The Mesopotamian universe
Opera Laboratori Fiorentini

The model summarises Babylonian cosmogonical mythology. On the ground is a map of the Babylonian world, floating like a raft on the Primordial Ocean. The map records the images and the names of several places (Babylon, Assyria, marshes, canals, cities). Heroes, gods, and cosmic scenes and symbols reproduced on stelę emerge from the apexes of the map's triangular regions and convey the physical and mythical atmosphere between the Earth and the sky. Above, resting on stelę, the heavenly vault shows some of the more important constellations. It also shows the ecliptic, the equator and the two parallels of the three regions, each one of which is assigned to one of the three most important deities of the Mesopotamian world (Ea, Enlil and Anu).