Scientists have recently unlocked the secrets of the world's oldest map, a 3,000-year-old clay tablet known as the Imago Mundi, which is believed to show the location of Noah’s Ark. The ancient Babylonian artifact, etched with cuneiform—a script using wedge-shaped symbols—has puzzled archaeologists for centuries. Discovered in what is now Iraq in 1882, the tablet is housed at the British Museum, where it has become one of its famous collections.
The Imago Mundi depicts a circular world map, illustrating early Babylonian ideas about the world's creation. The map is thought to show the entire known world at the time, with Mesopotamia at the bottom center. Mesopotamia is enclosed by a circle representing a "bitter river" that was believed to surround the entire world, marking the borders of the known world at that time.
On the reverse side of the artifact, passages reportedly provide a guide describing what a traveler would encounter on their journey, including a path to "Urartu" and specific instructions on how to get there. One passage says: "To the fourth, to which you must travel seven leagues." Another passage reportedly instructs those on the journey to go through "seven leagues to see something that is thick as a parsiktu-vessel."
The term "parsiktu" appears on other ancient Babylonian tablets, referencing the scale of a vessel meant to withstand the legendary Great Flood. Researchers believe that Urartu, also known as Ararat, is linked to an ancient Mesopotamian poem recounting a family who, like Noah, landed their ark to preserve life following the 150-day flood. As the flooding ended, they were safely stationed at one of the peaks of Urartu, which aligns with "Ararat," the Hebrew term for the mountain where Noah’s Ark is said to have come to rest after the flood.
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The Imago Mundi depicts a circular world map, illustrating early Babylonian ideas about the world's creation. The map is thought to show the entire known world at the time, with Mesopotamia at the bottom center. Mesopotamia is enclosed by a circle representing a "bitter river" that was believed to surround the entire world, marking the borders of the known world at that time.
On the reverse side of the artifact, passages reportedly provide a guide describing what a traveler would encounter on their journey, including a path to "Urartu" and specific instructions on how to get there. One passage says: "To the fourth, to which you must travel seven leagues." Another passage reportedly instructs those on the journey to go through "seven leagues to see something that is thick as a parsiktu-vessel."
The term "parsiktu" appears on other ancient Babylonian tablets, referencing the scale of a vessel meant to withstand the legendary Great Flood. Researchers believe that Urartu, also known as Ararat, is linked to an ancient Mesopotamian poem recounting a family who, like Noah, landed their ark to preserve life following the 150-day flood. As the flooding ended, they were safely stationed at one of the peaks of Urartu, which aligns with "Ararat," the Hebrew term for the mountain where Noah’s Ark is said to have come to rest after the flood.
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Scientists unlock secrets of 3,000-year-old tablet revealing path to Noah's Ark
Researchers decipher Babylonian map showing journey to Urartu, believed to be the ark's resting place after the Great Flood.
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