Atlas of Israel: A Collection of Maps of the Land of Israel and the State of Israel
אטלס ישראל: מכלול מפות של ארץ-ישראל ומדינת ישראל
Israel · Unknown · 1956
Related Reviews & Articles
Cartography: Atlases
Unknown · 1964
This paper examines the unique cartographic and editorial challenges encountered in producing the first Hebrew edition of the Atlas of Israel (1964), a comprehensive work comprising 102 sheets and 720 large-scale maps. Although modeled on other national atlases, the Israeli atlas diverged significantly due to three primary factors: the country's rapid demographic and cultural transformations, its distinctive geographical position and elongated shape, and the uneven reliability of its documentary base. The most influential factor was the dramatic 600% population increase over two generations, which drove extreme changes in agriculture, economy, communication, and services. To capture this dynamism, the atlas employs time-sequence map series for most topics rather than single static representations, and includes supplementary maps to update content. Geographically, Israel's location on the arid zone boundary creates sharp north-south contrasts, with highly diverse physical, human, and economic elements in the north versus a monotonous south, compounded by varied topography over small altitude ranges. These spatial characteristics demanded specialized cartographic solutions. Finally, the area's political history under Ottoman, British, and Israeli administrations within 50 years resulted in data that differ greatly in coverage and reliability. The paper details how these interrelated problems shaped the atlas's content, design, and production.
Reviews: Atlas of Israel
Thomson, W. P. G. · 1958
This paper presents the first installments of a definitive Atlas of Israel, published by the Department of Surveys of the Ministry of Labour and the Bialik Institute of the Jewish Agency. The atlas adopts a loose-leaf fascicule format (43 × 64 cm) for flexible updating. It covers cartography, physical geography, history, demography, economics, and education. The text is entirely in Hebrew, with an English title page and table of contents, posing an accessibility barrier for non-Hebrew-speaking scholars. The received folders include maps and commentaries on cartography, geomorphology, climate, history, population, agriculture, industry and commerce, and communications. Sections planned on geology, hydrology, botany, zoology, landscape evolution, settlements, and services have not yet been received. Each map sheet bears on its reverse a scholarly essay and a multilingual bibliography. The production and printing quality are excellent. Once complete, the atlas will become an authoritative reference for geographers and other Israel researchers proficient in Hebrew. This review highlights the publication's scholarly rigor and its linguistic limitation.
Atlas of Israel
Amiran, D. H. K.; Kadmon, N. · 1959
The Atlas of Israel is a national atlas designed to address the distinctive geographical, cartographic, and historical challenges of mapping a small yet highly dynamic country. Given Israel’s limited area (20,700 km²), the atlas employs relatively large scales (1:500,000 to 1:2,000,000) to ensure detailed representation, which demands high accuracy and careful symbol scaling to accommodate concentrated phenomena such as population and industry around Tel Aviv. A core principle is the extensive use of time‑sequence maps to capture the country’s rapid demographic, agricultural, and infrastructural transformations, illustrating the evolution of population, settlements, land use, and climate across multiple historical dates rather than portraying a static picture. The atlas addresses frequent political boundary changes by varying the territorial coverage of maps for different periods. Additional cartographic challenges include representing sharp climatic and topographic contrasts—from Mediterranean landscapes to desert and from the Dead Sea depression to elevated plateaus—through appropriate altitude tints and symbolization. Compiled from diverse sources such as historical records, traveler accounts, statistics, and original research, the atlas comprises fifteen thematic sections spanning cartography, geomorphology, geology, climate, hydrology, biogeography, landscape evolution, history, population, settlement, agriculture, industry and commerce, communications, and services. Published in loose‑leaf format beginning in 1956, the Atlas of Israel provides a continuously updatable, comprehensive geographic portrait, serving as a durable reference that documents the country’s ongoing spatial evolution.
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