Image Details

The holy land appears as the backdrop for biblical events in this sixth-century mosaic map (drawing, shown here; compare with photo of mosaic map), from a Byzantine church in Madaba, Jordan. Discovered during church renovations in 1884, the 35-foot wide mosaic map originally covered about a quarter of the floor of the church’s nave (see plan). It shows the Holy Land from the Nile Delta in the south (far right) to Phoenicia in the north (left); from the desert of Jordan in the east (top), to the Mediterranean Sea in the west (bottom). Throughout, Greek labels point out dozens of sites made sacred through their association with the Bible, including “where Jacob’s well is,” “the wilderness where the serpent of bronze saved the Israelites,” “the sanctuary of Elisha” (outside Jericho), “the monastery of St. Lot” (southeast of the Dead Sea), and “the tomb of Joseph” (near Nablus).