How researchers finally solved the puzzle of the oldest known map of the world

This instalment from the British Museum video series Curator’s Corner focuses on a small clay tablet that, at first glance, seems somewhat unremarkable but is, in fact, one of the most astonishing artefacts in the museum’s collection. Indeed, as the always entertaining British Museum curator Irving Finkel details, the ancient Babylonian tablet, which was created circa the 6th century BCE, is the ‘oldest map of the world, in the world’. Finkel explains how, like many early maps, the tablet integrated both practical information about the world as the ancient Babylonians understood it, and mythology. He also explores the exceptionally fascinating story of how he and other researchers were able to decode the map since it was first acquired by the museum in 1882. The result is an enlightening glimpse into both the ancient Babylonians’ understanding of their world, and how archeological puzzles can sometimes be solved over the course of centuries.