Imago Mundi – Ancient Babylonian Map
In the late 1800s, a broken clay tablet was discovered and it is recognized as one of the oldest known maps in the world. It was found on the banks of the Euphrates River and offered a whole new look at how the ancient Babylonians saw their world. Measuring at 122 x 82 mm, the tablet dates back to 600 BCE.
The tablet has a map of the Mesopotamian world, with Babylon at its center. Surrounding Babylon are two circles that represent the ocean, they are named “bitter water” and “salt sea.”. Babylon, Assyrian, and Elam are all labeled clearly on the map. Also on the map are 8 triangular regions that surround the “salt sea.”
The map is detailed enough to have distances, descriptions of each of the regions, and even information on the great heroes and beasts that were believed to inhabit each region. The Euphrates River is shown running from the mountains over Babylon and then down through Babylon and into the southern marshes below. The marshes are depicted as two parallel lines, and the curved line represents the Zagros mountains.
The tablet is damaged and it is presumed that the damaged section has three missing islands. With those three islands, the map would show the entire world as the Babylonians knew it. It is the only map from the period that shows the islands beyond the ocean. Most other maps of the period were localized to the place where they were drawn. Some believe that the extra islands are there to show the mythological world as well.