1545 Terra Sancta XXIII. Nova Tabula
One of the earliest maps to focus on the Holy Land.
Munster’s map of the Holy Land is oriented to the west and extends from just north of Sidon in Phoenicia (modern day Lebanon), to Gaza in the southwest and Arabia in the southeast. Members of a caravan, livestock and wild animals enliven the map which includes settlements and cities of various sizes and numerous biblical sites and vignettes.
Sebastian Munster was one of Europe’s foremost mapmakers of the 16th century. Ordained as a priest in 1512, he taught Hebrew at a number of universities, but then began to study maps and in 1525 published his first known map, a map of Germany. He wrote treatises on various topics and continued to publish maps till his death in 1552.