The Core of the Eran Laor Collection
The core of the Laor Collection are some 1,500 ancient maps of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. The collection also includes ancient maps of other parts of the world and modern maps of Israel and of Israeli cities (from before and after the establishment of the State). The collection includes maps in the European languages, Hebrew, Yiddish and Arabic.
The collection also includes modern maps of Israel and the other countries in the region, as well as contemporary maps published in Israel and forwarded to the Library in accordance with the legal deposit laws. In addition, the collection includes ancillary works in the field of ancient cartography, as well as journals and reference works.
The collection serves as a primary source for students and researchers in the fields of ancient and modern cartography and in other fields, including historical geography, general history, the history of art, the history of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel and the Diaspora, architecture and town planning, and Jerusalem studies. Those using the collection include museum and exhibition curators, school students and visitors from Israel and abroad.
All the maps are catalogued online. In the case of the maps of the Land of Israel and Jerusalem, the bibliographic entry includes a link enabling direct viewing of the scanned map. The collection includes research material on the subject of Arabic maps, maps in Arabic script, and maps issued by the Palestinian Authority.