 133, for example, a map shows trading networks of the Near East and attempts to show various place-names mentioned in the archives of major cities (Kültepe, Mari and Ebla) that played prominent roles in this trade. However, this map also shows quite a few cities whose presence in the Mari archive has not been duly noted (Harran, Urshu, Boghazköy and others). Also, the maps found on pages 170–171 and 178 show a marked disparity in the placement of Roman roads.
A chapter exploring archaeological method, interpretation and analysis introduces the volume. Various forms of modern scientific dating techniques are well explained and illustrated. The chapter also explains why so much of ancient material culture has been lost, what kinds of objects tend to survive, environmental factors that may lead to preservation and the sort of geographical milieu in which sites are likely to be found. There is an analysis of ancient food gathering and storing, as well as an inspection of such features of human skills and inclinations as food production, trade, disease, warfare and ritual.
Chapter two comments on the course of human evolution, means of subsistence and occupational expansion from Africa to the other continents, until the end of the last Ice Age. Chapter three describes the timing and circumstances of the Neolithic revolution, in which humankind became a food producer, and then offers a delightful overview of the origin and development of farming. The fourth chapter takes a necessarily vague and general look at the world between the Chalcolithic Age and the wholesale introduction of iron. The rise and differentiation of metallurgy is touched on, as well as the rise of urbanism, literacy and trading systems. The period culminated in the development of four primary Old World civilizations—Indus Valley, Mesopotamian valley, Nile Valley and North China along the Yellow River—all of which depended on harnessing and utilizing great rivers.
Chapter five discusses some early empires (Assyria, Persia, Greece, Celtic Europe, Rome, Germanic Europe, Parthian and India) and a few emerging states (Northern Steppeland [from which emerged the Huns and later the Mongols], various Red Sea states and the Pacific world). Chapter six supplies an overview of New World archaeology, from early settlements and farming in Central and South America to the arrival of European colonists. The modern world is the subject of the final chapter: the Byzantine, Islamic and Viking worlds, medieval Christianity in Europe and Britain, various African states and Asian kingdoms, the modern development of the Polynesian Pacific, and the Arctic world.
On balance, this volume is attractive and pleasant to read. It is not marred by editorial glitches, typos and the like. Many multicolored illustrative materials aid the lay reader’s assimilation of the text, and the atlas’s helpful glossary of archaeological terms make the text less threatening.
To order the Hammonds Past Worlds atlas, send check or charge (MC or VISA) information to 3000 Connecticut Avenue N.W., Suite 300, Washington, DC 20008. $85 plus $3.00 shipping.
Two Atlases
The Harper Atlas of the Bible
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