author of the first Hebrew novel, Ahavat Ziyyon (1853; Annou: Prince and Peasant), an idyllic historical romance set in the days of the prophet Isaiah. Couched in florid biblical language, it artfully depicts pastoral life in ancient Israel; the book attained immediate popularity and was later translated into several languages.

A teacher of religion and German, Mapu was an influential advocate of the Haskalah, or Enlightenment, movement. Influenced stylistically by Victor Hugo and Eugène Sue, Mapu's novels romanticized a sovereign Israel and indirectly paved the way for the revival of Jewish nationalism and the Zionist movement. Other novels include ʿAyiṭ tzavuaʿ (1858–69; “The Hypocrite”), an attack on social and religious injustice in the ghetto; Ashmat Shomron (1865; “Guilt of Samaria”), a biblical epic about the hostility between Jerusalem and Samaria in the time of King Ahaz; and Ḥoze ḥezyonot, (1869; “The Visionary”), an exposé of Ḥasidism, which was confiscated by religious authorities.