Terrestrial cartography in ancient Mesopotamia.

Wheat, Elizabeth Ruth Josie (2013). Terrestrial cartography in ancient Mesopotamia. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Over one hundred and seventy maps and plans are preserved from the ancient Near East, drawn on clay tablets or inscribed in stone, though a full study of all the available cartographic material from Mesopotamia has never before been undertaken. This thesis offers a critical analysis of these maps and plans, with particular focus on their graphic conventions, typology and function in Near Eastern society. The text on many of these maps is also undeciphered and a number of examples are translated here for the first time, including an unpublished map of an irrigation network in the Schøyen Collection. By examining all this material in a single study, it becomes clear that there was a coherent documentary genre in Mesopotamia which was cartographic in nature, and which served a variety of administrative and planning purposes. The Near Eastern cartographic corpus is also contextualised within the wider history of cartography, so that its place in the global development of graphic mapping can be better understood.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):