This image shows, on the left, a photo of the map of the city of Nippur carved on a clay tablet, as it was found during excavations carried out in the 19th century. The ruins of Nippur are located 160 kilometres south of Baghdad, in Iraq, near the city of Diwaniya.

On the right-hand side is a reconstruction and interpretation of this map by Jakob Andersson, published in a 2010 study entitled Cities and Urban Landscapes in the Ancient Near East and Egypt with Special Focus on the City of Babylon (Cities and urban landscapes in the Ancient Near East and Egypt, with special attention to the city of Babylon).

The drawing shows how the city of Nippur was established around a river (in blue, on the left) with a canal running through the middle (in the centre). The map also shows the city wall (in brown), the city temple (in black) and a garden (in green). All this information has been verified through archaeological excavations, where other important areas have also been found, marked in red.

Sources

• Cities and Urban Landscapes in the Ancient Near East and Egypt with Special Focus on the City of Babylon