Books published by Carta, The Israel Map & Publishing Company

Not many are as attuned to both the Bible and the biblical landscape as Professor Menashe Har-El was throughout his long and rich life. From an early age on, Har-El traversed the land of Israel, fascinated by the majestic landscapes he encountered and the treasures of nature that had been provided for humanity to use and enjoy.In Understanding the Creation, Har-El describes the land he knows so well: the forests, the mountains, the plains, and the hills, as they were when the land was first formed by the primordial tectonic activities that shaped the continents and the seas. From the stark, often daunting peaks of the Negev, to the verdant hills of Galilee and the distribution and uses of the trees and natural vegetation, Har-El leads us, Bible in hand, through that fascinating land of wonders.This book is helpful for anyone who wants a handy reference guide to the natural world in Bible times. In classic Carta style, it contains full-color illustrations, images, and helpful resources throughout.

The Twice Told Tale: Parallels in the Bible is a title by Abba Bendavid that attempts to help the reader make sense of I and II Chronicles, a part of the Bible that is often overlooked. This English edition (using the classic text of the King James Version), of a work originally written in Hebrew, provides the entire Book of Chronicles in one column, with the parallel verses from other books of the Bible in an accompanying column on the same page. In arranging the text this way, the reader is able to see the parallel texts that are found not just in Kings and Samuel but also the Pentateuch and the Prophets. Words or phrases that are omitted in one source are represented by blank spaces of appropriate length in the opposite column, allowing for the reader to make their own deductions from the duplications, differences, or even silence of the text.

Understanding the Jewish World from Roman to Byzantine Times by Michael Avi-Yonah tells the intriguing story of the revival of Jewish life in the land of Israel after the brutal suppression of the Bar Kokhba Revolt. After the revolt, the Romans began to eradicate Jewish settlements in Judea, and made great efforts to blur the national identity of the Jews in the land. They plowed up the Temple and founded the Roman city Aelia Capitolina on the ruins. Exiled from Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin moved from place to place, settling finally in Tiberias.In the mid-2nd century the Romans gave up on their attempt to eradicate the Jews, and gradually Jewish life saw a resurgence in the land that brought with it urbanization, and the revival of spiritual life. The generations of the sages, Tannaim, Amoraim, elders and rabbis who gave us the compilation of the Oral Law and literature are listed in detail in Understanding the Jewish World from Roman to Byzantine Times, as are the newly-founded cities, migrations and the links between the Diaspora and the Land of Israel, right up to the 5th century. The political and ecclesiastical divisions of Palestine in the Byzantine era further illustrate the physical and political backdrop to this fascinating saga. The final map details the dispersion of the Jewish people over three continents.

Jerusalem: City of the Great King, the second of four atlases in The Carta New Testament Atlas series, brings to life the Jerusalem that Jesus knew. Renowned scholar R. Stephen Notley presents the latest advances in history and archaeology to draw the reader into Jesus' Jerusalem. The last fifty years in particular have seen significantly increased efforts to discover the city's past. New finds every year render what is previously written almost out of date before the ink is dry. With an acknowledgement of this reality, together with recognition that much of the Old City of Jerusalem remains inaccessible to archaeological investigation, the present work lays its shoulder to the challenge.Notley, in bringing together this mosaic of evidence, examines the results of recent archaeological investigations and understands them in light of a careful reading of the ancient literary witnesses (biblical and extra-biblical). Notley pays attention to the nuances of language that inform us in the Greek and Hebrew accounts. This is no simple task, and it falls precisely at the juncture of history, philology, and archaeology. To deny the voice of one discipline over the others can leave us short of a clear understanding of history and its topographical details.Profusely illustrated, Jerusalem: City of the Great King is one more tour de force for Notley and a valuable resource for students of the New Testament.

Understanding Great People of the Bible: An Introductory Atlas to Biblical Biography provides a summary of biblical data centered on the lives of some of the greatest characters who walked across the pages of Scripture. More importantly, this retelling of various biblical stories incorporates a measure of the concrete reality of the ancient Near Eastern world that sheds light on the biblical text. In doing so, this atlas of the Bible attempts to suggest reasons and consequences for human actions within the storyline, thereby making sense of what might otherwise appear to be a an opaque or all-too-brief narrative. Suitable for the classroom, libraries, or group study.