This map focuses on areas in the southern region of Syria in which there were many brutal battles during the Yom Kippur War. The map was published at the height of the war in October 1973. The political borders between countries are marked with a dotted line. The map shows the area of major battles over the Golan Heights. The brown areas denote mountainous regions (dormant volcanos in the east and limestone mountains in the north) and the light brown spotted area denotes impassable land.
Besides the battlegrounds of the Golan Heights, the map shows areas in southern Lebanon, northern Jordan, and northern Israel. In Israel, the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee) can be seen together with villages, towns, and kibbutzim such as Tsfat, Rosh Pina, Shamir, Kiryat Shmona, Metullah.
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Yom Kippur War - The Yom Kippur War started as a surprise attack on Israel on the holiest day of the Jewish year, Yom Kippur. The Syrian army coordinated its attack on the Golan Heights with the Egyptian attack on the Sinai Desert. The map shows very clearly the difficulties faced by the Israeli army due to the mountainous terrain where the battles against Syria took place. After Syria’s initial attack, the IDF pushed the Syrians back to the pre-war ceasefire line. The IDF then launched a four-day counter-offensive deep in Syria. By the end of the war, the Israeli army was only forty km from Damascus; however, after the ceasefire agreements, Israel pulled back to the Golan Heights.
