Exploring the British Museum’s incredible Babylonian Map of the World may not initially reveal its true significance to many. However, for experts like Irving Finkel, the curator of the British Museum’s Middle East department, this ancient clay tablet holds a treasure trove of historical and geographical value. Finkel’s engaging insights have made him a popular figure on the museum’s Youtube channel, and in the Curator’s Corner video, he unveils the secrets of the Babylonian Map of the World.
“If you look carefully, you will see that the flat surface of the clay has a double circle,” Finkel explains. Inside the circle, ancient cuneiform writing describes the “bitter river” surrounding the known world, representing Mesopotamia, or present-day Iraq.
The circle contains depictions of the Euphrates River and the city of Babylon, while outside lie eight triangles believed to represent mountains extending beyond the limits of the known world. To the Babylonians, these were mystical and mysterious places, shrouded in magic.
A pivotal moment in understanding the map came in the 1990s when a lost triangle fragment was rediscovered, thanks to the keen eye of a student in Finkel’s cuneiform night classes, Edith Horsley. Its reattachment shed light on various elements of the map, including the depiction of a legendary ark, akin to the Babylonian version of Noah’s ark, hinting at ancient flood narratives that still captivate researchers today.
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Based in Seoul, Colin Marshall writes and broadcasts on cities, language, and culture. His projects include the Substack newsletter Books on Cities and the book The Stateless City: a Walk through 21st-Century Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter at @colinmmarshall or on Facebook.
