Obj. ID: 13876
Modern Jewish Art Sgan-Cohen, Map
The picture represents a map of Israel similar to school maps. The Mediterranean appears on the left and is painted with blue tones. On a white background is written in black cursive letters: הים האחרון/The Last Sea. At the top of the picture a depiction of a brown mountain with a white peak represents the upper Galilee mountains, Golan heights and Mt. Hermon. Below them, the kidney-shaped Sea of Galilee with a line representing the Jordan river divides the map into two vertical halves. On the east bank of the Sea of Galilee is written in white Hebrew cursive letters in brackets: חיים/Life. On the Sea of Galilee there is written in white Hebrew cursive letters: גול. The word's literal meaning is a football goal, but in this context it suggests Golan without the last letter, or Galilee, regarding the fact that the middle letter is blurred and the last one is missing. A black point on the lower east bank of the Sea of Galillee represents the city of Tiberias with a white cursive Hebrew intial of the city name: ט. The Israel valley is painted with a large green stain between the Sea of Galilee and Haifa bay's narrow yellow coast. Above the protruding Mt. Carmel the name of Haifa is written in Arabic cursive letters, on the Mediternian Sea. The Sharon region is represented by a green stain with four lines of black dots on it, suggesting orchards. On the Mediterranean Sea, beside the coast is written in Hebrew block red letters: תל-אביב/Tel Aviv. Below the name on the coast is a black grid, suggesting the Dan urban block that merges into the yellow coast. The black line from Tel Aviv towards Jerusalem represents the road between the two cities. A white point encircled by a black thin line represents Jerusalem in the center of the Judea mountains on a background of a brown which is brighter than the reddish brown that surrounds it. This color difference suggests the different heights of the mountains. The mountains of Judea and Edom are painted similairily on both sides of the Jordan river in a reddish brown surrounded by a yellow area around the lower green Jordan valley and the Dead Sea. At the upper part of the deep blue Dead Sea on a sky-blue dot is written in Hebrew white block letters: מלח/Salt. The word refers to the Hebrew name of the Dead Sea, 'Salt Sea'. Within the yellowish brown inner coastal 'tongue' of the Dead Sea is written in Hebrew white, cursive letters: לשון/Tongue. On the eastern bank of the Dead Sea on a yellow background, countered by a black rectangular is written in Hebrew cursive, black letters: מוות/Death. The combination of words refers to a pun on the Hebrew saying:'death and life are in the power of the tongue'. Below the Dead Sea is another green area and a large white and light yellow area on which is written in Hebrew black cursive letters: ערבה/Arava. The Negev is represented by brown dots merging into a dark yellow background with winding dark brown lines at its bottom. This creates the shape of a scorpion with the Hebrew cursive red words below it: מעלה עקרבים/Ma'ale Akrabim/Scorpion Slope. The name implies the biblical border of the Land of Israel. On the left lower side of the map, on a half white-half yellow background is written in Hebrew block black and vocalized letters: מקרא/Key (of map)/Bible.