An overall characterization of the area in the Middle East connected with biblical and New Testament narratives.

References to the Holy Land are found in Jewish biblical and rabbinic literature and later in Christian tradition. The area is centered at Jerusalem, and it extends from modern Israel to Egypt, which is associated with Jesus' family in the Gospels, and to Asia Minor, which is associated with the Virgin Mary and Saint John. As the dwelling place of the divine presence, the Holy Land has been the location of pilgrimage sites since the era of the Roman emperor Constantine in the fourth century. It began to take on distinct borders with the resurgence of Christian interest in the holy sites and the development of archaeology during the nineteenth century. The area is also holy to Muslims because it is home to important shrines associated with the prophet Muhammad and the early days of Islam, including Islam's third holiest mosque, in Jerusalem.

Bibliography

Ben-Arieh, Yehoshua. "Perceptions and Images of the Holy Land." In The Land That Became Israel: Studies in Historical Geography, edited by Ruth Kark. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1990.

Long, Burke O. Imagining the Holy Land: Maps, Models, and Fantasy Travels. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002.

Peters, F. E. Jerusalem and Mecca: The Typology of the Holy City in the Near East. New York: New York University Press, 1986.

Wilkin, Robert. The Land Called Holy: Palestine in Christian History and Thought. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1994.

— REEVA S. SIMON
UPDATED BY MICHAEL R. FISCHBACH

Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa. Copyright © 2004 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.