15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very useful & informative, July 27, 2010
This review is from: Zondervan Atlas of the Bible (Hardcover)
"Zondervan Atlas of the Bible" is an excellent Bible atlas that also contains Bible background information. It was full of color photographs of the various regions so the reader could see what they look like (in modern times). There were also some pictures of the ruins of various cities. There were charts, timelines, and, of course, lots and lots of maps. Most of the maps had a 3D look to show the relative elevation and also showed the locations of cities, rivers, and known ancient international and intra-national roads. The maps in the Historical section also showed the movement of troops or people during the events mentioned in the Bible.
The first part covered elevation, cities, roads, and agricultural information (like what the terrain was like, rainfall, and what crops were grown in the region) for the various regions in Canaan as well as relevant areas of Egypt, Sinai, and Mesopotamia. It also covered how the Biblical feasts aligned with the planting/harvesting cycle for various crops, the months, and the rainy/dry seasons. It explained how the geography influenced Biblical events, which was very enlightening. It made the Bible "come alive." The text was concise and easy to understand. I plan on reading this part again because it had so much useful information.
The second part went through the historical narrative of the Bible, starting with Eden and ending with Revelation. Each historical section had a timeline at the start which showed Biblical events aligned with rulers in Syria/Mesopotamia and Egypt as well as what archaeological period it fell under. The author acknowledged that not everyone will agree with how he lined things up.
The text summarized the various Biblical events related to the maps and tied in archaeological findings (like if city remains were found for that time period or if archaeologists have uncovered non-Biblical records referring to those Biblical cities or kings). He also gave an international view of events by tying in information from Egypt and Mesopotamia records about various battles that affected Canaan/Israel as well.
For those who care, the author has Abraham entering Canaan in 2091 BC, which he says was in the middle of the Middle Bronze I period. He has Jacob and his family entering Egypt in 1876 BC, in Middle Bronze IIA, and during the Egyptian 12th Dynasty. He has the Exodus from Egypt in 1446 BC, during the Late Bronze I period, and during Thutmose III's reign in Egypt. He has Joshua beginning his conquest of Canaan in 1406 BC and near the end of the Late Bronze IIA period. He has Judges occurring during the Iron I period. And then he doesn't refer to the periods anymore.
I side with those who think the evidence strongly supports the scheme of: Joshua's conquest of Canaan brought about the start of Middle Bronze I and the Assyrian conquest of Israel and Babylonian conquest of Judah--and exile of much of their populations during each--explains the lack of population seen in Israel in the Late Bronze periods. So the archaeological tie-ins the author used weren't as useful for me since I had to put them into the context I use. Also, I agree with the group inspired by Immanuel Velikovsky and Donovan Courville that believe the alignment this author used for connecting Mesopotamia and Egyptian kings to the Biblical timeline is also off. So the timelines were useless for me.
Also, the author tried to identify where the Garden of Eden was located on current geography, but he overlooks that a world-wide Flood would have wiped Eden off the map and re-arranged the geography. Trying to locate Eden based on a couple rivers named post-Flood after the Eden ones is futile.
But the maps and the geographical information related to the Biblical events were excellent and very useful to me. Overall, it's an excellent Altas with useful maps, and I learned a lot from it. I'd recommend it to those who want a large set of maps for Biblical events and who would like to learn more about how geography influenced Biblical events.
I received this book as a review copy from the publisher.
Reviewed by Debbie from ChristFocus Book Club
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read your Bible on a new level, July 29, 2010
This review is from: Zondervan Atlas of the Bible (Hardcover)
I have always loved maps. Remember the game "Are we there yet?" as a kid? Yeah, that was my favorite game until the day I discovered I could add all the little red numbers between the cities on my parents' atlas together and find out exactly how long till we were there.
So when I got the Zondervan Atlas of the Bible by Carl Rasmussen in the mail I was like a kid in a candy store. And this isn't your grandma's Bible Atlas either. The multidimensional and three-dimensional maps add a new layer to the context of many biblical accounts. My personal favorites are the maps that detail some of the Old Testament battles; the three-dimensional maps give a new understanding of how the terrain may have played a role.
However, this is not merely an atlas. Fully half of this book is text in addition to the maps, chronological charts, full-color photos and graphics. All considered, this book is a solid Bible history book in and of itself. Some of the pictures are more relevant and helpful than others, but the whole book is so beautifully put together one can hardly blame them for including some vivid imagery of the Middle East countryside.
I foresee this book being indispensable in the near future as Redeemer Church is planning to work through the Pentateuch together in nine weeks for a series we're calling the Old Testament Challenge.
Recommended for: Anyone wanting to study the history of their Bible deeper; all cartophiles
This book was a free review copy provided by Zondervan.
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but Undistinguished, November 23, 2010
This review is from: Zondervan Atlas of the Bible (Hardcover)
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I have owned or read several of these types of works, and one thing I have found is that they are all relatively similar in content and outlook. Most are written from an evangelical Christian perspective, as is this one (this is not a criticism, merely a statement of the work's perspective), and most cover roughly the same material in more or less the same way. These works are informative for the layman, and the advanced student will probably find them useful as well for the maps. I still refer to the atlas that I purchased my second year of college, though I do not refer to the text. With regards to this atlas, there are no distinguishing features to separate it from the myriad of other similar volumes, and I would additionally argue that the prose of considerably lesser quality than found in some of those other works, such as the Holman Bible Atlas. In fact, the only unique feature of note is the publication date, but it does not seem to have taken advantage of the advances in Biblical studies of the last decade. If you do not already have a Bible atlas, you may find this one worthwhile to purchase, since it is relatively well done, but do not consider it a supplement to an atlas you already own, as you will be sorely disappointed.
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