Five hundred years ago, the first Bible map of the Holy Land was printed backwards, with the Mediterranean shown to the east of Palestine. Despite this error, the map sparked ideas about territory and borders that shaped Renaissance thought and persist today. A new study highlights its role in transforming biblical geography into political boundaries.
In 1525, printer Christopher Froschauer produced the first Bible featuring a map of the Holy Land, created by Lucas Cranach the Elder in Zürich. The map depicted the stations of the Israelites' wilderness wanderings and the division of the Promised Land into twelve tribal regions, drawing from medieval traditions and the 1st-century historian Josephus. However, it contained a significant flaw: the orientation was reversed, placing the Mediterranean Sea east of Palestine due to limited European knowledge of the region.
Nathan MacDonald, Professor of the Interpretation of the Old Testament at the University of Cambridge, describes this as "one of publishing's greatest failures and triumphs." In his research, published on November 29, 2025, in The Journal of Theological Studies, MacDonald argues that the map reframed the Bible for the Renaissance era. It imposed clear territorial divisions on biblical texts, which Joshua 13-19 does not consistently describe. "The map helped readers to make sense of things even if it wasn't geographically accurate," MacDonald notes.
This innovation occurred amid the Swiss Reformation, where literal scripture interpretation was key. Zürich's context made it a fitting birthplace for the map, serving as an acceptable visual aid when religious images were restricted. "When they cast their eyes over Cranach's map, pausing at Mount Carmel, Nazareth, the River Jordan and Jericho, people were taken on a virtual pilgrimage," MacDonald explains.
Over time, these maps influenced broader cartography. Medieval spiritual divisions evolved into political borders by the late 15th century, spreading ideas of nation-states. "Bible maps delineating the territories of the twelve tribes were powerful agents in the development and spread of these ideas," MacDonald writes. The Bible, he adds, "has never been an unchanging book. It is constantly transforming."
Today, such maps underpin views of borders as divinely ordained. MacDonald cites a US Customs and Border Protection video quoting Isaiah 6:8 over the US-Mexico border, warning against oversimplifying ancient texts. "We should be concerned when any group claims that their way of organizing society has a divine or religious underpinning," he says. Few 1525 copies survive, including one at Trinity College Cambridge's Wren Library.