I. CANAAN DURING THE PATRIARCHAL AGES.

II. ARMENIA, MESOPOTAMIA, SYRIA, AND THE ADJACENT COUN-
TRIES, IN THE TIME OF THE PATRIARCH.

III. JOURNEYS OF THE ISRAELITES FROM EGYPT TO CANAAN.
IV. CANAAN AS DIVIDED AMONG THE TRIBES.

V. THE KINGDOMS OF JUDAH AND ISRAEL.

VI. SYRIA, SHOWING THE DOMINIONS OF DAVID AND SOLOMON. VIL PLAN OF JERUSALEM.

VIII. ASSYRIA, CHALDEA, AND MEDIA; ILLUSTRATING THE CAPTIVITY OF THE JEWS.

IX. PALESTINE, AND PART OF PHOENICIA; ILLUSTRATING THE NEW TESTAMENT.

X. THE COUNTRIES BETWEEN PALESTINE AND ITALY, IN THE TIME OF THE APOSTLES.

XI. PALESTINE AND THE ADJACENT PART OF SYRIA, AS DIVIDED UNDER THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT.

XII. EGYPT AND PART OF ARABIA.

THE progressive increase in the amount of geographical information is not more perceptible in reference to countries which have become known, or of which the inhabitants have attained to civilization, within a recent period, than in regard to some of those which have long occupied a conspicuous place in the world's history, and to none more than PALESTINE, and other parts of Syria and Western Asia. The little knowledge which we do possess of the geography of Palestine, has been almost solely acquired during the present century; it is now, happily, constantly increasing in extent and value, and the bearing of these acquisitions upon Biblical Geography is direct and important. The numerous attempts successively made to illustrate the geography of the Bible have been, in too many instances, based upon mere conjectures, sometimes supported only by vague etymological analogies drawn from the writings of Greek and Roman antiquity, and often only showing how little the framers of them really knew of Palestine, but which have, in almost all cases, been disproved by the appliance of modern observation. This would have been of comparatively little importance if, as new facts were acquired, they had been constantly made use of, and applied as tests of the worth of preconceived hypotheses. But it has unfortunately happened that, either from the ignorance or carelessness of the greater number of the compilers of "Scripture Atlases," a large amount of real and available information has either not yet been applied to the illustration of the geography of the sacred volume, or else it has been mixed up with long-received conjectures, in such a manner as to make the ascertained truths subservient to the hypotheses, instead of confirming or rejecting the latter, according as it corresponded or not with the former. The result has, of course, been to confuse rather than elucidate the subject; and the great majority of the maps which profess to illustrate the Bible,-mostly copied from others of a similar description, and inheriting in succession the absurdities and puerile conjectures of former times,-present a mass of confusion, in which it is impossible for the inexperienced student to separate the true from the false, or the known from the conjectural. Even if this were possible, and if the most recent information had been made use of in the illustration of Biblical Geography, still, as the materials for forming it into a correct system are always accumulating, the task of collecting and analyzing them would constantly require to be undertaken anew.

It is for the foregoing reason, then, that we think a collated and improved series of BIBLE MAPS will constitute a useful addition to the library of the scriptural student, and a valuable companion and guide to every reader of the Sacred Volume; for the Bible is manifestly, and admittedly, a work which more, perhaps, than any other; renders necessary a knowledge of the nature and situation of the places mentioned in it, in order that it may be read with advantage.

It is the chief characteristic of the present Atlas to distinguish throughout between that which is known, and that which is merely conjectural. It is not, we believe, generally known, that the greater number of the

Any person may be satisfied of the justice of these remarks, by merely glancing at the Scripture Atlases in common use. Thus, in one or two even of those recently published, we find indicated such localities as "Deborah's Palm Tree," "Abraham's Tent," "The Threshing-floor of Boaz," "The Tents of Lot, after separating from Abraham," "The Cities of Sodom, Gomorrah," &c., and numerous absurdities of a similar description, frequently to the exclusion of real information, and in all cases without any distinguishing sign, by the aid of which the student may discriminate between gratuitous speculations and ascertained facts. The map commonly given of the "Journeys of the Israelites," which is chiefly based upon the authority of the by-gone conjectures of Calmet, presents a curious example of laborious intri acy and studious difficulties, to say nothing of the physical impossibilities, which our present knowledge of the country shows it to involve. similar remark applies to the plans given of "Jerusalem and its Environs," which profess to specify everything, even the form of the streets and situation of particular dwellings, on a subject upon which we may be said to know comparatively nothing.

A

names of places mentioned in the Bible, which appear in scripture maps, are placed according to positions assigned to them by Eusebius, Jerome, and Josephus, during whose lifetime many places in Palestine which have since perished were still in existence, and who have preserved in their writings the distances between them and well-known places. Still the positions thus determined can only be regarded as approximating towards accuracy, and as indicating the neighbourhood rather than the actual situation of such places. On the other hand, the discovery, in numerous instances, of ruins which bear to the present day the names of scriptural localities, in conjunction with other circumstances, which leave no doubt with regard to the places of which they are the representatives, enables the geographer to indicate with precision the situa tion of many places of frequent mention in the Bible. The number of places of this description has been very considerably increased during the last few years, in the course of which the scenes of some of the most interesting transactions of the patriarchal, and later scriptural ages, have been for the first time visited by Europeans +. Those of the latter class, together with such places as have preserved, even in modera times, some share of importance, comprise all the known localities of Biblical Geography, and are, as such, entitled to a distinction from the The foundation upon which the present BIBLE MAPS are con structed, embodies the latest and most authentic geographical and topographical information which can be collected from the various authorities in reference to Palestine.

rest.

Secondly, -A strictly chronological arrangement is observed through. out, in the delineation of boundaries and the insertion of names of places, so that scriptural, classical, and modern appellations are not here, as in most works prepared for the illustration of ancient geography, confusedly united together without regard to the period of history to which they relate, but by paying due regard to the order of time, are so arranged as to present the student with delineations of the actual condition of the countries represented at successive periods. The present is, therefore, entitled to be regarded as an Historical as well as Geographical Series of Maps, exhibiting the Holy Land and the surrounding regions during its successive periods of independence and its subjection to other powers, and concluding with maps of its condition under the Turkish sway, and of Egypt, the country most intimately allied with it in institutions and manners, and which has, in all ages, exercised so important an influence over its destinies.

It has been thought desirable to append to such of the Maps as require it, a short Notice relating to the physical configuration and other geographical features of the country. We are thereby enabled to point out in what respects the Map differs from those of a similar description hitherto published, and to notice briefly the reasons for which, on some hypothetical questions of Scriptural Geography, conclusions have been adopted which differ from those generally received.

Lastly,-An Index, compiled with extreme care, embodying the names of all the places inserted in the Maps, together with the modern the latitude and longitude of each place, with a reference to the map in appellations in those instances in which they are known, and showing which it may be found, is appended to this Atlas. This Index comprehends the names of all those places mentioned in the Bible, of which the positions can be determined with accuracy sufficient to warrant their insertion upon a map.

found to give the work a value which will render it better qualified than We trust that these distinguishing features of this Atlas will be any Scriptural Atlas hitherto published, to become a really useful Geographical guide to all classes of readers of the Bible.