Scientists decipher world’s oldest map on 3,000-year-old Babylonian tablet to reveal location of ‘Noah’s Ark’
A CLEVER team of scientists have managed to decipher the world’s oldest map and claim it may show the location of “Noah’s Ark”.
The 3,000-year-old Babylonian tablet has puzzled archaeologists for centuries with experts only uncovering the true meaning behind the mysterious relic in the past few weeks.
The patterned cuneiform tablet was discovered in the Middle East before being acquired by the British Museum in 1882.
Ever since it was found people have tried to figure out what the map-like symbols etched onto the tablet may mean.
The carvings have been dubbed Imago Mundi by scientists who say it shows an aerial view of Mesopotamia that dates back to the 6th century BC.
Ancient Mesopotamia – now known as modern-day Iraq – is surrounded by a double ring dubbed the “Bitter River,” which marked the borders of the known world at the time.
After over a month of analysing the symbols on both the back and front of the tablet, researchers now claim it shows clear references to Bible stories.
The back is said to act like a secret key showing travellers the route they may take and detailing what they should look out for.
One section reportedly says anyone on the journey must go through “seven leagues to see something that is thick as a parsiktu-vessel”.
Based on other ancient Babylonian scriptures the word parsiktu typically helps to explain the size of a vessel needed to survive the Great Flood.
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Another passage also appears to show a path to “Urartu” followed by instructions on how to get there.
Urartu is believed to be the place where a man and his family landed a gigantic ark they had made, according to ancient Mesopotamian poems.
3,700-year-old Babylonian clay tablet discovered by the real Indiana Jones has been revealed as the world’s oldest – and most accurate – trigonometric table
Researchers say that Urartu – also known as Ararat – sits at the top of a mountain in Turkey and it is said to be where the ark sat following the 150-day flood.
British Museum cuneiform expert Dr. Irving Finkel says: “It shows that the story was the same, and of course that one led to the other but also, that from the Babylonian point of view, this was a matter of fact thing.
“That if you did go on this journey you would see the remnants of this historic boat.”
The Biblical story of Noah’s Ark closely follows the Babylonian version.
Its version says that the god Ea sent a terrifying flood down to Earth that destroyed humanity except for one family.
Utnapishtim and his closest ones built a huge ark after being ordered to by the god before filling it with animals.
The following six month flooding plunged the world into darkness with just Utnapishtim, his family and all those animals on the ark surviving.
They ended up safely stationed at one of the peak’s of Urartu as the flooding came to an end.
Dr Finkel added: “In this account, the details are given and the God says ‘You have to do this, this and this’ and then the Babylonian Noah says ‘I did this, this and this. I’ve done it!
“And I made these structures as thick parsiktu vessel.”
The Gilgamesh Flood story is known from several clay tablets dating back over 3,000 years.
Whereas the Biblical Flood was said to be about 5,000 years ago.
It is still widely debated if the Turkish mountain of Ararat mentioned in the Babylonian passages truly exists.
The cuneiform tablet also confirms several other things to scientists.
One of this is the Babylonian’s belief in the God of creation Marduk and other mythical monsters such as scorpion-man and a lion-headed bird called Anzu.
It comes as another Babylonian mystery was recently cracked by experts as a tablet containing a code was finally deciphered.
The research team successfully decoded the 4,000-year-old text bizarrely about lunar eclipses.
The newly discovered texts reveal that the Babylonians viewed lunar eclipses as terrifying ominous signs of death and destruction.
Who were the Babylonians?
THE ancient state of Babylonia was located in the central Mesopotapia (today’s Iraq and parts of Syria and Iran).
Babylonia was often involved in rivalry with the state of Assyria in the north of Mesopotamia.
It became a major power during the reign of Hammurabi, its ruler during 1792–1750 BC.
But the Babylonian Empire quickly fell apart after the death of Hammurabi and was turned into a small kingdom around the city of Babylon.
It was also home to one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
