Cartographica Neerlandica Background for Ortelius Map No. 182

Title: ABRAHAMI PATRIAR:|CHAE PEREGRINATIO, | ET VITA. | "Abrahamo Ortelio Antverpiano auctore". [Wanderings and life of the Patriarch Abraham, by Abraham Ortelius from Antwerp.] (Banner along top and bottom of map area:) ABRAHAM EGREDERE DE TERRA TVA, ET DE COGNATIONE TVA, ET VENI IN TERRAM QVAM MONSTRAVERO TIBI. | ET DABO TIBI ET SEMINI TVO POST TE, TERRAM PEREGRINATIONIS TVAE, OMNEM TERRAM CHANAAN, IN POSSESSIONEM AETERNAM. [Abraham, you must depart from your land, and leave your relatives, and come to the land which I will show you, and I will give you and your offspring after you the land to which you will wander, all the land of Canaan in eternal possession. [Genesis 12:1-2]] (Cartouche middle right:) "Dño Ioanni Moflinio, | Montis S. Winoxij ab:|bati reverendo, viro | humanitate & can:|dore eximio, multi:|plicique rerum cog:|nitione nobili; Ab. | Ortelius in perpetuæ | amicitiæ pignus DD". [Dedicated as a sign of eternal friendship by Abraham Ortelius to lord Joannes Moflinius of the mountain Saint Winoxius, respected clergyman, a man of great humanity and excellent candidness, in many matters known to be noble.] (Above middle, left:) "Priuilegio Imperiali, Regio, et | Belgico decennali 1586". [With an Imperial, Royal and Belgian privilege for ten years 1586] (Inset, 44 x 124 mm:) "ARABIA Iter Abrahami patriarchæ". [The road taken by Abraham the patriarch].

Plate size: 352 x 457 mm.
Scale: 1 : 1,200,000.
Identification number: Ort 182 (Koeman/Meurer:12P, Karrow: 1/184, vdKrogtAN: 8020H:31A)

Occurrence in Theatrum editions and page number:
1590L4Addblank (20 copies printed; most copies have Ort183.),
1591G4Addblank (75 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in Gothic script like the entire text: begraben in derselben zweyfachter hölen/da Sara begraben war.),
few 1592L24 (100 copies printed),
most 1595Le (400 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, italic like the entire Dead Sea section: "hodie facies:qui olim,teste Moyse,tanquam paradisus domini erat conspiciendus".),
few 1602G2 (10 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in small Gothic script like the entire text: zweyfachter hölen/da Sara begraben war.),
few 1609/1612/L/Sv (10 copies printed) (last line, left aligned, in cursive script: "hoc euenire,scriptum reliquit. Atque hæc huius loci hodie facies: qui olim,teste Moyse, tanquam paradisus Domini erat conspiciendus."
most if not all 1624L Parergon = 1641Siiij (1000 copies printed) (last line second column first text page: illi Dominus in planitie Mambre , cùm ad ianuam/taber- ; last line second column second text page, left aligned: Domini erat conspiciendus.).

Approximate number of copies printed: 1450.

States: 182.1 as described.
182.2: all 22 medallions changed. Non-exhaustive details of changes for each medallion follow here:
Medallions are discussed clockwise, starting to the right of the cartouche at the top.
1. Oblique hatching of smoke plume replaced by horizontal hatching.
2. Vertical hatching at bottom left part of cloud replaced by oblique hatching.
3. Inner part of tent which used to have oblique hatching now has a pattern of horizontal/vertical small squares.
4. Horizontal hatching of background building replaced by oblique hatching from lower left to upper right.
5. Multidirectional hatching in sacrificial smoke now replaced by horizontal hatching.
6. Road leading from the feet of the standing person to the closest block of houses to the left of this figure is now covered with horizontal hatching.
7. The ground in the very foreground has horizontal hatching in the first state and cross-hatching in the second state.
8. The soldier on the right side behind the kneeling one has rough oblique hatching from upper left to lower right in the first state, and from lower left to upper right in the second state.
9. The foreground below the sheep has horizontal hatching in the first state and diagonal hatching from upper left to lower right in the second state.
10. The bottom of the medallion has almost horizontal hatching in the first state, and diagonal hatching from lower left to upper right in the second state. Rays have appeared in the halo.
11. The dog has almost horizontal hatching in the first state and vertical hatching in the second state.
12. The building in the background to the right has oblique hatching from lower left to upper right in the first state, and cross-hatching in the second state.
13. The left leg of the person in the foreground has horizontal hatching in the first state, and oblique hatching from upper left to lower right in the second state.
14. The leftmost panel of the shed on the left side has diagonal hatching running from the lower left to the upper right in the first state, and blocks resulting from horizontal and vertical cross-hatching in the second state.
15. Horizontal hatching of the bottom part in the first state has been changed to diagonal cross-hatching in the second state.
16. The ceiling at the top has horizontal hatching in the first state, and vertical hatching in the second state.
17. The grass(?) at the right of the two persons has horizontal hatching in state one, but vertical hatching in state two.
18. The rafter at the lower left has vertical hatching in the first state, and cross-hatching resulting in small squares in the second state.
19. The clouds below the angel have horizontal hatching in the first state, but oblique hatching from upper left to lower right in the second state.
20. The backside of the person in the foreground left has horizontal hatching in the first state, and oblique hatching in the second state.
21. The left wall of the arch in the background has horizontal hatching and indications of bricks in the first state, but vertical hatching in the second state.
22. The person in the coffin has horizontal hatching in the first state, and oblique, almost vertical hatching in the second state.
It is difficult to date these changes, probably all applied at the same time. The 1595 edition copies are all first state, the 1624 Parergon copies are all second state.

Cartographic sources: made by Ortelius, based on Ptolemæus, but mostly on the bible, particularly for the illustrations of Abraham's life from his departure from Ur to his death, depicted in 22 medallions.

References: Laor (1986) "Maps of the Holy Land", Meridian, Amsterdam, map 547, p. 78-79. M. van den Broecke and D. Günzburger "The Wanderings of Patriarch Abraham", p. 319-329, in: M. van den Broecke, P. van der Krogt and P. Meurer (eds.) "Abraham Ortelius and the First Atlas", HES Publishers, 1998.

Remarks: From 1592L or earlier onwards a new plate Ort 183 appears, which is used side by side with the old plate Ort 182 in 1592L and 1595L, some copies of these editions having the early plate, some the late one. This plate Ort 182 has the background hatching running from lower left to upper right, whereas the late plate Ort 183 has the hatching from upper left to lower right. I have seen many copies of this early version of the Abraham map in the 1624 Parergon. In Van den Broecke and Günzburger (1998) we argue that the new plate was introduced because of its superior engraving as compared to the old one, but clearly, both plates were used side by side.
The medallions have been engraved after designs drawn by Maarten de Vos, an Antwerp artist. Eight of these drawings have been preserved in the Antwerp Municipal "Prentenkabinet".
Note that the text below on Abraham follows the bible closely, but the discussion on the Dead Sea is of a traditional geographical nature.

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Bibliographical sources

Topographical names