The map portrays how Babylonians viewed the world countless years back. (Image credit: Universal History Archive by means of Getty Images)
Call: Babylonian Map of the World (“Imago Mundi” in Latin)
What it is: A clay tablet engraved with the earliest recognized map of the ancient world
Where it is from: Abu Habba (Sippar), an ancient Babylonian city in what is now Iraq
When it was made: Approximately the 6th century B.C.
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What it informs us about the past:
This tablet, which illustrates how Babylonians viewed the world countless years earlier, is peppered with information that provide insight into an earlier time. The ancient world is revealed as a particular disc, which is surrounded by a ring of water called the Bitter River. At the world’s center sits the Euphrates River and the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon. Labels composed in cuneiform, an ancient text, keep in mind each area on the map, according to The British Museum.
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Surprisingly, cartographers might have utilized some imaginative license. “Babylon” is marked on just one end of the Euphrates, even though it inhabited both banks for many of its history.
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Above the map is a block of text explaining the production of the world by Marduk, the chief god of Babylonia. The description names more than a lots animals– consisting of a mountain goat, lion, leopard, hyena and wolf– along with a number of significant rulers, such as Utnapishtim, a king who made it through an impressive flood.
On the back of the map is more text explaining 8 distant areas, referred to as nagu, each with a brief description.
The tablet, which determines 4.8 inches high by 3.2 inches large (12.2 by 8.2 centimeters), belongs to The British Museum’s irreversible collection.
Jennifer Nalewicki is a Salt Lake City-based reporter whose work has actually been included in The New York Times, Smithsonian Magazine, Scientific American, Popular Mechanics and more. She covers a number of science subjects from world Earth to paleontology and archaeology to health and culture. Prior to freelancing, Jennifer held an Editor function sometimes Inc. Jennifer has a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from The University of Texas at Austin.
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