Little is known about the French mapmaker Philippe de La Rue. He was associated with the pioneering French cartographer Nicolas Sanson, and specialized in Biblical themes. In 1651, he published La Terre sainte en six cartes géographiques (The Holy Land in six maps), the first collection of maps laid out in a chronological sequence around a unifying theme. La Rue’s goal was to trace the history of the world “from the origins to the present.” The six maps cover the land of Canaan and the Exodus, the Promised Land, Solomon’s kingdom, the land of the Jews at the time of Christ, the Christian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, and modern Syria under Ottoman rule. This map, showing the ancient kingdoms of the Middle East, was an addition to the atlas.