Description

This is an official bilingual road map of Jordan, printed in both Arabic and English, issued by the Department of Lands and Surveys of Jordan.  Jordan, ruled by a branch of the Hashemite dynasty, became independent of Britain in 1946.  Following the Arab-Israeli War of 1948-9, Jordan took control over the remaining Palestinian territories, including the Old City of Jerusalem (it would hold these lands until they would be lost to Israeli occupation in 1967). 

The map shows all cities, towns and villages and delineates all roads (of various importance) and tracks.  The map also depicts railways, including part of what remained of the famous Hejaz Railway that once connected Damascus to Medina.  In Jordan the line is here shown to be the ‘Jordan-Hijaz Railway’, while the part that extends south of Ma’an, shown as an intermittent line, is described as a ‘Disused Railway’

The north of the country is traversed by the ‘I.P.C. Oil Pipe Line’, referring the Iraq Oil Company Pipeline that used to run from Iraq to the port of Haifa, on the Mediterranean, but due to Arab-Israeli tensions then only extended as far west as Mafraq, Jordan.

The ‘Location of Sites’ index on the right margin lists all major places, with red circles noting archaeological sites (such as Petra). 

Notably, while the map covers a good part of Israeli territory, it makes no reference to the existence of Israel, which was not recognized by Jordan.  Moreover, while it notes the existence of Arab-majority Jaffa (Israel), it omits the mention of Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city, founded by Jewish settlers in 1909.

References: OCLC: 46880645.