Maps of Paradise
9780226082615
9780226106083
Maps of Paradise
Where is paradise? It always seems to be elsewhere, inaccessible, outside of time. Either it existed yesterday or it will return tomorrow; it may be just around the corner, on a remote island, beyond the sea. Across a wide range of cultures, paradise is located in the distant past, in a longed-for future, in remote places or within each of us. In particular, people everywhere in the world share some kind of nostalgia for an innocence experienced at the beginning of history. For two millennia, learned Christians have wondered where on earth the primal paradise could have been located. Where was the idyllic Garden of Eden that is described in the Bible? In the Far East? In equatorial Africa? In Mesopotamia? Under the sea? Where were Adam and Eve created in their unspoiled perfection?
Maps of Paradise charts the diverse ways in which scholars and mapmakers from the eighth to the twenty-first century rose to the challenge of identifying the location of paradise on a map, despite the certain knowledge that it was beyond human reach. Over one hundred illustrations celebrate this history of a paradox: the mapping of the unmappable. It is also a mirror to the universal dream of perfection and happiness, and the yearning to discover heaven on earth.
Maps of Paradise charts the diverse ways in which scholars and mapmakers from the eighth to the twenty-first century rose to the challenge of identifying the location of paradise on a map, despite the certain knowledge that it was beyond human reach. Over one hundred illustrations celebrate this history of a paradox: the mapping of the unmappable. It is also a mirror to the universal dream of perfection and happiness, and the yearning to discover heaven on earth.
176 pages | 100 color plates | 8-1/4 x 10-1/2 | © 2013
Geography: Cartography
History: General History, History of Ideas
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Paradise Nowhere and Elsewhere
Beyond the Cloud of the Present Moment
The Vicissitudes of a Word
Elusive but Everywhere
A Paradise Remote in Time or Space
Paradise in Islam
Visual Prelude: A Luminous Ascension
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 2
Mapping the Territory
In Search of a Road Map
Maps of Paradise
Visual Interlude: Paradise on the Leardo Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 3
Mapping the Bible
Paradise in the Text
Paradise on Earth: the Birth of a Notion
Naming the Place
Mapping with Theology
Visual Interlude: Paradise on the Beatus Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 4
Mapping Time
Maps of the World: Medieval and Modern
Paradise on the Map
Mapping Time and Space
A Case in Point: The Hereford Mappa Mundi
Where was Eden?
Visual Interlude: Paradise on the Ebstorf World Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 5
Where is Nowhere?
Glimpsing Paradise from a Distance
Grasping the Mystery
Paradise and the Climatic Zones
Return to the Bible
Geography Catches Up on Maps
Visual Interlude: Paradise on Fra Mauro’s World Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 6
Pinning Down Paradise
From Paradise Present to Paradise Past
A Radical Change in European Cartography
Changing Theology
Paradise Lost and Found
Visual Interlude: Paradise in Mesopotamia
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 7
Everything Changes, Nothing Changes
Sacred Geography
Variations on the Mesopotamian Theme
Paradise in Armenia and the Holy Land
Visual Interlude: The Invisible Paradise in the Land of Canaan
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 8
New Life into an Old Debate
Secular Scholars Searching for Eden
Babylon and the Bible
A Swinging Pendulum
Visual Interlude: Paradise in the Seychelles
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 9
Paradise and Utopia
Visual Closure: Maps of Utopia
Imagine There’s No Eden
Bibliographic Essay
Index
Picture credits
Paradise Nowhere and Elsewhere
Beyond the Cloud of the Present Moment
The Vicissitudes of a Word
Elusive but Everywhere
A Paradise Remote in Time or Space
Paradise in Islam
Visual Prelude: A Luminous Ascension
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 2
Mapping the Territory
In Search of a Road Map
Maps of Paradise
Visual Interlude: Paradise on the Leardo Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 3
Mapping the Bible
Paradise in the Text
Paradise on Earth: the Birth of a Notion
Naming the Place
Mapping with Theology
Visual Interlude: Paradise on the Beatus Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 4
Mapping Time
Maps of the World: Medieval and Modern
Paradise on the Map
Mapping Time and Space
A Case in Point: The Hereford Mappa Mundi
Where was Eden?
Visual Interlude: Paradise on the Ebstorf World Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 5
Where is Nowhere?
Glimpsing Paradise from a Distance
Grasping the Mystery
Paradise and the Climatic Zones
Return to the Bible
Geography Catches Up on Maps
Visual Interlude: Paradise on Fra Mauro’s World Map
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 6
Pinning Down Paradise
From Paradise Present to Paradise Past
A Radical Change in European Cartography
Changing Theology
Paradise Lost and Found
Visual Interlude: Paradise in Mesopotamia
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 7
Everything Changes, Nothing Changes
Sacred Geography
Variations on the Mesopotamian Theme
Paradise in Armenia and the Holy Land
Visual Interlude: The Invisible Paradise in the Land of Canaan
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 8
New Life into an Old Debate
Secular Scholars Searching for Eden
Babylon and the Bible
A Swinging Pendulum
Visual Interlude: Paradise in the Seychelles
Bibliographic Essay
Chapter 9
Paradise and Utopia
Visual Closure: Maps of Utopia
Imagine There’s No Eden
Bibliographic Essay
Index
Picture credits
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