An excavation of the Jordan Valley’s hidden history, depicting how mapping has not only documented territorial disputes but actively shaped them.
For millennia, landscapes have been battlegrounds of power, history, and identity—nowhere more so than in the Jordan Rift Valley. In Mapping Power: History of Landscape in the Jordan Valley, Ben Gitai unearths the hidden forces that have shaped Naharayim/Al-Baqoura, a politically charged site at the crossroads of empire and conflict. Blending political geography and historical analysis, Gitai reveals how mapping and cartography have been wielded as tools of control by successive rulers, ranging from the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate to present-day territorial disputes.
Over one hundred and fifty years, this valley has been transformed by competing visions of land, water, and national identity, making it a microcosm of the enduring tensions in the Holy Land. Offering an intricate analysis of place and power, this book challenges conventional narratives of landscape history and exposes how maps do not merely document history but shape it.
For millennia, landscapes have been battlegrounds of power, history, and identity—nowhere more so than in the Jordan Rift Valley. In Mapping Power: History of Landscape in the Jordan Valley, Ben Gitai unearths the hidden forces that have shaped Naharayim/Al-Baqoura, a politically charged site at the crossroads of empire and conflict. Blending political geography and historical analysis, Gitai reveals how mapping and cartography have been wielded as tools of control by successive rulers, ranging from the Ottoman Empire and the British Mandate to present-day territorial disputes.
Over one hundred and fifty years, this valley has been transformed by competing visions of land, water, and national identity, making it a microcosm of the enduring tensions in the Holy Land. Offering an intricate analysis of place and power, this book challenges conventional narratives of landscape history and exposes how maps do not merely document history but shape it.
Table of Contents
"Introduction – Chronomapping / Key Terminology
I / DOMESTICATED LANDSCAPE. The Ottoman Imperial Period (1858–1917)
Territory : Imperial Power – Administrative Division / Land Registry / Land Laws / Water Utilization
Cartography : Techniques of Land Representation – Macro-cartography Surveys / Cadastral Surveys System / Hejaz Railway Surveys
Terrain : Infrastructure Development – Infrastructure and Regional Development / Construction of the Hejaz Railway / Formation of the Jisr el Majami Site / New Agricultural Systems
II / CAPTIVE LANDSCAPE. British Mandate Period (1918–1948)
Territory : Mandatory Power – Demarcation / Zionist Visions / The Jordan Concession / Hamiph’al Hazioni
Cartography : New Ordinance System – Geographical Delimitation and Mapping of Palestine / Trigonometric Survey / Hydraulic and Land Survey
Terrain : Captive Waters – Breaking the Natural Equilibrium / Zero Canal, Reservoir, and Island / Industrial Modern Architecture / Transportation Development / Modern Irrigation / Exotic Flora
III / BURIED LANDSCAPE. Israel and Jordan National Period (1948–1994)
Territory : State Power – 1948-1949: War of 1948 / 1949-1994: Border Security / 1994: Peace Treaty
Cartography : Bilateral Mapping Surveys – The Hebrew Map / Hydrological Surveys / Mapping Water Regimes
Terrain : Water Burial – Israel’s National Water Carrier Project / The Jordanian Ghor Canal Project / Agriculture and Irrigation / The Depletion of the Jordan River at the Naharayim Site
Epilogue : The Fourth Bridge
List of maps
Bibliography
Acknowledgment
Credits"
I / DOMESTICATED LANDSCAPE. The Ottoman Imperial Period (1858–1917)
Territory : Imperial Power – Administrative Division / Land Registry / Land Laws / Water Utilization
Cartography : Techniques of Land Representation – Macro-cartography Surveys / Cadastral Surveys System / Hejaz Railway Surveys
Terrain : Infrastructure Development – Infrastructure and Regional Development / Construction of the Hejaz Railway / Formation of the Jisr el Majami Site / New Agricultural Systems
II / CAPTIVE LANDSCAPE. British Mandate Period (1918–1948)
Territory : Mandatory Power – Demarcation / Zionist Visions / The Jordan Concession / Hamiph’al Hazioni
Cartography : New Ordinance System – Geographical Delimitation and Mapping of Palestine / Trigonometric Survey / Hydraulic and Land Survey
Terrain : Captive Waters – Breaking the Natural Equilibrium / Zero Canal, Reservoir, and Island / Industrial Modern Architecture / Transportation Development / Modern Irrigation / Exotic Flora
III / BURIED LANDSCAPE. Israel and Jordan National Period (1948–1994)
Territory : State Power – 1948-1949: War of 1948 / 1949-1994: Border Security / 1994: Peace Treaty
Cartography : Bilateral Mapping Surveys – The Hebrew Map / Hydrological Surveys / Mapping Water Regimes
Terrain : Water Burial – Israel’s National Water Carrier Project / The Jordanian Ghor Canal Project / Agriculture and Irrigation / The Depletion of the Jordan River at the Naharayim Site
Epilogue : The Fourth Bridge
List of maps
Bibliography
Acknowledgment
Credits"