This is a map of the world created by the famous medieval cartographer, priest, and Protestant theologian Heinrich Bünting and published in his book Travel Through Holy Scripture in 1581. The map was coloured by hand.
Many ancient maps of the world did not attempt to depict the world in a realistic way but rather created imaginary maps that portrayed a certain message. Most cartographers had never even visited the places they mapped.
This map is a classic example of an ancient map. Bunting depicted the world in the form of a three-leaf clover with Israel and Jerusalem in the centre. Bunting was from the Germany city of Hanover whose symbol was a three-leaf clover, and he therefore drew the map in this shape as a tribute to his hometown, as written above the map in German: “Die ganze Welt in einem Kleberblat/Welches ist der Stadt Hannover meines lieben Baterlandes Wapen” –– “The whole world in a clover leaf, which is the crest of the city of Hannover, my beloved fatherland.”
Bunting placed Jerusalem at the centre of the world between the continents of Europe, Africa, and Asia, presumably because of Jerusalem’s religious significance to the three major religions. He drew Jerusalem as a typical medieval city with a cluster of tall buildings. It is most likely that Bunting had never visited Jerusalem himself and imagined the city to be similar to the medieval European cities with which he was familiar.
South-east of Jerusalem is the Red Sea, which, unlike the other seas, is painted in red, as many people at the time believed that the sea was actually red. This allegedly goes back to a mistake made in the translation of the Bible into Greek (the Septuagint); the Hebrew name of the sea was ים סוף, the Sea of Reeds, accidentally translated as “red” instead of “reeds.” Some believe that the sea does, in fact, sometimes look a little red due to a certain type of algae. Others refer to the fact that in ancient times places were associated with colours. The sea was considered to be in a southern area that was associated with the colour red, and it was therefore called the Red Sea.
At the top of the map are islands symbolising England and Denmark, and in the bottom left is America, known as the “New World” (German – Die Neue Welt). The European continent has only one illustrated city, Rome; Asia has many, including Damascus, and Africa has three, including Alexandria
The sea area of the map was drawn with a ship, mermaids, and sea monsters. This is very typical of maps of the time; the sea was unknown and people were afraid of it, as many of those who went out to sea never came back.
Both Oceania and South America are missing from this map, as they had not yet been discovered.
There is a mosaic model of this map in Jerusalem’s city hall in Safra Square.
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Connection to Parashat Bereishit
While this ancient map shows the world as it was viewed in the sixteenth century, Parashat Bereshit, the first weekly Torah portion, tells the story of the creation of the world.
In Genesis 2:10-14 the Torah talks about the rivers that flow from the Garden of Eden, all sourced from the original river that supplied that Garden of Eden. The verses suggest that these rivers are each important for sustaining the various different lands of the world:
it then divides and becomes four branches. The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds through the whole land is Havilah, where the gold is...The name of the second river is Gihon, the one that winds through the whole land of Cush. The name of the third river is Hiddekel, the one that flows east of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Perat.
While the exact location of the Garden of Eden is unknown, speculations over the years have suggested various places ranging from Africa, to the banks of the Euphrates, to Israel. No matter where it might have been, the verses clearly suggest that Gan Eden was the centre of the world at the time; a similar theme to that being expressed by Bunting in his map.
