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This mid-nineteenth-century map titled Egypt and Arabia Petraea by Alexander Keith Johnston, presents a detailed look at northeastern Africa and the northwestern Arabian Peninsula.
The map captures a moment of imperial interest and geographical exploration in the region, reflecting the increasing European penetration into the Middle East and North Africa in the wake of Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign (1798–1801) and during the height of British involvement in the region.
The map encompasses Egypt from the Mediterranean Sea southward to beyond the Second Cataract of the Nile, near Wadi Halfa in Nubia. It also includes the Sinai Peninsula, the Hejaz coast along the Red Sea, and a portion of the Levant as far north as Acre and Damascus. The Nile River forms the map’s central vertical axis, with remarkable detail given to its course, cataracts, irrigation canals, ancient ruins, and modern settlements. Cities such as Cairo, Alexandria, Thebes, and Syene (Aswan) are marked prominently, and the map’s treatment of the delta region reflects growing European interest in the hydraulic infrastructure of Egypt, a precursor to the construction of the Suez Canal.
The map is notable for its dual focus on both classical geography and contemporary topography. Names from antiquity—such as Thebaid, Memphis, and Arabia Petraea—are interspersed with their modern equivalents, underscoring the scholarly interest of its intended audience. Archaeological and scriptural sites such as the Pyramids of Giza, Mount Sinai, Petra, and routes of biblical significance are carefully marked. The extensive road system is noteworthy.
Topographical features such as mountain ranges (e.g., the “Mountains of Sinai” and “Mountains of Edom”), deserts (e.g., the “Great Desert of Libya” and “Desert of El Tih”), and wadis are shown through fine hachuring
The map was published during a period of increasing British strategic interest in Egypt, which was then an autonomous province of the Ottoman Empire under the hereditary rule of the Muhammad Ali dynasty. Johnston’s work catered to a learned, Anglophone readership interested in classical geography, biblical exegesis, and colonial travel. It reflects the growing intersection between geography and empire, as cartographers like Johnston sought to render the East both legible and knowable to a European audience.
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