A team of clever scientists has deciphered the world’s oldest map and claims it may show the location of Noah’s Ark.
A 3,000-year-old Babylonian tablet has baffled archaeologists for centuries, but experts have only recently uncovered the real meaning behind the mysterious artifact.
The patterned cuneiform tablet was discovered in the Middle East and entered the British Museum in 1882.
Ever since it was discovered, people have been trying to figure out what the map-like symbols carved into the tablet mean.
Scientists have dubbed the sculpture Imago Mundi and say it shows an aerial view of Mesopotamia dating back to the 6th century BC.
Ancient Mesopotamia, now known as modern-day Iraq, is surrounded by a double ring called the Bitter River that marks the boundaries of the then-known world.
After spending more than a month analyzing the symbols on both the back and front of the tablet, researchers now claim that the tablet shows a clear reference to a Biblical story.
The back is said to act as a secret key. traveler We detail the routes they take and what to look out for.
One section reportedly states that anyone traveling must pass through “seven leagues to see something as thick as the vessel of Parsiktu.”
Based on other ancient Babylonian scriptures, the word parsictu usually helps describe the size of a ship needed to survive a great flood.
Another text seems to give the road to “Urartu” and instructions on how to get there.
According to ancient Mesopotamia, Urartu is believed to be the place where a man and his family built a huge ark and landed it. poem.
Urartu, also known as Ararat, is located at the top of a mountain in India, according to researchers. turkey It is said that this is where the Ark was placed after the 150-day flood.
Dr. Irving Finkel, a cuneiform expert at the British Museum, said: “This story not only shows that the stories were the same, that one led to the other, of course, but that from a Babylonian perspective , which shows that this was natural.”
“If you go on this trip, you’ll be able to see the remains of this historic ship.”
The Biblical story of Noah’s Ark is largely based on the Babylonian version.
According to that version, the god Ea sent a terrible flood to Earth, which wiped out humanity except for one family.
At the command of God, Utnapishtim and his loved ones built a huge ark and stuffed it with animals.
The next six months of flooding plunged the world into darkness, leaving only Utnapishtim, his family, and the animals on the ark alive.
When the floodwaters subsided, they were finally stationed safely on one of Urartu’s mountain peaks.
Dr. Finkel continued, “This account gives details, where God says, ‘You must do this, this, and this,’ and Noah the Babylonian says, ‘I have done this, this, and this. “That’s it!”
“And I made these structures as vessels of thick Parsiktu.”
The story of the Gilgamesh Flood is known from several clay tablets. date It dates back over 3000 years.
On the other hand, the Biblical Flood is said to have occurred about 5,000 years ago.
It is still widely debated whether the Turkish Mount Ararat mentioned in the Babylonian scriptures really exists.
The cuneiform tablets also confirm several other things to scientists.
One is the Babylonians’ belief in Marduk, the god of creation, and other mythical monsters such as the scorpion-man and the lion-headed bird called the anzu.
This comes after another Babylonian mystery was recently cracked by experts as the tablet containing the code was finally cracked.
A team of researchers has successfully deciphered a strange 4,000-year-old document about a lunar eclipse.
Newly discovered documents reveal that the Babylonians viewed lunar eclipses as terrifying and ominous signs of death and destruction.
Who were the Babylonians?
The ancient Babylonian state was located in central Mesopotapia (present-day Iraq, Syria, and parts of Iran).
Babylonia often came into conflict with the Assyrian state in northern Mesopotamia.
It became a great power during the reign of Hammurabi, who ruled from 1792 to 1750 BC.
However, the Babylonian Empire collapsed soon after Hammurabi’s death and was transformed into a small kingdom centered around the city of Babylon.
It was also home to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.