"Map of Eretz Israel, first (temporary) edition" (scale 1:100,000), 24 sheets. Published by the survey department of the State of Israel and the IDF mapping and photography service, 1948-49. English and Hebrew.
The map was prepared during the 1948 war, shortly after the establishment of the State of Israel, and printed in two phases – the northern two-thirds, 16 sheets covering Israel from Metulah to Beer-Sheva, were based on British army maps obtained by the Haganah and reprinted with minor changes. The southern third, from Beer-Sheva to Eilat, remained unmapped by the British Mandatory Government’s survey department; the IDF mapping service supplemented this part of the map, consisting of additional 8 sheets. Both parts comprise a full map of Israel, presumably the first map to be drawn by an official Israeli authority (about the map see interview with Prof. Pinchas Yoeli who headed the IDF mapping service, October 24th 2004, available on the Survey of Israel website).
Sheets:
1-16. British maps reprinted by the IDF mapping and photography service (new imprint added in the margins, with some purple additions to the maps): Metulah, Haifa, Safed, Zichron Yaakov, Jaffa-Tel-Aviv, Nazareth, Nablus, Yavneh, Ramla, Jerusalem, Gaza, Hebron, The Dead Sea, Rafah, Beer Sheva and Mt. Sodom.
Two sheets – Metulah and Jerusalem – lack new imprint (possibly indicating they were reprinted without any interference or an earlier printing date, before the establishment of the state).
17-24. Maps drawn during the war (under the title "Map of Eretz Israel, first (temporary) edition"; imprint reads "Israel Survey Department and the IDF mapping and photography service"): Auja, Abdeh, Wadi al Jayb, Mt. Lutzan, Al Ghamr, Kuntillah, Ain Ghadian and Eilat.
A request addressing users was added in the margins, encouraging soldiers to report any errors to general headquarters.
24 sheets, approx. 55X48 cm to 70X50 cm. Condition varies. Good-fair overall condition. Stains, creases and tears to margins (some repaired with adhesive tape).
Enclosed: eight sheets published by the mandatory government's survey department (without new imprint) and two sheets belonging to a later map.
