Hand-colored Map of Surinam Indicating Jewish Plantations and Synagogues, circa 1769

A hand-colored map of Surinam (Dutch Guiana), circa 1769, depicting Jewish-owned plantations, two synagogues (including the German Synagogue), the Jewish market, and other relevant locations. Surinam, a territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is situated in northeastern South America, bordered by Guyana, Brazil, and French Guiana, and the Atlantic Ocean to the north. This map shows a second synagogue, the German Synagogue, which is not present on pre-1718 maps of the area. The map was exhibited in the inaugural year-long exhibition at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia from November 2010 to November 2011. Historical note: In 1627, Abraham van Pere, a Flushing merchant possibly of Portuguese Jewish refugee descent, founded a settlement in the Berbice River, Surinam, under a license from the Dutch West India Company. He sent settlers upriver, and later supplied goods to Dutch settlements in Essequibo.

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Geography

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Subjects

• Cartography
• Plantations
• Synagogues

Physical Location