1968 Brown / Jackson Bilingual Map of the Southern Hijaz, incl. Mecca and Jeddah

A remarkable map of the southern portion of the Hijaz (Hejaz, ٱلْحِجَاز), Saudi Arabia - includding Mecca / Mekkah. This map was prepared by Glen F. Brown and Roy O. Jackson of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1958 for the oil conglomerate Saudi Aramco, then updated with information to 1968. It represents one part of a special partnership between the USGS and Aramco that has helped make the latter among the largest and most profitable corporations in the world.

A Closer Look

Coverage includes the southern portion of the Hijaz from a region south of Medina (distances referenced along the top margin) southwards to the coastal city of al-Lith and the mountainous area around Hajrah, taking in the holy city of Mecca (Makkah) and the cities of Jeddah (Jiddah) and Taif (known as the Kingdom's unofficial summer capital). The Hijaz Mountains stand out prominently, running north-south parallel to the Red Sea coast. Everything on the map is printed in both Arabic and English, including Jackson and Brown's names (وضعها جلين براون وروي جاكسون). An extensive legend at the top-right provides information on roads of various types and quality (including those of 'questionable permanency'), camel trails, wells and other sources of water, mines, different types of terrain (indicated with Roman numerals), ruins, and more.

The U.S. Geological Survey and Saudi Aramco

From the 1920s onwards, American geologists played an important role in oil exploration on the Arabian Peninsula. Standard Oil of California (now Chevron) was granted a concession by the Saudi government (still in the process of unifying the country) to seek oil reserves under a subsidiary, the California Arabian Standard Oil Company (CASOC), which employed American geologists, including veterans of the U.S. Geological Survey. After years of searching with little success, the company finally hit paydirt at Dhahran in 1938, an event that drastically changed the history of the Arabian Peninsula and the world. In 1944, CASOC changed its name to the Arabian American Oil Co. (or Aramco), and in the postwar period, it flourished. A dispute with King Abdulaziz in 1950 led to the company splitting profits with the Saudi government. Thus, even though a consortium of American oil companies initially owned Aramco, the profit-sharing arrangement incentivized both the Saudi government and the U.S. government, looking to support American corporations and provide cheap oil to American consumers, to continuously seek out and exploit additional reserves.

From this point, the USGS became much more directly involved, utilizing the latest techniques and developing the first true geological survey maps of the Arabian Peninsula. Between 1950 and 1958, USGS geologists, in conjunction with Aramco and the Saudi Directorate General of Petroleum and Mineral Affairs, conducted surveys resulting in a series of 42 bilingual maps of the Kingdom at a 1:500000 scale, of which the present map is one. A key guide is printed at the right, which explains that each map was printed in two versions, one with geographic information only and one with both geographic and geological information. Although primarily motivated by the search for oil, the maps also provided a wealth of information and a tremendous level of detail on water and mineral resources, which also proved valuable to the development of the Saudi economy and society. Afterward, and down to the present, the USGS has continued to undertake vital surveying and research work on the Arabian Peninsula, including assisting in the establishment of the Saudi Geological Survey (هيئة المساحة الجيولوجية السعودية) in 1999.

Publication History and Census

This map was prepared by Glen F. Brown and Roy O. Jackson of the U.S. Geological Survey in 1958, with the present map being an updated second edition printed in 1968. (A third edition was produced in 1969.) In its various editions, the map is fairly well represented in institutional collections. The present edition is held by 7 institutions in the OCLC, but it is very scarce on the market.