A map of Egypt and Israel depicting Jerusalem, Egypt or Syria, Mamluk, 14th/15th century

Jerusalem 1000-1400: Every People Under Heaven, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, September 2016 - January 2017.

Although the map is entitled ‘A Map of Egypt and Israel’ it rather focuses on the trade route between Jerusalem and Syria. It is is arranged with the South at the top and the north at the bottom with Damascus marked centrally within a triangular cartouche, flanked by the Lukkam mountains to the east and a series of small huts denoting the ports of the Mediterranean sea to the west. Jerusalem is included at the top of the map (labelled as Bayt al-Maqdis).

The map would have formed part of a larger manuscript comprising a series of maps. A comparably arranged map illustrates a manuscript of Kitab al-Aqalim, dated 1173 AD in the Gotha Research Library, and another is published in Boehm and Holcomb 2016, p.29, no.3. Maps such as these opted for function over flourish, focussing on the needs of trade and emphasising the most notable places for commercial routes (ibid.).