Falastinda shaharsozlik va fuqarolik binolari hamda cherkovlarning qurilishi Yustinian hukmronligi davrida (miloddan avvalgi 527 dan 565 gacha) o'zining eng yuqori cho'qqisiga yetdi.

Urban development and the construction of civil buildings and churches in Palestine reached a zenith in the reign of Justinian (527 to 565 AD)

(Burns va Eadie 2001; Walmsley 1996) va Madaba mozaika xaritasi Kech antik davrning bu ajoyib davridagi shahar Falastinining eng kuchli ramzlaridan biridir. 1884-yilda, Madaba shahrida (hozirgi Iordaniya) uning Vizantiya davridagi o'rnida qurilgan Avliyo Jorj cherkovi o'rniga yangi Yunon pravoslav cherkovini qurish jarayonida topilgan bu xarita kech antik davrda Palaestina nomining rasmiy qo'llanilganligining eng mashhur va eng qadimgi saqlanib qolgan moddiy dalillaridan biridir. O'shandan beri Madabada Quddusdagi Muqaddas qabr cherkovidagilarga o'xshash, polida mozaikalari bo'lgan yana ko'plab cherkovlar topildi. Shaharda Vizantiya va Umaviylar davriga oid mozaikalarning eng yirik to'plamlaridan biri mavjud, bu mozaikalar qadimgi, o'rta asr va zamonaviy Falastin mozaika sanoatining ajoyib guvohidir (ettinchi bobga qarang). Falastin, Misr va O'rta er dengizini ko'rsatuvchi, markazida muqaddas shahar Aelia Capitolina (Quddus)ning batafsil tavsifini o'z ichiga olgan xarita Vizantiya Falastinini o'rganishdagi eng muhim arxeologik topilmalardan biri bo'lib, qolgan qismida Vizantiya Palaestinasining saqlanib qolgan eng qadimgi asl kartografik tasviri mavjud.

(Burns and Eadie 2001; Walmsley 1996) and the Madaba Mosaic Map is one of the most powerful symbols of this urban Palestine during this spectacular era of Late Antiquity. Discovered in 1884, in the course of the construction of a new Greek Orthodox church in Madaba (present-day Jordan) on the site of its Byzantine predecessor, St George’s church, the map is the most famous and among the oldest surviving material evidence for the official use of the name Palaestina in Late Antiquity. Since then more churches with floor mosaics have been discovered in Madaba that are similar to those found in the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The city contains one of the greatest concentrations of mosaics from the Byzantine and Umayyad periods and these mosaics are also testimony to the spectacular Palestine mosaic industry, ancient, medieval and modern (see chapter seven). Showing Palestine, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea, and featuring a detailed description of the holy city of Aelia Capitolina (Jerusalem) at its centre, being one of the most significant archaeological discoveries in the study of Byzantine Palestine, the remaining part of the map contains the oldest surviving original cartographical depiction of Byzantine Palaestina.

Ushbu qismda Palaestina Prima ning asosiy shaharlari, jumladan Aelia Capitolina, G‘azo, Ashkelon va Eleutheropolis (Bayt Jibrin) haqida ma’lumotlar ham keltirilgan. Milodning 560–565 yillariga oid bu xarita dastlab katta o‘lchamda (15 x 6 metr) yaratilgan bo‘lib, ‘Ammondan 30 kilometr janubi-g‘arbda joylashgan Madaba shahridagi erta Vizantiya davriga oid Avliyo Georgiy cherkovining mozaika polining bir qismi edi. Mozaika polidagi xaritani mahalliy xristian rassomlari yaratgan bo‘lib, u xristian ziyoratchilari, sayohatchilar va ilohiyotchilarga mo‘ljallangan edi. O‘sha paytda Vizantiya ma’muriy viloyati Palaestina Prima tarkibiga kirgan Madaba xristian episkopining qarorgohi hisoblanardi.

This part also contains details of some of the key cities of Palaestina Prima including Aelia Capitolina, Gaza, Ascalon and Eleutheropolis (Beit Jibrin). Dated 560‒565 AD, the map was created originally on a large scale (measuring 15 by 6 metres) and was part of the mosaic floor of the early Byzantine church of St George, Madaba, 30 kilometres to the south-west of ‘Amman. The mosaic floor map was created by local Christian artists and was aimed at Christian pilgrims, travellers and theologians. At the time Madaba, part of the administrative Byzantine province of Palaestina Prima, was the seat of a Christian bishop.

Madaba xaritasining mashhur parchasida yunon tilidagi «οροι Αιγυπτου και Παλαιστινης» («Misr va Falastin chegarasi») yozuvi bor. Ushbu tarixiy xaritada Late Antiquity davridagi Falastinda «Kan'on» yoki «Isroil yurti» degan atamalar uchramaydi. Xarita («Misr va Falastin chegarasi» yozuvi bilan birga) Late Antiquity va erta nasroniylik davrida mamlakatning rasmiy nomi butun davomida Palaestina bo'lganligining yana bir kuchli dalilidir.

The Madaba Map has a famous extract showing ‘οροι Αιγυπτου και Παλαιστινης’ (the ‘border of Egypt and Palestine’). There is no mention of the terms ‘Cana’an’ or ‘land of Israel’ on this historic map of Late Antiquity Palestine. The map (with the ‘border of Egypt and Palestine’) is another powerful indication of the fact that the name Palaestina was the official name of the country throughout early Christianity and Late Antiquity.

Madaba xaritasi Eleutheropolisni uchta minorasi, o'rtasida ustunlar qatori bilan qoplangan egri ko'chasi va katta bazilikasi bo'lgan devorli shahar sifatida ko'rsatadi. Miloddan avvalgi IV asrda shaharda Palaestina Prima'dagi eng katta hududga ega bo'lgan xristian episkopi bor edi. Uning episkopi Maksim 325-yilda imperator Konstantin I tomonidan chaqirilgan Nikeya birinchi kengashida qatnashgan. 1964-yil dekabrida Volkswagen Foundation Madaba xaritasini saqlab qolish ishlarini amalga oshirish uchun Deutscher Verein für die Erforschung Palästinas (Falastinni o'rganish bo'yicha nemis jamiyati) ga moliyaviy yordam ajratdi. Biz to'qqizinchi bobda ko'ramizki, 1884-yilgi bu sensatsion va keng yoritilgan kashfiyot, o'sha paytda Quddusning Butun Falastin yunon pravoslav cherkovi bilan ham bog'liq bo'lgan, kech Usmonli Falastinidagi ba'zi falastinlik arab pravoslav ziyolilari orasida tarixiy Falastin xotiralarini tiklashga ham hissa qo'shgan.

The Madaba Map shows Eleutheropolis as a walled city with three towers, a curving street with a colonnade in the central part and a large basilica. In the 4th century AD the city had a Christian bishop with the largest territory in Palaestina Prima. Its bishop Maximus attended the First Council of Nicaea which was convened in 325 by the Emperor Constantine I. In December 1964, the Volkswagen Foundation provided funding to the Deutscher Verein für die Erforschung Palästinas (German Society for the Exploration of Palestine) to work on saving the Madaba Map. And, we shall see in chapter nine, this sensational and widely publicised discovery of 1884, which, at the time, also involved the All Palestine Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem, would also contribute to reviving memories of historic Palestine among some Palestinian Arab Orthodox intellectuals in late Ottoman Palestine.