This map is part of the first volume of A Universal History (A Universal History), the first edition of which was printed in London in 1747. This book features contributions from numerous authors and scholars of the time. The maps in the book, such as this one, are commonly attributed to John Green, a pseudonym used by Irish cartographer Bradock Mead.

In the 18th century, Christian theology was in the midst of a search for the places mentioned in the Book of Genesis, and this map must be understood within that context, as the one published by Pieter Mortier in 1700.

Unlike Pieter Mortier's map, Bradock Mead's map depicts the location of the Garden of Eden, Mount Ararat, and the city of Babel according to the three most common hypotheses of the time (and mentioned in the book):

• First: Paradise near Tyre, in present-day Lebanon.
• Second: Paradise near Erzurum, in the northeast of present-day Turkey.
• Third: Paradise near Basra, in the south of present-day Iraq.

In addition to its speculative purpose, this map has significant propaganda value in that it attempts to validate the story of Genesis by locating its most important places in the world.

Sources

• A Map of Paradise Mount Ararat and the City of Babel according to the three different Hypotheses mentioned in this Work