Babylonian Map of the World
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The Babylonian Map of the World is a clay tablet map of the world, with Babylon at its center. The map is from ca. 600 BC and was discovered at Sippar, southern Iraq, a city that was 60 miles (97 km) north of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates River.[1]
The clay tablet resides at the British Museum (BM 92687).[2]
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[edit] Description of the mapped areas
The map is circular with two outer defined circles. Cuneiform script labels all locations inside the circular map, as well as a few regions outside. The two outer circles represent water in between and is labelled as "'river' of 'bitter' water", the salt sea.[3]
Babylon is in the center of the map; parallel lines at the bottom seem to represent the southern marshes, and a curved line coming from the north, northeast appear to represent the Zagros Mountains.[3]
There are seven small interior circles at the perimeter areas within the circle, and they appear to represent seven cities.
Seven triangular sections on the external circle (water perimeter), represent named islands, but the damaged clay tablet has lost the three islands on the tablet's lower edge.
The three islands are named:
- island-"place of the rising sun"
- island-"the sun is hidden and nothing can be seen"
- island-"beyond the flight of birds"[3]
[edit] Mythological interpretaions
It is conjectured that the island locations, though possibly referring to real areas, may also represent a mythological interpretation of the world.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Kerrigan, 2009. The Ancients in Their Own Words, Michael Kerrigan, Fall River Press, Amber Books Ltd, c 2009. (hardcover. ISBN 978-1-4351-0724-3)
[edit] External links
- Cartography, (prehistoric mapping), Babylonian "map of the world"
- Tablet photo, and graphic of map with names
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