Tubinger Bibelatlas

Tubinger Bibelatlas. Edited by Siegfried Mittmann and Gotz Schmitt. Translated by Keith Myrick. Based upon maps from the Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients (TAVO). Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2001, $150.00.

The Tubinger Bibelatlas is an attempt to make available to biblical students the massive amount of research material that was accumulated by German scholars from 14 different disciplines as they produced the larger Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients. That work was in production from 1961 to its publication in 1992 and consists of multiple volumes touching on the history, geography, and archaeology of the Near East.

Twenty-four maps from the Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients, relevant to biblical studies, were selected and reproduced in this volume without change. In addition to these, a relief map of the Near East was drawn (3rd and 2nd Millennium BC), a map of Sinai was produced, and cities associated with the travels and literary production of Paul were highlighted on Map V VI 2 "Christianity in the First Four Centuries." The latter, while useful, seems to have been hastily done, for I was surprised to find that Map B VI 2 indicated that a Seleukeia along the southern Mediterranean coast of Turkey and a Laodikeia in Syria were associated with the travels/letters of Paul. The "Middle East" map is the only relief map in the whole book, although a variety of maps in Palestine/Israel do indicate elevations-and on some, isohyets!

In all, the Tubinger Bibelatlas consists of 27 bound sheets (20 x 28 inches in size), some of which hold more than one map. Chronologically the maps range from the third millennium BC to AD 1920! There are four maps that detail the archaeological finds and development of Jerusalem (e.g. B IV 7 [Jerusalem AD 1099-1750] has 200 items listed and annotated!). The maps of the eastern Levant (Palestine) make use of the Palestinian Grid system to locate sites, while those with broader coverage use latitude and longitude coordinates. Since the maps in the multivolume Tubinger Atlas des Vorderen Orients were produced by a variety of specialists, there are some inconsistencies as one moves from map to map in the Tubinger Bibelatlas. For example, biblical Ramoth Gilead is identified with three different antiquity sites in the atlas. all the maps are dated, and reflect modern research up until the time of their completion.

Included with the Tubinger Bibelatlas is an index volume of 95 pages, with four columns per page. There actually are two indexes: one for the maps that use latitude and longitude coordinates, and another for the maps that use the Palestinian Grid system. I would estimate that there are close to 17,000 entries in these indexes. Throughout the atlas, accurate transliterations of geographical names from the original languages have been maintained and the index volume lists 39 languages that have been referenced; special note is given to Egyptian, Ugaritic, Hebrew and Aramaic, Arabic, and Greek. Since emphasis is placed upon the exact transliteration of the original languages, this is useful for the scholar who may wish to compare forms of a place name from one language with that of another language.

We must emphasize that this is not a volume for the English lay reader of the Bible, because the (usually) simple process of finding a place on a map is a daunting process. For example, the familiar Capernaum is nowhere to be found in the index volume, for one must know to look under Kapharnaom. Indeed the languages of choice in this volume are the original languages in which the names occur and the usual German spelling of a biblical place name. In addition, the lay reader will look in vain for maps that deal with military activities described in the biblical text. There are no maps on the conquests described in the book of Joshua, the activities of the judges, the wars of Saul or David, nor on any other of the Israelite or Judean kings. There are no maps dealing with the movements of Jesus, the apostles in Palestine, nor the journeys of the apostle Paul. But one will find separate, detailed sheets for the exploits of Alexander the Great, for the Diadochi, for Hellenistic states in the third century BC, for Hellenistic states in the second century BC, etc. Where else but on Map B IV 23 (Cyrus to Xerxes) can one learn who was a member of the Hellenic League in 484 BC and which cities joined after 479 BC? While this type of information is of interest for a scholar, for lay readers of the Bible other more common English-language atlases will be more useful and relevant.

But we must also emphasize that this book is certainly for scholars and academic libraries. For each map a special helpful "key" is given in German and English. The variety of information varies from map to map, but the quantity and quality of information included is unbelievable, as the authors/editors make use of a variety of colors, forms, fonts, etc. The book is especially strong in providing maps of background material from the ancient Near Eastern and eastern Mediterranean worlds. Included on various maps are, for example, the campaigns of Thutmoses III, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Greeks, in minute detail. For example, the map that illustrates the Syrian Wars of the third and second centuries BC looks like a California freeway, with all of the lines (lanes) on it, as a variety of rulers marched up and down the coast of Palestine. In addition, the ancient coastlines are indicated for places now silted up such as at Ephesus and Miletus in Turkey, southern Iraq, and the Nile delta. Some maps indicate ancient "routes," and some include indicators of the Roman road system. On some maps, site identification is helpfully indicated as certain, probable, or hypothetical.