1949 Brawer Hebrew Topographic and Climatic Map of Israel, Palestine

This is a rare c. 1949 Abraham Brawer map of Israel and surrounding territories, made soon after the nation's independence in 1948. Though produced in a fraught and rapidly changing political and military context, the map focuses primarily on topography and climate.

A Closer Look

This map covers the entirety of Israel-Palestine as well as portions of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. A large inset at bottom-right highlights major Jewish settlements in the core portion of Israel, centered around Tel Aviv (תֵּל־אָבִיב) and Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם). The legend in the title cartouche includes a schematic for the topographic shading employed, along with symbols and lines for roads, waterways, terrain, and settlements.

The dashed line with crosses indicates international borders, but these are not maintained across the map. Borders with newly-independent Syria and Lebanon are shown as they are today (save for the disputed Golan Heights), starting on the coast north of Haifa, arcing north further inland, then dipping down to the east bank of the Sea of Galilee. The dashed lines then disappear, only to reappear at bottom in the Negev Desert, showing the border between Israel and Egypt. The lack of international boundaries was likely the result of the map having been made during the Arab-Israeli War, when the location of the border with Transjordan remained an open question.

The First Arab-Israeli War

The founding of the nation of Israel resulted from decades-long processes but culminated dramatically in 1947 - 1949 with widespread communal violence along with more conventional warfare between armies. An attempt by the United Nations to negotiate a peaceful devolution of the British Mandate of Palestine failed and violence between Jews and Palestinians increased in 1947 - 1948, with Jewish militias gaining an upper hand and many Palestinians fleeing from their lands. As the British left in May 1948, Israel declared its independence, after which it was invaded by surrounding Arab states. After months of fierce fighting, Israeli forces pushed back the Arab armies and a series of armistice agreements ended the conflict.

Publication History and Census

This map was edited by Abraham Jacob Brawer (אברהם יעקב ברור), derived from a 'base map' by Brawer used for multiple maps with different insets and information in the title cartouche throughout the late 1940s. It is undated but refers to using data from a 1946 map, so it must date from 1946 or later. The indeterminate borders suggest that it was made during the First Arab-Israeli War.

The map was published in the series 'The Soldier's Library' (ספרית החייל) by the publishing house Berl Katznelson (ברל כצנלסון‎,), named after the Socialist Zionist leader. There are no known copies of the map in institutional collections or on the market. The National Library of Israel holds a similar map of the same title (OCLC 429158110), but with a different publisher and appearance.