| Map of the Holy Land, According to Its Division among the Tribes |
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| 1585 בקירוב
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| Christian van Adrichom, Dutch, 1533-1585
Hand-colored engraving and etching, ca. 1585. The Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Gift of Adam Mekler, Los Angeles, in honor of Ariel Gabriella Mekler
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| Ancient map from the Collection of the Israel Museum: the territorial boundaries of the Tribes of Israel on both sides of the Jordan River
Christian van Adrichom was a learned priest from the Dutch city of Delft who worked in Cologne, Germany. He produced this map for his comprehensive work Theatrum Terrae Sanctae, in which he surveyed the Holy Land, and delineated its division among the tribes. The map is oriented to the east, and extends from the cities of Amalek and Petra in the southeast, to Mount Hermon in the northeast. To the west is "the Great Sea," namely the Mediterranean. A depiction of the Prophet Jonah being thrown to the "Big Fish" appears among the sailboats and legendary sea monsters. The coastline runs from the Nile Delta in the south to the city of Sidon in the north. As in the Madaba Map, the southern part of the coastline runs almost straight and does not curve as it should. This is probably a function of the rectangular format of the map. The boundaries between the tribes are marked by hatched lines, highlighted in color.
More than 800 sites and events are marked or portrayed on the map. The miniature illustrations represent scenes that span the period from Cain and Abel till the 6th century CE. They include biblical scenes as well as traditions borrowed from the New Testament and the Apocrypha. The illustrations are meticulously drawn by a master artist, and they give the map a captivating storybook flavor.
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