Clay cuneiform tablet, from 1500 BC, features the first known depiction of a map, showing fields belonging to royal estates in Nippur. Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian go
Clay cuneiform tablet, from 1500 BC, features the first known depiction of a map, showing fields belonging to royal estates in Nippur. Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the Lord Wind, ruler of the cosmos subject to An alone. Nippur never enjoyed political hegemony in its own right, but its control was crucial, as it was considered capable of conferring the overall kingship on monarchs from other city-states. With the establishment of the Babylonian empire, under Hammurabi, early in the 2nd millennium BC, the religious as well as the political center of influence was transferred to Babylon, Marduk became lord of the pantheon, many of Enlil's attributes were transferred to him, and Ekur, Enlil's temple, was to some extent neglected.
Size: 3000px × 3541px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: 1500, ancient, archeological, archeology, artifact, bc, bce, cartography, characters, civilization, clay, communication, culture, cuneiform, empire, geographic, geographical, geography, historic, historical, history, inscription, map, pictographs, script, stylized, sumer, sumerian, symbols, system, tablet, text, topography, writing
