Imago Mundi (Image: Getty)
The world’s oldest map unlocks from 3,000 years ago revealing how our ancestors understood the world.
The Babylonian map known as the , holds the title of the oldest known map in the world and shows the world as the ancient Babylonians knew it, with Babylon at its center.
Discovered in Sippar, southern Iraq, this clay tablet map shows a circular world view with cuneiform inscriptions and symbols.
Dr Irving Finkel, from the British Museum in a from the museum said: “The ancient Babylonian map has given us a tremendous insight into many aspects of Mesopotamian thinking.
“It’s also a triumphant demonstration of what happens when you have a very small, totally uninformative and useless fragment of dead boring writing that no one can understand and you join it onto something in the collection which is much bigger and a whole new adventure begins all over again.”
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The Imago Mundi is said to show the location of Noah’s Ark (Image: Getty)
The reverse side of the tablet serves as a guide, describing what travelers would encounter, including references to a vessel meant to withstand the Great Flood.
Dr. Finkel said the tablet shows a “giant vessel,” historically thought to be the remnants of a large boat.
Researchers have traced a route to “Urartu,” potentially aligning with the mountain where Noah’s Ark is said to have rested thereby suggesting that Babylonians had their own version of the myth.
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The Imago Mundi was acquired by the British Museum (Image: Getty)
According to Dr. Finkel, the tablet’s inscriptions recount astronomical events and predictions, and the map is believed to depict the entire “known world” of that time.
The Imago Mundi shows the Babylonia beliefs on geography and mythical creatures as they believed such creatures inhabited different regions.
The mythical creatures depictures include a scorpion-man, a sea serpent, a bull-man and a winged horse.
Another notable feature is the “Bitter River,” a double ring encircling Mesopotamia, marking the edge of the known world.
The inscriptions also recount astronomical events and predictions, showcasing the Babylonians’ advanced understanding of the cosmos.
The Imago Mundi continues to captivate scholars since its discovery in Iraq in 1988 and it is currently at the British Museum.