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BABYLON AND ATLANTIS

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    • This clay map of Babylon shows the Tuba area of the city, two gateways, a section of the inner wall of the city, and a waterway fed by the River Euphrates. c. 600-500 BCE, probably from Babylon, modern Iraq. Cat. ME 35385

      Map of Babylon

    • A clay tablet fragment giving detailed measurements of Babylon's the inner city wall, called Imgur-Enlil, at the start of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (ruled 605-572 BCE, making him contemporary with Solon, who, according to Plato's story, received the Atlantis tale from Egyptian priests). It names the Zababa and Urash Gates. From Sippur or Babylons, modern Iraq. Cat. ME 54634abylon

      Babylon's Walls

    • This clay tablet fragment dating from c.700-500 BCE records traditions from much earlier times, and refers to the Babylonian Flood Myth. The Babylonian world is shown in bird's-eye view asa disc surruonded by a ring labelled 'Bitter River' (not unlike the Greek Oceanus). The City of Babylon straddles the River Euphrates, which flows southwards through marshes into the sea. Inscribed circles indicate cities and areas within Mesopotamia in loosely accurate geographical locations.

      Babylonian World Map

    • Beyond the outer edges of the known world are 8 triangular regions, which are tghe homes of strange/legendary beings. One id identified as the mountain where the Babylonian 'Ark' landed after the Great Flood. This lies across the water, far beyond the Mountain of Urartu (Ararat in the Bible) on the very rim of the world. There is no hint of Atlantis here. c.700-500 BCE, probably from Sippar, modern Irag. Cat. ME 92687

      Babylonian World Map (explained).

    • Lion from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon (the eighth gate to the inner city), c.BCE on the orders of King Nebuchadnezzar II. Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Walls of Babylon, detail

    • The Ishtar Gate of Babylon (the eighth gate to the inner city), c.BCE on the orders of King Nebuchadnezzar II. . These details do not appear in Herodotus' account of Babylon. Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Walls of Babylon - the Isgtar Gate

Herodotus' History includes a memorable description of the city of Babylon, which may have had a considerable influence on Plato's description of Atlantis in the Critias.These photographs, of tablets in the British Museum, show a map of the city, a description of the city, and a Babylonian map of the world.

People: 
Steve Kershaw
Date created: 
Friday, March 10, 2017
License: 
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
Attribution for this resource:
BABYLON AND ATLANTIS, © Steve Kershaw, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA.
Subjects: 
Ancient history, Archaeology, Classical art & archaeology, Classical Greek studies
Keywords: 
Atlantis, Plato, Babylon, Cuneiform, Historical Maps, Greek culture, Flood myths, Iraq, Ishtar Gate, Herodotus, Nebuchadnezzar II
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