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Era: Ancient & Medieval·Cartographer: Unknown Neo-Babylonian Scribe·Year: 600 BCE·Public Domain
Babylonian Map of the World (Imago Mundi)
"The oldest known world map depicting Babylon at the cosmic center of the bitter ocean"
Etched on a small clay tablet discovered in Sippar (modern Iraq), the Imago Mundi depicts Babylon as a rectangle straddling the Euphrates River, surrounded by the ocean ring (marru) and eight mythical outer triangular islands (nagu).
Interactive Specimen Pan & ZoomAccession: BM 92687
Orientation: North-Up
122 × 82 mm
Unknown Neo-Babylonian Scribe·600 BCE·British Museum, London
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Notable Cartographic Signatures
- Babylon positioned prominently at center
- The bitter salty ocean (marru) encircling the earth
- Outer triangular islands where mythical beasts dwell
- Euphrates river bisecting the central disk
The Rhetorical & Ideological Argument
"A theological and geopolitical assertion that Babylon is the cosmic hub of the universe, linking earthly territorial power directly to divine celestial order while banishing alien beasts to outer mythological triangles."
Explicit Features
- Babylon positioned prominently at center
- The bitter salty ocean (marru) encircling the earth
- Outer triangular islands where mythical beasts dwell
- Euphrates river bisecting the central disk
Intentional Omissions
- Egypt, Greece, and Persia omitted to preserve Babylon's absolute central dominance
Physical Specimen & Geodesy
Projection:
Cosmological Circular Plane
Orientation Axis:
North-Up
Physical Medium:
Clay tablet with cuneiform inscriptions
Original Physical Dimensions:
122 × 82 mm
Custodial Repository:
British Museum, London
Accession: BM 92687
Interdisciplinary Context & Connections
NarratologiumORIGINATES_IN
Cosmological Center Myths
DivinologiumRESEMBLES
Sacred Geometric Mandalas
Academic Provenance: British Museum Curators (-600)