NO. 2111. MEDEBA MOSAIC JilAl' OF PALESTINE— CASANOWICZ. 363 



the Greek translation of the Septuagint. Out of the twelve tribes of 

 Israel only six are preserved entire or fragmentary, namely, Dan, 

 Simeon, Judah, Ephraim, Benjamin, and Zebulon. In connection 

 with Dan the apostrophe from the Song of Deborah (Judges v, 17) is 

 quoted, "Why did he remain in ships?" The legend with the name 

 of Simeon is now wanting; Ephraim is associated with the blessing 

 of Jacob upon Joseph; "God blessed thee with the blessing of the 

 earth having everything" (instead of "will bless thee with the bless- 

 ings of heaven" of the received text, Genesis xlix, 25), and "Blessed 

 of the Lord be his land" (Deuteronomy xxxiii, 13); with Benjamin 

 are the words, "The Lord shaU cover him all the day long, and he 

 shall dwell in his territory" (instead of "between his shoulders" of 

 the received text, Deuteronomy xxxiii, 12) ; of Zebulon now only five 

 letters remain, but the fragment containing the inscription bearing on 

 Zebulon had abeadybeen discovered in 1890, without its connection 

 being then recognized, and the inscription copied before it was de- 

 stroyed. It read: "Zebulon shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and 

 he shall be for an haven of ships; and his border shall be into Sidon" 

 (Genesis xhx, 13).^ By the side of this legend was the representation 

 of a ship, "which some have tried to make out to be St. Peter's boat," 

 the church being, according to them, dedicated to St. Peter. In this 

 place it is clearly a mere symbolical indication of the sea.^ It also 

 appears that the artist wished to put on the map besides Palestine 

 all the places which had been of importance to the Israelites before 

 then- entrance into Canaan — the region of Goshen in Egypt which 

 held them in servitude; Raphidin, the desert of sin; and the moun- 

 tain range of Sinai. 



But it is the Palestine of the Byzantme period that is represented 

 on the map. Alongside of the Biblical place names are often given 

 those in use at the time of the composition. Of the about 140 

 place names preserved on the fragment, about 60 have no reference 

 to the Biblical narrative. Of the latter many were episcopal sees, but 

 a considerable number had no relation either to the Scriptures or 

 the development of Christianity, as far as known, and there are 

 also some otherwise unknown names of towTis. 



In its general purport the Medeba map is — Uke the mosaic pic- 

 tures of sacred history — an illustration of the Bible rather than a work 

 of geography. The artist was more intent on the picturesque 

 details than on geography. Much care is bestowed on the pictures 

 of towns. In those of large cities like Jerusalem, Gaza, etc., an 

 attempt is made to give a view of the principal streets, marked by a 

 colonnade, and to represent some of the prominent buildings. Small 

 places are indicated by an outline of a wall, flanked by towers, 



1 Published by Germer-Durand in Cosmos, new series, vol. 18, p. 286. 

 - Clemont-Sanneau, PEFQS, 1897, p. 215. 



