A 1,500-year-old Madaba map of the Holy Land will reach a new generation through virtual reality (VR), interactive displays and traveling exhibitions under a new project at the University of Göttingen in Germany.
Researchers hope the project will make one of the ancient world’s most important cartographic treasures more accessible to students and the public.
The project will transform the long-overlooked life-sized replica into the centerpiece of digital exhibitions, educational programs and immersive experiences designed for schools, museums and community groups.
Ancient mosaic offers a rare view of the Holy Land
The original Madaba Map is not in Germany. It remains inside St. George’s Church in Madaba, Jordan, where craftsmen created the floor mosaic in the sixth century using thousands of small stone pieces known as tesserae.
A 1,500-year-old map of the Holy Land is getting a high-tech revival.
The University of Göttingen is using virtual reality, interactive displays and traveling exhibitions to bring the famous Madaba Map and its rare life-sized replica to new audiences. pic.twitter.com/yR2BMajLQY
— Tom Marvolo Riddle (@tom_riddle2025) August 4, 2026
Widely regarded as the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land, the mosaic also contains the earliest known cartographic depiction of Jerusalem. It stretches from present-day Lebanon to Egypt’s Nile Delta and illustrates cities, rivers, mountains and important pilgrimage sites that shaped the biblical landscape more than 1,500 years ago.
“It shows how people in late antiquity imagined the biblical landscape,” project leader Dr. Jon C. Cubas Díaz said.
Göttingen replica preserves decades of research
The University of Göttingen’s connection to the famous mosaic goes beyond displaying a reproduction. Its life-sized copy was created in the 1970s using mold impressions taken directly from the original mosaic in Jordan. Preserved in the university’s collection of plaster casts, the replica has become a valuable historical artifact in its own right.
“This copy isn’t just an impressive display piece,” Cubas Díaz said. “It’s also an important document in the research history of the Madaba Map itself.”
The project, titled Auf der Karte nach Jerusalem (“On the Map to Jerusalem”), will examine how the replica was produced and how it has been studied and interpreted over the decades. Students will also research archival records that document its history.
Students use technology to bring history to life
Public engagement is a central goal of the initiative. Students will help develop exhibitions tailored to schoolchildren, museum visitors, church communities and researchers.
Visitors will be able to explore high-resolution images of the mosaic through interactive displays. Virtual reality experiences will allow them to step inside St. George’s Church and view the original setting of the ancient map without leaving Germany.
Researchers also plan to organize pop-up exhibitions across the university, the city of Göttingen and the surrounding region.
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