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Carl G. Rasmussen
ZONDERVAN ATLAS
OF THE BIBLE Grand Rapids. Zondervan. 2010. 304 pp. ISBN: 978-0-310-37050-8 reviewed by Patrick Killough (1) biblio.com 10/07/2010 Would you recommend this book to other readers? Yes! * * * * * review by aohcapablanca: The latest edition of Carl Rasmussen's ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE is a keeper. Do you believe that every last place name in Scripture is a direct message from God to you? For example, Beth Dagon, Gath Rimmon, Oboth or Ziph? Then this ATLAS is for you. Or do you merely want a rough estimate of how far Bethlehem is from Jerusalem? Then keep this ATLAS on your coffee table! Archeologists and other scholars are unearthing finds at a fast pace. Result: any Bible Atlas becomes obsolete within five years. But for the moment, this is the definitive encyclopedia for both specialist and generalist. Whatever your views on correct timelines, the chronological maps are beautiful, abundant and detailed. The scholarly texts and bibliographies will keep you reading for months on end. Finally, this book provokes good conversation. Just pay attention to what some spirited readers are concerned about -- to the effect, for example, that "you are free to believe the earth is more than 6,000 years old, you just don't have any evidence" or "how can you locate the Garden of Eden on a map when the Flood wiped out all landmarks?" Enjoy ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE! -OOO-- http://www.biblio.com/hardcover-book/zondervan-atlas-of-the-bible -carl-g-rasmussen~15495~332783335 =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (2) lunch.com 10/07/2010 name of review: An Atlas of One of the World's Most Fought Over Landscapes rating: * * * * review: The first map of the Holy Land that has stayed with me was in Hilaire Belloc's 1937 THE CRUSADES. Belloc's strategic argument begins with the leaders of the First Crusade failing to take Damascus when it was ripe for plucking. One simple map then showed how Damascus was key to the "backdoor" road to the Crusader Kingdoms -- along a route east of the mountains and west of almost untrackable desert. This road is called by Rasmussen "The International Transjordanian Route" (p. 32f). Be it noted, however, that Rasmussen's 2010 revision of ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE covers a far earlier time than the Crusades: from Creation through Exodus to Apocalypse. Nonetheless, it is soon apparent that Carl G. Rasmussen is no military historian or mapmaker. If I had two suggestions, -- one would be larger print, please! --The second? An additional essay by a military historian giving an overview of the landscape from the point of view of invading and defending armed forces across one of the world's most fought over landscapes. Rasmussen at least noted that Israel never became a seafaring nation on the order of its Phoenician neighbors for one good geographical reason: Israel's coast had no good natural harbors. A fine book: maps, texts, indices, good, clear writing. It should perhaps be called "the American edition," because its measurements are in feet and miles not meters. And its space comparisons are to American States. Egypt, for example, is shown to be very much the size and compactness of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. -OOO- http://www.lunch.com/Reviews/book/Zondervan _Atlas_of_the_Bible-1601986.html =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (3) bn.com 10/08/2010 title of review: Jesus and Geography rating: * * * * review: Carl G. Rasmussen is the kind of person you would love to have over to dinner again and again and again. And lead you, as well -- as he has so often done for other people -- on scholarly tours of the Holy Land, Asia Minor and the Aegean. Rasmussen has several times written successive Atlases of the Bible. And his 2010 revision is wonderfully appealing. It has probably 80 more colored maps than non-specialist I will ever study in detail. But all those time-specific maps will always be there when needed, should I want to burrow further into Biblical towns like Beth Dagon, Gath Rimmon, Oboth or Ziph. Neither Rasmussen nor this reviewer is a military historian. And that may be one of the book's weakness when reproducing landscapes from Old Testament times with their centuries of carnage, defense, conquest and sieges. The author does note that the coastline of today's Israel is woefully lacking in natural ports. This is an obvious reason why the Hebrews never became a great seafaring nation, while Punic neighbors up the coast eventually mastered a good part of the western Mediterranean. What I personally am more likely to do with a popular encyclopedia such as ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE is focus on Roman-ruled lands that Jesus of Nazareth once trod. "Jesus
was raised in the small village of Nazareth, only 3.5 miles southeast
of the capital (of Galilee), Sepphoris" (The Life of Christ, p.
207).
From the map facing that page, I easily locate Nazareth, Sepphoris, Upper Galilee, Lower Galilee, the Sea of of Galilee, Cana and, off to the northeast, mighty Damascus. Perhaps 300,000 people lived in the 200-plus cities and villages of Galilee sketched by the Jewish historian Josephus. The largest was Sepphoris, "which may have had a population of 50,000." Galilee's ruler was Herod Antipas (4 BC - AD 39). He rebuilt Sepphoris and made it his first capital. It would not surprise me to learn that Joseph, Jesus and perhaps even Mary learned Greek interacting with customers in Sepphoris. Trivia lovers will thrive on texts like "Only
Jerusalem and Capernaum are mentioned more frequently in the Gospels
than Bethsaida" (p. 210).
And it was news to me that both Damascus and today's Amman (Philadelphia) were cities of the Decapolis (211). Finally, two maps in particular should be close to hand when you read the Gospels: "Jesus in Galilee" (bottom 2/3 of page 208) and "Jesus's Ministry - Sidon to Jerusalem" (all of page 212). Keep this encyclopedia handy. And buy it for your children or grandchildren for Christmas. -OOO- recommended reading: -- Hilare Belloc - THE CRUSADES, -- Arnold J. Toynbee - A STUDY OF HISTORY. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Zondervan-Atlas-of-the-Bible/ Carl-G-Rasmussen/e/9780310270508/?itm=2&USRI=carl+g.+rasmussen +-+atlas+of+the+bible =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (4) amazon.com 10/08/2010 title of review: Did Jesus walk only two miles per hour -- or less? rating: * * * * review: I love Carl G. Rasmussen's 2010 revision of ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE. I love its colored, topographically suggestive historical maps, its texts, its presentation of alternative scholarly views of the location of towns like Emmaus and Cana of Galilee. Rasmussen also brings to life the weather, the sand dunes and above all the roads, Roman and otherwise, of lands walked over by both King David and King Jesus. Above all else I value Rasmussen when he writes of land routes. Some examples: -- "From Jericho a well-traveled road ran
up to Jerusalem through the dry, chalky wilderness. Along this
fifteen-mile stretch of road the parable of the Good Samaritan has its
setting. After an uphill walk of six to eight hours from Jericho ...
(s)lightly south of the old Roman road was the village of Bethany, the
home or Mary, Martha, and Lazarus" (p. 214).
--"Capernaum sat astride the International Route that ran from the Mediterranean Sea to Transjordan and Damascus" (p. 209). -- "It is about 12 miles from Cana to the Sea of Galilee, about a six-hour walk" (p. 207). "A six-hour walk?" Two miles per hour? Even 75-year old I amble faster than that. I cannot imagine a fit 30 something Jesus of Nazareth moving around Galilee or on the road to Jerusalem at such a snail's pace. But this measurement of time and space by Rasmussen shows what a good conversation-starter any page opened at random of ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE can be. This is not a perfect book. I like its double columns, but not its small print. The beautiful colored maps give the impression that the author knows precisely where every town on it is. But when you read the text you learn that Cana, for example, could be in any one of three nearby sites. But buy this encyclopedia. Have its texts and maps handy next time you open any book of the Bible. -OOO- tags: bible atlas, carl g. rasmussen, galilee, decapolis, major roads of the holy land http://www.amazon.com/Zondervan-Atlas-Bible-Carl- Rasmussen/dp/0310270502/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie =UTF8&qid=1285671374&sr=1-1 =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= (5) epinions.com 10/08/2010 Review Title: Reliving The Conquest of Canaan Product Rating: * * * * PROS: Abundant history-rich maps. Today's landscapes in photographs. Constant attention to land routes. CONS: Author is not a military historian, describing one of the world's most fought over landscapes BOTTOM LINE: Buy this popular encyclopedia for yourself or your history-minded children and grandchildren. Learn geography and roads as they relate to the great men and women of the Holy Bible. aohcapablanca's Full Review: In the hands of a teacher more knowledgeable than I of Biblical history and geography, the ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE could be a great textbook. Think of buying this 2010 revision by Carl G. Rasmussen and skimming through it before you take a Roads Scholar (until recently Elderhostel) week romping through Biblical history from Genesis through the Apocalypse. Or think of teaching or a full semester course, "Introduction to Near Eastern Geography, touching on the Garden of Eden, the walls of Jericho or the 15-mile uphill walk from there that the Good Samaritan would have taken to Jerusalem, etc., etc." It is hard to imagine a better, more affordable targeted learning tool than Rasmussen's ATLAS. I love books with maps and lament that so many historical novels lack any maps at all. in Rasmussen's ATLAS I am in heaven. I doubt that I will ever study more than 20 of the 100 maps more than once. But what fun! I find Cana of Galilee in color and altitudinal perspective boldly and unequivocally located on one map in the Chapter called "The Life of Christ." But I then gain perspective from a text that discusses scholarly preference for this or that of three possible sites. I doubt that Jesus walked the slow two mile and hour pace that Rasmussen suggests. But every page I turn has at least one conversation starter or bon mot that I can drop into a planned conversation a la Oscar Wilde. "Do you think that Jesus and Joseph learned their Greek from customers in Sepphoris? It was the capital of Galilee, with 50,000 inhabitants and a theater and was only 3.5 miles southeast of Nazareth. Exceptionally, I have not read every page of this book before I review it. It is like an encyclopedia in that regard. Let's open at random any part of this reference book treasure trove of information. And use it as a mirror of the ATLAS's strengths and limitations. Ah, here we have "The Conquest of Canaan" (pp. 108 - 112). -- This comes just after a long section on Egypt, the Sinai and an overview of "The Land of Canaan explored by the Twelve Scouts." -- That section ends on p. 108 fronting the nearly five pages of "The Conquest of Canaan." 60% of p. 108 is a relief map called "Israels Journey to the Plains of Moab." Lines of march are indicated, but with no arrows to indicate beginning points. -- The text of "The Conquest of Canaan" rather dryly probes the pros and cons of "late" (ca. 1250 - 1230) dates for the conquest versus "early" dates (1406 - 1375). Locating and dating the city of Jericho is a case study in testing these dates. -- "The Conquest of Canaan" has its own three colored small to 1/2 page maps: ---- "Conquest of Gilead and Bashan," ---- "Central and Southern Campaigns," and ---- "The Northern Campaigns." Also present are four recent color photographs: ---- "Jericho oasis from the mound of Jericho," ---- "Jericho: Middle Bonze 'revetment wall' upon the top of which one of the city walls stood," ---- "Gibeon: the chief of the four Gibeonite cites that made a treay with Israel (Josh 9 - 10)," and ---- "Hazoor: Canaanite worship center with numerous 'standing stones.'" COMMENT: Neither maps nor photos make sense unless one is holding the ATLAS in one hand and a Bible in the other. They are not self-expanatory. This helps explains the relatively small length (303 pages) of a book packed with so much text and scores of maps and photos. The text's presentation is static: no sense of the battles actually fought at Jericho and elsewhere. Again, another aspect of the book's readable length. * * * This is a fine book, but much criticized by individual reviewers at amazon.com, in blogs and elsewhere. One complaint is that all the measurements are in feet and miles, not meters and kilometers. And not references and comparisons make sense to non-American readers. Look, for example at page 18, "Comparative Sizes of Middle East Countries." Contemporary Egypt's map is set beside a grouping of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. Saudi Arabia is "Over quarter the size of Continental U.S.A." A personal quirk of mine own is to prefer the older Levant or Near East to today's Middle East for most of the lands in the ZONDERVAN ATLAS OF THE BIBLE. Today, we have a Middle East but no Near East. Annoying. Other reviewers argue the futility of trying to locate the Garden of Eden. Why? Well, the Great Flood obliterated all the landmarks and probably rerouted the rivers as well. Another reader objected to the ATLAS's cover. It depicts in-the-cliff city of Petra, a place allegedly not mentioned in the Bible. A conclusion I draw: every page of the ATLAS contains at least one conversation-starter: about dating, or American terminology, or paucity of scholarly apparatus, about a tin ear for battles and on and on. Try dropping some of these things into your next conversation with the bowling team or over the bridge table! I wish the print were bigger. I like the double columns on each page. But on balance, I am very glad that Carl G. Rasmussen has spent so many years putting boots on the ground and keeping up with the latest archeological finds. This book is a keeper. - OOO- P. S. I thank the VINE program of amazon.com for sending me this book to review. I plan to make a present of my copy to a smart grandson or granddaughter. And may Brother Texas-Swede add this to his collection of swan songs lamenting the anticipated demise of the TRAVEL section within epinions.com reviews. Recommended: Yes. http://www.epinions.com/reviews/Book_Zondervan_Atlas_of_the_Bible_ Revised_Edition_Carl_G_Rasmussen =-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-= rasmussen_atlas |