How did the Babylonian Map of the World portray Babylon and the surrounding world?

The Babylonian Map of the World is a clay tablet from the late 8th to 6th centuries BCE that depicts the world as a disk surrounded by an outer circle of water known as the "Bitter River."12

Babylon is prominently featured in the upper half of the disk as a large horizontal bar straddling the Euphrates River, which flows from north to south. This central placement highlights the city's significance to the map's creator. The surrounding world within the disk includes various regions and cities, such as Assyria, Susa, and the Zagros Mountains.1

Beyond the Bitter River, the map depicts triangular regions called nagû. While some scholars interpret these as real, distant lands, others view them as mythological territories. The map serves as an early attempt to define the space of the known world, blending geographical features with elements of Babylonian cosmology and legend.13