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ΕλληνικάLate Babylonian
Babylonian map of the world
The world seen from Babylon
The map represents the world from the perspective of those who lived in Babylon.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Documentary original · Exact correspondence
Photograph of the original: Babylonian map of the world. Detail of the tablet: circular map and number 92687 visible; the text at the top is partially out of the frame.
Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) · British Museum, London · Inventory: BM 92687; registro 1882,0714.509 · CC BY-SA 4.0
History and context
Babylon appears next to the Euphrates in a circular territory surrounded by the Bitter River. Names and outer regions combine recognizable spaces with others that belong to the explanation of the world and its limits.
It is not intended as our road map. To read it you have to ask yourself what the person who drew it considered important. A note indicates that it was copied from an earlier document: maps too had a history before their last medium.
Evidence and interpretation
The date of the tablet is not equivalent to the date of composition of all its contents. It is not presented as a scale map nor as the first map of humanity.
Catalogue facts
- Date of piece
- Towards 700–500 BCE
- Culture and period
- Late Babylonian
- Provenance
- Sippar / Abu Habba, Iraq
- Material
- Clay
- Inventory
- BM 92687 · 1882,0714.509
A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS
Objects connected through time
Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.
The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.
Clay32 dated objects
≈29,000–27,000 years
Dolní Věstonice I
Prehistory
Approximate catalogue age; editorial reference 2026 for ordering only, not calibrated dating.
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mid-6th–5th millennium BCE
Before Sumer
Sumer
The full 6th–5th millennia BCE provide broad limits for chronological ordering; the record qualifies the date as ‘mid’; the item's date is used, not the broader preceding period.
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Early Neolithic · VI–V millennia BCE
Twin-chambered vessel from Cova de l’Or
Prehistory
Interval of the VI–V millennia BCE; no precise annual date.
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ca. 4400–3800 BCE
Before Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Date of the representative vessel, not of the entire predynastic period.
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V–IV millennium BCE
Before Nubia
Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Interval of the V–IV millennia BCE of the element, not of the entire preceding period.
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Middle Neolithic, c. 4000 BCE
Before Gojoseon
Gojoseon and early Korea
Date of the ceramic element, not of the preceding period.
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ca. 3500–3000 BCE
Bevel-rimmed bowl
Sumer
The wage ration hypothesis is not used as a functional label.
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3500–2900 BCE · proto-urban period; towards 3300 BCE as a guide, not exact date
Susa accounting bulla
Sumer
Posted range; "towards 3300" is just orientation within that range.
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c. 3100–2900 BCE
Jemdet Nasr
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 3100–2900 BCE
Account of malt and barley
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE
Before Yayoi
Yayoi Japan
Date of the Jōmon element, not of the entire preceding period.
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ca. 2500–2200 BCE
Vasiliki
Greek worlds
Date range for the regional pottery assemblage.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Before Ancient China
Ancient China
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 2500–2000 BCE
Longshan
Ancient China
Date range for the Longshan pottery assemblage.
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c. 19th century BCE
Before the Hittites
Hittites
Date of the representative document, not of the entire preceding period.
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Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE.
Before Pre-Inca Cultures
Pre-Inca cultures
Element tradition interval; "around 1800" orients the enclosure.
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19th–18th centuries BCE
Queen of the Night
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Paleo-Babylonian period · around 1800 BCE
Plimpton 322
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Towards 1800 BCE
Sumerian King List
Sumer
Date of preserved copy, not of reigns listed.
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Paleo-Babylonian copy, around 1900–1600 BCE according to CDLI
Love song to Shu-Sin
Sumer
Date of the preserved Paleo-Babylonian copy, not of the origin of the song.
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Towards 1900–1600 BCE · paleobabylonian; uncertain chronological attribution in CDLI
Si.427 tablet
Sumer
Unclear chronological attribution in CDLI.
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≈1700–1650 BCE
Phaistos Disc
Greek worlds
The signs have no accepted reading.
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Towards 1650 BCE
Sumerian Flood of Nippur
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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Above all 17th–13th centuries BCE
Boğazköy Archive
Hittites
Main date range for the archive, not a single date for all the tablets.
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c. 1375 BCE
Linear B
Greek worlds
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 1300 BCE
Alaksandu of Wilusa
Hittites
Approximate dating according to the record.
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c. 1259 BCE, year 21 of Ramesses II
Treaty with Egypt
Hittites
Date of the treaty and its copy; not of the origin of relations between the two kingdoms.
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7th century BCE
Overlapping datesFlood Tablet
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
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You are viewingTowards 700–500 BCE
Babylonian map of the world
Sumer
Approximate dating according to the record.
Current record
522–486 BCE
Overlapping datesGlazed brick guards
Achaemenid Persia
Date range associated with the reign of the decoration.
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Towards 509–493 BCE
Overlapping datesRations for women and children
Achaemenid Persia
Date range of the archive and its documents.
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regional range c. 800 BCE–650 CE
Overlapping datesUrewe vessel
Bantu-speaking worlds
Regional date range for the Urewe type, not an individual date for each vessel.
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Also connected, without a comparable date (8)
These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.
- A White Wall on the DanubeCeltic worlds · 6th century BCE
- Blue that does not yieldMaya worlds · Documented use from the Classic, c. 300–1500 CE
- Cyrus speaks as king of BabylonAchaemenid Persia · After the conquest of Babylon in 539 BCE
- Early potteryMande Worlds · before ca. 9400 cal BCE
- Made in GaramaGaramantes · I millennium BCE–I millennium CE
- Piece-mold castingAncient China · c. 1600–1046 BCE
- The unfinished gestureBatwa / Twa histories · 1947
- Vessels without a languageBantu-speaking worlds · Urewe, broad regional range ca. 800 BCE–650 CE
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
Read the center and margins
The circle, city names, and outer regions do not serve the same function. A modern visitor can recognize geographical references without reducing the complex to a defective modern plan. The museum's commentary uses place names to discuss the date of the composition, which is different from that of its copy.
- Museum · British Museum · BM map 92687Access recorded: .
Where it is held
British Museum, London
Item or group in the record · Documented collection
Institution that preserves the piece; Check with the museum about its availability to visit.
The British Museum
Item or group in the record · Documented collection
The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.
Sources and references
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