Egypt & the Nile
Egypt shapes the stories of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the Exodus, the monarchy’s international politics, and Jesus’ infancy.
Genesis 12; 37–50 • Exodus 1–15 • Matthew 2Biblical Maps • Genesis to Revelation
The World of the Bible
Orient the whole biblical story geographically. This map spans Egypt and the Levant, Mesopotamia and Persia, Asia Minor and Greece, and finally Rome. It is designed as a reference frame for the rest of the NLDG atlas rather than as a snapshot of one political moment.
Accuracy note: This overview intentionally avoids drawing one set of political borders across thousands of years. Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Israel/Judah, Greek kingdoms, and Rome controlled different territory at different times. The shaded areas below are broad geographic orientation regions, not claims about one empire’s exact boundary.
Think in layers of time. The Old Testament story is centered primarily in the Ancient Near East, while Acts and the New Testament letters expand the geographic frame westward through Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece, and Italy. The same city can also carry different significance in different biblical periods.
Map key
Use the layers to change your geographic lens.
Ancient Near East orientation
Broad regions such as Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia, and Persia. These are geographic guides, not fixed kingdom borders.
Mediterranean expansion
Asia Minor, Macedonia/Greece, and Italy, especially important for Acts and the New Testament letters.
Hebrew Bible anchor
Major city or site useful for orienting Old Testament geography.
New Testament anchor
Major city associated with the Gospels, Acts, or the apostolic world.
The biblical world at a glance
Seven geographic zones that keep appearing in Scripture.
Canaan / Israel / Judah
The central land of the patriarchs, conquest, judges, monarchy, prophets, and Jesus’ earthly ministry.
Genesis–Kings • Prophets • GospelsMesopotamia
The Tigris–Euphrates world includes the settings of Ur, Harran, Assyria, Nineveh, and Babylon.
Genesis 11–12 • 2 Kings 17; 24–25 • DanielPersia
The Persian Empire provides the setting for the return from exile and for Esther, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
Ezra • Nehemiah • EstherAsia Minor
Modern Turkey contains many cities central to Paul’s journeys and the churches addressed in Acts, the Epistles, and Revelation.
Acts 13–20 • Galatians • Ephesians • Revelation 2–3Macedonia & Greece
Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth become major settings as the gospel moves west.
Acts 16–20 • Philippians • Thessalonians • CorinthiansRome & Italy
Rome forms the western endpoint of Acts and the political center behind much of the New Testament’s imperial context.
Acts 27–28 • RomansReference approach
A framework for every other NLDG map.
OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding provides mapped identifications for biblical places across the canon, and its current data identifies locations such as Jerusalem, Babylon, Antioch on the Orontes, Ephesus, and Rome with very high confidence. Bible Mapper’s WebViewer likewise treats the “biblical world” as a broad navigable geographic canvas onto which places and biblical references can be layered. NLDG uses that same reference principle here: secure city anchors plus broad geographic orientation, without pretending one boundary map can represent every biblical era.