The Atlas of Israel

David H.K. Amiran and N. Kadmon discuss the editorial problems of the first Hebrew edition of the Atlas of Israel, completed in spring 1964 with 102 sheets and 720 large-scale maps. They identify three factors distinguishing it from the national atlases on which it was modelled: rapid changes in the cultural landscape, Israel’s geographical situation and form, and a changing documentary base. A population increase of about 600 percent over two generations and associated changes in agriculture, the economy, communications and services led to time-sequence maps for most subjects; the final folder supplied supplementary maps updating some topics. The authors also describe cartographic challenges arising from the contrast between the diverse north and relatively uniform south, and from varied terrain within small altitude ranges. Successive political frameworks over fifty years, including Ottoman and British rule, left scientific data uneven in coverage and reliability.