Madaba Map

Madaba Map

Madaba Map, Early Byzantine, late. 6th century, floor mosaic, Madaba, Jordan, Church of Saint George.

The Madaba Map is a floor mosaic that contains the oldest surviving cartographic depiction of the Holy Land. It dates to the 6th century and is found at the Church of Saint George in Madaba, Jordan. The presence and absence of various monuments has aided in a more precise dating of the map, which included the New Church of the Theotokos in Jerusalem, dedicated on November 20, 542, but does not have any buildings that date to after 570. The city was conquered by the Sasanian Empire in 614, and largely destroyed by an earthquake in 746. The mosaic was not rediscovered until 1884 during the construction of a new church on the site.

The mosaic is located in the apse and originally measured 21 by 7 meters and contained over two million tesserae. In its modern form, it measures 16 x 5 meters.

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Church of Saint George