SAINT-GEORGES CHURCH AND MAP OF PALESTINE

The Orthodox Church of St. George built in 1986 has some beautiful icons. But above all it houses the very first map of Palestine, also called the Map of Madaba. It was displayed on the floor of the 6th century Byzantine church that preceded it. This map is considered a historical treasure, as it is the oldest representation of the Holy Land, especially Jerusalem. A Greek dedication inscription engraved in a tank beneath the church gives historians a valuable clue as to the date of construction of the Byzantine church: " This is the work which our most pious emperor Flavius Justinian had done with munificence, under the auspices of the most holy Constantine, priest and Hegumen, in the year 13 of the indiction ", i.e. after 550. The mosaic is the work of unknown artists and was probably made on the initiative of the Christian community of the city, which was an important bishopric during the Byzantine Christian era. Unfortunately, the master builder of the new Orthodox church was not impressed by this antiquity and took little care to preserve or even enhance it. He found nothing better than to plant pillars in the middle of a large fragment. Entire sections of the map disappeared in the course of the work, especially the part describing the area between Hebron and Beersheva. As a result, the mosaic is poorly displayed and is barely protected by a security cordon that must be walked around repeatedly to appreciate the details.

The map was originally quite exceptional in size (21 meters by 7 meters, as opposed to the current 16 meters by 5 meters) and was composed of more than two million tesserae.

The work represents the Holy Land, from Lebanon to Lower Egypt and the Nile delta, including the places mentioned in both the New and Old Testaments. The territory is depicted with astonishing realism and attention to detail. One can see, for example, boats crossing the Dead Sea, or fish going up the Jordan River to avoid ending up in the salty sea, or bridges spanning the river...

The artists used letters of different sizes and colors (black, white and red) that mentioned the names of biblical territories and the relative importance of cities. There are more than 150 legends written in Greek letters and, to this day, all the names of these cities have been identified. Jerusalem (surrounded by walls) and the major holy places are, of course, included in this list, as well as the names of all the tribes that populated the region at the time. This map provides a great deal of information to historians, especially about the size and influence of the various cities in the 6th century, or the flora and fauna that could be found in the different regions. Beyond its historical or geographical interest, the map is a true work of art. It deploys rich and deep colors and draws a dizzying profusion of details.

The cities. The cities are precisely drawn, like a city map without perspective. You can see Jericho and its palm trees, Bethlehem, Gaza, Ashkelon (Israel), Peluse (Egypt), Flavia Neaoplis (Nablus), Kerak. Jerusalem is recognizable by its two maximum Cardo lined with columns, its Damascus Gate or its church of the Holy Sepulchre topped with a golden dome.

The surroundings. We can thus clearly see the organization of the space of this province of Palestine, articulated around a main axis constituted by the Jordan River, which flows into the Dead Sea. The drawings evoke very well the landscapes visible in Palestine (dark mountains, bright valleys). If you look closely, you can see a lion (rather iconoclastic, because in small mosaic squares) chasing a gazelle in the desert of Moab.

Read the map. It may be wise to purchase the map sold in the welcome shop if you wish to understand the innumerable details of the map. First of all, you should know that the map faces east (east is up). The north is therefore on your left. Jerusalem, with its walls, towers, and gates, is the centerpiece of the map and the real masterpiece of the mosaic. It provides valuable information about the layout and architecture of the city in the 6th century. It shows the Cardo, the main artery dividing the city in two (with the Damascus Gate at its northern end), and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The city walls are punctuated by twenty-one towers, the main one being the so-called Tower of David, and pierced by only six gates, the last one, the New Gate, dating from 1890.

To the south of Jerusalem (on the right) is Bethlehem. You will also recognize other sites: the Jordan Valley, planted with palm trees, the Dead Sea, represented with boats and sailors. On the shores, you can see lions and gazelles. Below the mouth of the Jordan is the palm-tree oasis of Jericho. On the right side of the map you can see the colourful peaks of the Sinai and not far south the Nile delta.