![]() are thick as a parsiktum-measure, 20 fingers In the fourth nagu objects are found of remarkable dimensions: The third nagu may be a barren desert, impassable even for birds:Ī winged rd cannot safely comp where cattle equipped with horns they run fast and reach The fifth nagu has the longest description but this text too is so damaged that it is quite uncomprehensible. The descriptions of the first, second, and sixth nagu are too damaged to be read. Ī short description is given for each of the eight nagu. After an introduction, possibly explaining how to identify the first nagu, the next seven nagu are each introduced by the clause "To the n-th region, where you travel 7 leagues" (the distance of 7 leagues seems to indicate the width of the Ocean, rather than the distance between subsequent nagu). The back side (29 lines) seems to be a description of (at least) eight nagu. The last two lines of the text refer to three legendary heroes: tnapištim (the hero of the Flood), Sargon (ruler of Akkad), and Nur-agan the King of Buršaḫa (opponent of Sargon). With the exception of the cat, all these animals were typical of faraway lands. on the land, visualized as a kind of giant raft floating in the Sea), among them mountain goat, gazelle, lion, wolf, monkey and female-monkey, ostrich, cat, and chameleon. Next, on Land, a series of two mythical creatures ("the Anzu-bird, and scorpi") and at least fifteen land animals are mentioned, "beasts which Marduk created on top of the resess Sea" (i.e. The ruine gods which he (Marduk) set inside the Sea are present the viper, the great sea-serpent inside. The text above the map (11 lines) seems to describe part of the creation of the world by Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, who divided the primeval Ocean (the goddess Tiamat) and thus created Land and Sea. (cities in Habban?)Ĭarlo Zaccagnini has argued that the design of the Babylonian map of the world may have lived on in the T and O maps of the European Middle Ages. ![]() – The "Great Wall" may be a mountain ridge, the "6 leagues in between" probably refer to the width of the Ocean. "Great Wall, 6 leagues in between, where the Sun is not seen" ( Akkadian: BÀD.GU.LA 6 bēru ina bi-rit a-šar Šamaš la innammaru). Ocean (salt water, Akkadian: idmar-ra-tum)ġ9 – 22 (and 18?). Babylon ( Akkadian: tin.tir ki), divided by Euphratesġ4 – 17. Habban ( Akkadian: ha-ab-ban) (a Kassite land and city)ġ3. Bit Yakin ( Akkadian: bῑt-ia-᾿-ki-nu) (a region)ġ2. ![]() Susa (capital of Elam) ( Akkadian: šuša)ġ0. Systematic differences between the texts suggest that the tablet may have been compiled from three separate documents. It is not clear whether all three parts should be read as a single whole. The tablet consists of three parts: the world map, a text above the map, and a text on the back side of the tablet. In 1995 a new join to the tablet was discovered, at the point of the upper-most nagu. The tablet is usually thought to have originated in Borsippa. It was acquired by the British Museum in 1882 (BM 92687) the text was first translated in 1889. The tablet was excavated by Hormuzd Rassam at Sippar, Baghdad vilayet, some 60 km north of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates River. It has been suggested that the depiction of these "regions" as triangles might indicate that they were imagined as mountains. Mesopotamia is surrounded by a circular "bitter river" or Ocean, and seven or eight "regions", depicted as triangular sections, are shown as lying beyond the Ocean. Susa, the capital of Elam, is shown to the south, Urartu to the northeast, and Habban, the capital of the Kassites is shown (incorrectly) to the northwest. The mouth of the Euphrates is labelled "swamp" and "outflow". The city of Babylon is shown on the Euphrates, in the northern half of the map. The map is centered on the Euphrates, flowing from the north (top) to the south (bottom). Ever since its discovery there have been a variety of divergent views on what it represents in general and about specific features in particular. ![]() The tablet describes the oldest known depiction of the known world. Dated to no earlier than the 9th century BC (with a late 8th or 7th date being more likely), it includes a brief and partially lost textual description. The Babylonian Map of the World (or Imago Mundi) is a Babylonian clay tablet
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