World's oldest map shows secrets from 3,000 years ago with Babylon at centre

Daily Mirror

17-07-2025

The Babylonian map is known as the Imago Mundi and holds the title of the oldest known map in the world as it shows the world as the ancient Babylonians knew it
The world's oldest map has been deciphering secrets from 3,000 years ago, shedding light on how our forebears perceived their surroundings. Dubbed the Imago Mundi, this Babylonian artefact is recognised as the most ancient map known to us, placing Babylon at the heart of the world.
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Unearthed in Sippar, Iraq, the clay tablet depicts a round Earth, adorned with cuneiform script and symbolic illustrations. Dr Irving Finkel of the British Museum revealed in a museum YouTube video: "The ancient Babylonian map has given us a tremendous insight into many aspects of Mesopotamian thinking.
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"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", reports the Express.
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On its flip side, the tablet doubles as a travel guide, hinting at what explorers might face, including a nod to a craft built to survive the Great Flood.
Dr. Finkel remarked that the tablet features a "giant vessel," often associated with the remnants of an enormous ship.
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Scholars have mapped a journey to "Urartu," possibly corresponding with the peak where Noah's Ark is believed to have come to rest.
This may indicate that the Babylonians may have had their own rendition of the flood narrative.
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.
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The Imago Mundi illustrates Babylonian beliefs about geography and mythical creatures, with the ancients convinced these beings roamed various lands.
Featured on the tablet are fantastical beings such as a scorpion-man, a sea serpent, a bull-man, and a winged horse.
Another striking element is the "Bitter River," symbolised by a double ring surrounding Mesopotamia, representing the boundary of the known world.
The inscriptions further detail astronomical events and predictions, highlighting the Babylonians' sophisticated grasp of the heavens.
Since its unearthing in Iraq in 1988, the Imago Mundi has enthralled academics and is presently housed at the British Museum.