Hecataeus of Miletus (died c. 476 BCE) is credited with a work entitled Ges Periodos ('Travels round the Earth' or 'World Survey'), in two books each organized in the manner of a periplus, a point-to-point coastal survey. the seventh region lay in the east and is 'where the morning dawns.'Ī final paragraph summarises, 'In all eight 'regions' (nagu) of the four shores (kibrati) of the ea, their interior no-one knows'.the sixth region, 'where a horned bull dwells and attacks the newcomer'.The fifth region, due north, lay in complete darkness, a land 'where one sees nothing,' and 'the sun is not visible.'.on the fourth region 'the light is brighter than that of sunset or stars': it lay in the northwest, and after sunset in summer was practically in semi-obscurity.the third region is where 'the winged bird ends not his flight,' i.e., cannot reach.The descriptions of five of them have survived:

The accompanying text mentions a distance of seven beru between the outlying regions. The map as reconstructed by Eckhard Unger shows Babylon on the Euphrates, surrounded by a circular landmass showing Assyria, Urartu (Armenia) and several cities, in turn surrounded by a 'bitter river' (Oceanus), with eight outlying regions ( nagu) arranged around it in the shape of triangles, so as to form a star. BCE)Ī Babylonian world map, known as the Imago Mundi, is commonly dated to the 6th century BCE.

Imago Mundi Babylonian map, the oldest known world map, 6th century BCE Babylonia.

Flat earth map high resolution