Reviews: Atlas of Jerusalem

This review assesses the scholarly, cartographic, and practical significance of the Atlas of Jerusalem. Comprising 105 maps and a companion volume on urban geography, the atlas systematically documents Jerusalem’s physical setting, historical development, urban structure, land use, institutions, transportation, population, and planning. Particular strengths include its sophisticated visualization of computer-processed data, high production quality, planning-oriented scales, and updateable 100-by-100-meter land-use grid. The reviewer emphasizes how the maps illuminate the combined effects of religious traditions, inherited urban forms, British colonial policy, warfare, migration, and political change on the city’s morphology and functions. Although inconsistent transliteration, several insufficiently differentiated thematic categories, minor cartographic defects, and textual errors require correction, these shortcomings are limited. Overall, the atlas is judged an exceptional contribution to urban geography and city cartography and an essential acquisition for geographical libraries.