Ancient Mesopotamia
Euphrates • Tigris
Cities / Empires
Sumer: Eridu • Kish • Uruk • Ur • Lagash • Nippur • Ngirsu
Elam: Susa
Akkadian Empire: Akkad • Mari
Amorites: Isin • Larsa
Babylonia: Babylon • Chaldea
Hittites • Kassites • Hurrians/Mitanni
Assyria: Assur • Nimrud • Dur-Sharrukin • Nineveh
Chronology
History of Mesopotamia
History of Sumer • Kings of Sumer
Kings of Assyria
Kings of Babylon
Mythology
Enûma Elish • Gilgamesh
Assyro-Babylonian religion
Language
Sumerian • Elamite
Akkadian • Aramaic
Hurrian • Hittite

Uruk (Sumerian: ^URUUNUG 𒌷𒀔, Biblical: Erech, Greek: Ορχόη or Ωρύγεια, Arabic وركاء Warkā’), was an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates and west of the Tigris river, on the line of the ancient Nil canal, in a region of marshes, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת The Tigris is the eastern member of the two great Rivers that define Mesopotamia, along with the Euphrates, which flows from the mountains of southeastern Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Eridu (URUNUNKI; Sumerian:eridug Akkadian: ?) from the Sumerian for 'mighty place' is modern Tell Abu Shahrain, Iraq Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. Lagash ( is modern Tell al-Hiba, Iraq. Located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk Nippur (URUENLIL; Sumerian: Nibru Akkadian: Nibbur) from the Sumerian for 'lord wind' (Enlil is modern ? in Afak Al Qadisyah Ngirsu (cuneiform? Sumerian:Ĝirsu Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell Telloh, Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq, and it was a city of Elam is the name of an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Susa ( Biblical שושן ( Shushan) also Greek: Σοῦσα Transliterated as Sousa; Latin Susa) Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Amorite ( Sumerian MARTU, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm, Egyptian Amar, Hebrew ’emōrî Isin (modern Ishan al-Bahriyat was a city of lower Mesopotamia, which flourished during the 20th century BC. Larsa (also Larag or Larak, modern Tell as-Senkereh, Iraq, possibly the Biblical Ellasar) was an important city of Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital Babylon was a City-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq Chaldea (from Greek grc Χαλδαία Chaldaia; Akkadian akk māt Kaldu Hebrew כשדים Kaśdim, "the Chaldees" of the The Hittites were an ancient Anatolian people who spoke a language of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European language family and established The Kassites were an Ancient Near Eastern tribe who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca The Hurrians (also Khurrites; cuneiform Ḫu-ur-ri 𒄷𒌨𒊑 were a people of the Ancient Near East, who lived in northern Mesopotamia Mitanni ( Hittite cuneiform, also Mittani) or Hanigalbat ( Assyrian Hanigalbat Khanigalbat cuneiform) Early history The most Neolithic site in Assyria is at Tell Hassuna, the center of the Hassuna culture Assur also spelled Ashur, from Assyrian Aššur, was one of the capitals of ancient Assyria. Nimrud is an ancient Assyrian city located south of Nineveh on the river Tigris. Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon" present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Nineveh ( Akkadian: Ninua; Aramaic: ܢܝܢܘܐ Hebrew נינוה Nīnewē; Arabic نينوى Naīnuwa) See Short chronology for a timeline in absolute dates The Chronology of the Ancient Near East is a framework of dates for Ancient Mesopotamia was settled and conquered by numerous ancient Civilizations. The history of Sumer, taken to include the prehistoric Ubaid and Uruk periods spans the 5th to 3rd millennia BC ending with the downfall of the Third The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties The following is a list of the kings of Babylonia, a major city and empire in ancient lower Mesopotamia, compiled from the traditional Babylonian king lists and modern Mesopotamian mythology is the collective name given to Sumerian Akkadian Assyrian and Babylonian mythologies from the land between the Tigris The akk Enûma Eliš is the Babylonian Creation myth (named for its Incipit) Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II first dynasty of Uruk ruling circa 2600 BC according to the Sumerian king The pre- Christian religions of Babylonia and Assyria are the earliest attestation of Ancient Semitic religion, in particular Mesopotamian mythology Assyriology (from Greek grc Ἀσσυρίᾱ Assyriā; and grc -λογία -logia) is the archaeological historical and linguistic study Sumerian ( " native tongue " was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC Elamite is an Extinct language, which was spoken by the ancient Elamites. Aramaic is a Semitic language with Hurrian is a conventional name for the language of the Hurrians (Khurrites a people who entered northern Mesopotamia around 2300 BC and had mostly Hittite or Nesili is the Extinct language once spoken by the Hittites, a people who created an empire centered on ancient Hattusas (modern Sumerian ( " native tongue " was the language of ancient Sumer, spoken in Southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC Etymology According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the word bible is from Latin biblia, traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin The Ancient Greek language is the historical stage in the development of the Hellenic language family spanning the Archaic (c Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language Sumer ( Sumerian: sux-Latn [[Ki (earth ki]]-[[EN (cuneiform en]]-'''ĝir15''', Akkadian: Šumeru; possibly Biblical Shinar Babylonia was an Amorite state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern Iraq) with Babylon as its capital The Euphrates ( ( Arabic: ar نهر الفرات; Turkish: tr Fırat Syriac: syr ܦܪܬ; Hebrew: he פרת Samawah or As Samawah ( Arabic language:السماوة) is a city in Iraq, 280 kilometres (174 mi southeast of Baghdad. Al Muthanna sometimes simply Muthanna (المثنى is one of the Governorates of Iraq. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. The modern name Iraq is thought to be derived from the name Uruk. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Iraq topics. At its height, Uruk probably had 50,000–80,000 residents living in 6 square kilometres of walled area, the largest city in the world at its time.

Prominence

Uruk represents one of the world's first cities with a dense population. Uruk also saw the rise of the state in Mesopotamia with a full-time bureaucracy, military, and stratified society. Cities that coexisted at this time with Uruk were only about 10 hectares in area showing that it was vastly larger and more complex. Uruk is an important city because it represents a shift from small, agricultural villages to a larger urban center. The excavation of Uruk is highly complicated and shows different layers of Uruk from different periods of history. The latest layer most likely originated in the Late Uruk Period (3200-3000 BCE) and built on structures from Earlier Periods.

Origins and growth

Uruk went through several phases of growth, from the Early Uruk Period to the Late Uruk Period. Uruk became a center for events such as trade, specialization of crafts and the evolution of writing. Evidence from excavations such as extensive pottery and the earliest known tablets of writing support these events.

Fragment of a bull sculpture from Uruk, c. 3000 BC.

Also known by its oldest sector as Kulab, Kulaba or Unug-Kulaba, it was one of the oldest and most important cities of Sumer. According to the Sumerian king list, Uruk was founded by Enmerkar, who brought the official kingship with him. The Sumerian king list is an ancient text in the Sumerian language that lists kings of Sumer from Sumerian and foreign dynasties Enmerkar, according to the Sumerian king list, was the builder of Uruk in Sumer, and was said to have reigned for "420 years" (or 900 as In the epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, he is also said to have constructed the famous temple called E-anna, dedicated to the worship of Inanna (the later Ishtar). Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta is a legendary Sumerian account preserved early post-Sumerian copies composed in the Neo-Sumerian period (ca É is the Sumerian for "house" or " Temple " written ideographically with the Cuneiform sign 𒂍 (Borger nr Inanna ( D INANNA B153ellstpng|100x20px|INANNA]]) is the Sumerian goddess of sexual love fertility and warfare Ishtar ( D IŠTAR 𒀭𒌋𒁯 is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to The city seems to have been built in two major sections called the Eanna District and the Anu District. Within there were large central temple complexes called the Eanna precinct, Kullaba precinct, and the Anu temple. There are different interpretations as to what purpose the precincts served. Scholars generally believe that it was a unifying feature of the city. There is evidence of spaces for workshops included inside the Eanna precinct. It also seems clear that it served both an important religious function and state function. The rest of the city was composed of much more modest homes arranged around the temple complexes. Inside, the Eanna precinct was made up of several buildings and had its own wall, separating it from the rest of the city. In contrast the Anu District was built on a terrace with a temple at the top.

It was also the capital city of Gilgamesh, hero of the famous Epic of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II first dynasty of Uruk ruling circa 2600 BC according to the Sumerian king The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Ancient Mesopotamia and is among the earliest known works of literary fiction. According to the Bible (Genesis 10:10), Erech (Uruk) was the second city founded by Nimrod in Shinar. Erech ( Hebrew name ארך meaning 'to extract or draw out' was an ancient city in the land of Shinar, the second city built by king Nimrod (later Amraphel Nimrod ( was a Mesopotamian Monarch mentioned in the Jewish Tanakh, and who figures in many legends and folktales Shinar (Hebrew he שִׁנְעָר Šin`ar, Septuagint Σεννααρ Sennaar 'land of the rivers' is a broad designation applied to Mesopotamia, occurring Historical kings of Uruk include Lugalzagesi of Umma (who conquered Uruk) and Utu-hengal. Lugal-Zage-Si ( sux-Latn lugal-zag-ge4-si = sux-Latn [[LUGAL]] Umma (modern Tell Jokha) was an ancient city in Sumer. History Best known for its long frontier conflict with Lagash. Utu-hengal (also written Utu-heg̃al, Utu-heĝal, and sometimes transcribed as Utu-hegal, Utu-hejal) was one of the first native kings of

Political history

Uruk played a very important part in the political history of the country from an early time, exercising hegemony in Sumer before the time of Sargon of Akkad. Hegemony (hɨˈdʒɛməni (Amer /hɨˈɡɛməni/ (Brit (ἡγεμονία hēgemonía) is a concept that has been used to describe and explain the dominance of one social You may be looking for the Assyrian kings Sargon I Later it was prominent in the national struggles of the Sumerians against the Elamites up to 2004 BC, in which it suffered severely; recollections of some of these conflicts are embodied in the Gilgamesh epic, in the literary and courtly form that has come down to us. Elam is the name of an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. The 21st century BC is a Century which lasted from the year 2100 BC to 2001 BC Gilgamesh was the son of Lugalbanda and the fifth king of Uruk (Early Dynastic II first dynasty of Uruk ruling circa 2600 BC according to the Sumerian king

Uruk cylindar seal, depicting monstrous animals.

Oppenheim states, "In Uruk, in southern Mesopotamia, Sumerian civilization seems to have reached its creative peak. This is pointed out repeatedly in the references to this city in religious and, especially, in literary texts, including those of mythological content; the historical tradition as preserved in the Sumerian king-list confirms it. From Uruk the center of political gravity seems to have moved to Ur. Ur ( Sumerian:urim; Akkadian: ?) is modern Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq, and was a city in ancient Sumer. "

Its voluminous surviving temple archive of the Neo-Babylonian period documents the social function of the temple as a redistribution center. In times of famine, a family might dedicate children to the temple as oblates. An oblate in Christian Monasticism (especially Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican) is a person who is specifically dedicated

Modern discovery

Mesopotamia in 2nd millennium BC

The location of Uruk was discovered by William Loftus in 1849. Mesopotamia (from the Greek meaning "land between the rivers" is an area geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers largely corresponding The 2nd millennium BC marks the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Age. William Kennett Loftus (b 13 November 1820, Linton Kent; d 27 November 1858, at sea was a British geologist naturalist explorer Year 1849 ( MDCCCXLIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common The first significant excavations were by a German team led by Julius Jordan before World War I. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All This expedition returned in 1928 and made further excavations until 1939, then returned in 1954 under the direction of H. Lenzen and made systematic excavations over the following years. These excavations revealed some early Sumerian documents and a larger cache of legal and scholarly tablets of the Seleucid period, that have been published by Adam Falkenstein and other German epigraphists. The Seleucid Empire /sə'lusɪd/ ( 312 - 63 BC) was a Hellenistic empire i Adam Falkenstein ( September 17, 1906 - October 15, 1966) was a German Assyriologist. Epigraphy (ἐπιγραφολογία from Greek ἐπιγραφή — "inscription" is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs engraved

In the existing research on Uruk there is little to nothing about the palace or its layout. The excavations are not completed and there is little to indicate for sure whether what is thought to be a palace is in fact one. Much is still unknown about Uruk with some tablets only being recently deciphered. The purpose of the buildings excavated cannot be conclusively decided upon.

References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911 is a 29-volume reference work that marked the beginning of the Encyclopædia Britannica The public domain is a range of abstract materials &ndash commonly referred to as Intellectual property &ndash which are not owned or controlled by anyone
• A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization.

• Liverani, Mario. Uruk: The First City. London: Equinox Publishing, 2006.

• Kuhrt, Amélie. The Ancient Near East. London: Routledge, 1995.

• Charvát, Petr. Mesopotamia Before History. London, Routledge, 2002.

• Rothman, Mitchell S. Uruk, Mesopotamia & Its Neighbors. Santa Fe: School of American

Research Press, 2001.

See also

• Uruk period, an archaeologically-deduced culture named after this city

External links

• Earliest evidence for large scale organized warfare in the Mesopotamian world (Hamoukar vs. Uruk?