How to make the scriptures come alive with deeper insight and meaning...know your geography. ~These maps contain a wealth of information, and have been fascinating to study. As I worked to prepare them for publication, frequently I would find myself stirred by some new detail. Normally reserved when working alone in my office, there were times when I simply could not help but pound the table and produce an ear-to-ear grin. I was amazed time and again. Of course, what catches my attention may be completely different from what interests the next person. With thousands of details in these maps, such is to be expected. With that said, I offer a few observations: The original names of many ancient and biblical sites are preserved in the Arabic names of the villages, including: er-Râm (Ramah), el-Jîb (Gibeon), Jebá (Geba), Kabur el Beni Israin (Tombs of the sons of Israel), Mŭkhmâs (Michmash), Lifta (Mei Nephtoah), Beit Jibrin (Beth Guvrin), Beit Ur el Fôka (Upper Beth Horon), Beisân (Beth Shean), Khŭrbet Tekûá (Tekoa), Tell Hum (Capernaum), el Mejdel (Magdala), Kh. Kerâzeh (Corazin), Ain Shems (Beth Shemesh), Sŭrah (Zorah), Tell Jezar (Gezer), and many more. In the 1870s, the population of Palestine was approximately 450,000; today the population of the same area is nearly 7 million. Much of that growth is in the urban centers. A look at the maps of the areas of Jerusalem, Jaffa (now Tel Aviv), Haifa, Tiberias, Nazareth, Beersheba, Hebron, and Nablus reveals just how much has been lost to modern development. Another matter of interest to me as a teacher of historical geography is the corruption of one particular name in recent history. For many years, Ive known and taught about the importance of Wadi Faria. This broad valley is easy for travel in eastern Samaria, connecting Tirzah (Tell el-Farah North) to the fords of Adam. It is likely that this is the way that Abraham and Jacob traveled on their way to Shechem (Gen 12:6; 33:17-18). I recently learned that I had long been in error: there is no Wadi Faria. I was alerted to this by Dr. Ginger Caessens who discovered it by talking to local residents. I checked and found that the erroneous Wadi Faria was listed in most recent Bible geography works, including the Student Map Manual (Pictorial Archive), Geographical Basics (Monson), Moody Atlas of Bible Lands (Beitzel), NIV Atlas of the Bible (Rasmussen), Bakers Concise Bible Atlas (Laney), Roads and Highways of Ancient Israel (Dorsey), and the Holy Land Satellite Atlas (Cleave). But if you look back at the Survey of Western Palestine maps, you see the valley is named Wadi Farah. And this is still what the local Arabs call it today. Somewhere in scholarly tradition, the name became corrupted and passed on as such. [Note] Many more interesting details of the Survey project are given in the book by the Palestine Exploration Fund, Thirty Years Work in the Holy Land (1895). Extracts from this book about the survey are included on the CD and are recommended reading. The first section included describes the publication of the work, and the second details the research done by others before the Survey commenced. This is followed by information about the preparation for the survey, the survey itself, and finally a summary of the contributions that the Survey has made to our knowledge of the Holy Land. Altogether, these will increase your appreciation for the project hailed as the most important work on the Holy Land that has ever been given to the world.~ bibleplaces/surveywesternpalestinemaps.htm
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:51:09 +0000
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