public function getRewriteMapsAsArray()
    {

        // initialize the array for the rewrite maps
        $rewriteMaps = array();

        // iterate over the rewriteMaps nodes and sort them into an array
        foreach ($this->getRewriteMaps() as $rewriteMapNode) {
            $rewriteMaps[$rewriteMapNode->getType()] = $rewriteMapNode->getParamsAsArray();
        }

        // return the array
        return $rewriteMaps;
    }