Accompanying the maps throughout Palestine 1492 is a compass inspired by Maya ceremonial altars. It is better appreciated on the book cover for its colors where red is east, black is west, yellow is south, white is north.

The front cover of Palestine 1492 is a map of the Maya world oriented east, an homage to Chiapas, where in summer 2006 I lived my first heartbreak over Palestine. East, where the sun rises, is also the direction we face when we begin prayer. Like many Indigenous geographies, Maya geography is oriented east, to the sunrise.