Uruk

Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East or West Asia, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilometers (58 miles) northwest of ancient Ur, 108 kilometers (67 miles) southeast of ancient Nippur, and 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of ancient Larsa. It is 30 km (19 mi) east of modern Samawah.

Uruk

𒀕𒆠, Unugᵏⁱ (Sumerian) 𒌷𒀕 or 𒌷𒀔, Uruk (Akkadian)
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Uruk Shown within Iraq
Location	Muthanna Governorate, Iraq
Region	Mesopotamia
Coordinates	31°19′27″N 45°38′14″E / 31.32417°N 45.63722°E / 31.32417; 45.63722
Type	Settlement
Area	6 km^2 (2.3 sq mi)
History
Founded	c. 5000 BC
Abandoned	c. 700 AD
Periods	Uruk period to Early Middle Ages
Site notes
Excavation dates	1850, 1854, 1902, 1912–1913, 1928–1939, 1953–1978, 2001–2002, 2016–present
Archaeologists	William Loftus, Walter Andrae, Julius Jordan, Heinrich Lenzen, Margarete van Ess
Interactive map of Uruk
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name	Uruk Archaeological City
Part of	Ahwar of Southern Iraq
Criteria	Mixed: (iii)(v)(ix)(x)
Reference	1481-005
Inscription	2016 (40th Session)
Area	541 ha (2.09 sq mi)
Buffer zone	292 ha (1.13 sq mi)

Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period. Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. By the final phase of the Uruk period around 3100 BC, the city may have had 40,000 residents, with 80,000–90,000 people living in its environs, making it the largest urban area in the world at the time. Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the Sumerian King List (SKL), ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. After the end of the Early Dynastic period, with the rise of the Akkadian Empire, the city lost its prime importance. It had periods of florescence during the Isin-Larsa period, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods and throughout the Achaemenid (550–330 BC), Seleucid (312–63 BC) and Parthian (227 BC to AD 224) periods, until it was finally abandoned shortly before or after the Islamic conquest of 633–638.

William Kennett Loftus visited the site of Uruk in 1849, identifying it as "Erech", known as "the second city of Nimrod", and led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854. In myth and literature, Uruk was famous as the capital city of Gilgamesh, hero of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Biblical scholars identify Uruk as the biblical Erech (Genesis 10:10), the second city founded by Nimrod in Shinar.

Toponymy

Uruk (/ˈʊrʊk/) has several spellings in cuneiform. In Sumerian, it is 𒀕𒆠 unugᵏⁱ, and in Akkadian, it is spelled 𒌷𒀕 or 𒌷𒀔 Uruk (^URUUNUG). In Arabic, it is called وركاء (Warkāʾ) or أوروك (Auruk); in Syriac, ܐܘܿܪܘܿܟ (ʾÚrūk); and in Biblical Hebrew, אֶרֶךְ (ʾÉreḵ). In Ancient Greek, it was known as Ὀρχόη (Orkhóē), Ὀρέχ (Orékh), and Ὠρύγεια (Ōrúgeia).

History

According to the SKL, Uruk was founded by the king Enmerkar. Though the king-list mentions a father before him, the epic Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta relates that Enmerkar constructed the House of Heaven (Sumerian: e₂-anna; cuneiform: 𒂍𒀭 E₂.AN) for the goddess Inanna in the Eanna District of Uruk. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh builds the city wall around Uruk and is king of the city.

Uruk went through several phases of growth, from the Early Uruk period (4000–3500 BC) to the Late Uruk period (3500–3100 BC). The city was formed when two smaller Ubaid settlements developed into the cities of Unug and Kullaba and later merged to become Uruk. The temple complexes at their cores became the Eanna District (Unug) dedicated to Inanna and the "Anu" District of Kullaba.

The Eanna District comprised several buildings with workshop spaces and was walled off from the city. By contrast, the Anu District was built on a terrace with a temple at the top. It is clear Eanna was dedicated to Inanna from the earliest Uruk period throughout the history of the city. The rest of the city was composed of typical courtyard houses, grouped by profession of the occupants, in districts around Eanna and Anu. Uruk was extremely well penetrated by a canal system that has been described as "Venice in the desert". This canal system flowed throughout the city connecting it with the maritime trade on the ancient Euphrates River as well as the surrounding agricultural belt.

The original city of Uruk was situated southwest of the ancient Euphrates River. Today, the site of Warka is northeast of the river. The change in position was caused by a shift in the Euphrates at some point in history, which, together with salinization from irrigation, may have contributed to the decline of Uruk.^{[citation needed]}

Uruk period

In addition to being one of the first cities, Uruk was the main force of urbanization and state formation during the Uruk period, or 'Uruk expansion' (4000–3200 BC). This period of 800 years saw a shift from small, agricultural villages to a larger urban center with a full-time bureaucracy, military, and stratified society. Although other settlements coexisted with Uruk, they were generally about 10 hectares while Uruk was significantly larger and more complex. The Uruk period culture exported by Sumerian traders and colonists influenced all surrounding peoples, who gradually evolved their own comparable, competing economies and cultures. Ultimately, Uruk could not maintain long-distance control over colonies such as Tell Brak by military force.

Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Ur III, and Old Babylonian period

Dynastic categorizations are described solely from the Sumerian King List, which is of problematic historical accuracy; the organization might be analogous to Manetho's.

In 2009, two different copies of an inscription were put forth as evidence of a 19th-century BC ruler of Uruk named Naram-sin.

Uruk continued as a principality of Ur, Babylon, and later Achaemenid, Seleucid, and Parthian Empires. It enjoyed brief periods of independence during the Isin-Larsa period, under kings such as (possibly Ikūn-pî-Ištar, Sumu-binasa, Alila-hadum, and Naram-Sin), Sîn-kāšid, his son Sîn-irībam, his son Sîn-gāmil, Ilum-gāmil, brother of Sîn-gāmil, Etēia, AN-am₃ (Dingiram), ÌR₃-ne-ne (Irdanene), who was defeated by Rīm-Sîn I of Larsa in his year 14 (c. 1740 BC), Rîm-Anum and Nabi-ilīšu.

It is known that during the time of Ilum-gāmil a temple was built for the god Iškur (Hadad) based on a clay cone inscription reading "For the god Iškur, lord, fearsome splendour of heaven and earth, his lord, for the life of Ilum-gāmil, king of Uruk, son of Sîn-irībam, Ubar-Adad, his servant, son of Apil-Kubi, built the Esaggianidu, ('House — whose closing is good'), the residence of his office of en, and thereby made it truly befitting his own li[fe]".

Uruk into Late Antiquity

Although it had been a thriving city in Early Dynastic Sumer, especially Early Dynastic II, Uruk was ultimately annexed by the Akkadian Empire and went into decline. Later, in the Neo-Sumerian period, Uruk enjoyed a revival as a major economic and cultural center under the sovereignty of Ur. The Eanna District was restored as part of an ambitious building program, which included a new temple for Inanna. This temple included a ziggurat, the 'House of the Universe' (Cuneiform: E₂.SAR.A) (𒂍𒊬𒀀) to the northeast of the Uruk period Eanna ruins.

Following the collapse of Ur (c. 2000 BC), Uruk went into a steep decline until about 850 BC when the Neo-Assyrian Empire annexed it as a provincial capital. Under the Neo-Assyrians and Neo-Babylonians, Uruk regained much of its former glory. By 250 BC, a new temple complex, the 'Head Temple' (Akkadian: Bīt Reš), was added northeast of the Uruk-period Anu district. The Bīt Reš along with the Esagila was one of the two main centers of Neo-Babylonian astronomy. All of the temples and canals were restored again under Nabopolassar. During this era, Uruk was divided into five main districts: the Adad Temple, Royal Orchard, Ištar Gate, Lugalirra Temple, and Šamaš Gate districts.

Uruk, known as Orcha (Ὄρχα) to the Greeks, continued to thrive under the Seleucid Empire. During this period, Uruk was a city of 300 hectares and perhaps 40,000 inhabitants. In 200 BC, the 'Great Sanctuary' (Cuneiform: E₂.IRI₁₂.GAL, Sumerian: eš-gal) of Ishtar was added between the Anu and Eanna districts. The ziggurat of the temple of Anu, which was rebuilt in this period, was the largest ever built in Mesopotamia. When the Seleucids lost Mesopotamia to the Parthians in 141 BC, Uruk continued in use. The decline of Uruk after the Parthians may have been in part caused by a shift in the Euphrates River. By 300 AD, Uruk was mostly abandoned, but a group of Mandaeans settled there, based on some finds of Mandaic incantation bowls, and by c. 700 AD it was completely abandoned.

Political history

Uruk played a very important part in the political history of Sumer. From the Early Uruk period onward, the city exerted hegemony over nearby settlements. At this time (c. 3800 BC), there were two centers of 20 ha (49 acres), Uruk in the south and Nippur in the north surrounded by much smaller 10 ha (25 acres) settlements. Later, in the Late Uruk period, its sphere of influence extended over all Sumer and beyond to external colonies in upper Mesopotamia and Syria.

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.

— Oppenheim

The recorded chronology of rulers of Uruk includes both mythological and historical figures across five dynasties. As in the rest of Sumer, power moved progressively from the temple to the palace. Rulers from the Early Dynastic period exercised control over Uruk and, at times, over all of Sumer. In myth, kingship was brought down from heaven to Eridu, then passed through five cities in succession until the deluge, which ended the Uruk period. Afterwards, kingship passed to Kish at the beginning of the Early Dynastic period, which corresponds to the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in Sumer. In the Early Dynastic I period (2900–2800 BC), Uruk was in theory under the control of Kish. This period is sometimes called the Golden Age. During the Early Dynastic II period (2800–2600 BC), Uruk was again the dominant city exercising control of Sumer. This period corresponds to the First Dynasty of Uruk, also known as the Heroic Age. However, by the Early Dynastic IIIa period (2600–2500 BC) Uruk had lost sovereignty, this time to Ur. This period, corresponding to the Early Bronze Age III, is the end of the First Dynasty of Uruk. In the Early Dynastic IIIb period (2500–2334 BC), also called the Pre-Sargonic period (before the rise of the Akkadian Empire under Sargon of Akkad), Uruk remained under Ur's rule.

Architecture

Uruk has some of the first monumental constructions in architectural history, and certainly the largest of its era. Much of Near Eastern architecture can trace its roots to these prototypical buildings. The structures of Uruk are cited under two different naming conventions: one in German from the initial expedition and the English translation of the same. The site's stratigraphy is complex, and as a result, much of the dating is disputed. In general, the structures follow the two main typologies of Sumerian architecture: Tripartite, with three parallel halls, and T-Shaped, with three halls, with the central hall extending into two perpendicular bays at one end. The following table summarizes the significant architecture of the Eanna and Anu Districts. Temple N, the Cone-Mosaic Courtyard, and the Round Pillar Hall are often referred to as a single structure: the Cone-Mosaic Temple.

Eanna district: 4000–3000 BC
Structure name	German name	Period	Typology	Material	Area in m²
Stone-Cone Temple	Steinstifttempel	Uruk VI	T-shaped	Limestone and bitumen	x
Limestone Temple	Kalksteintempel	Uruk V	T-shaped	Limestone and bitumen	2373
Riemchen Building	Riemchengebäude	Uruk IVb	unique	Adobe brick	x
Cone-Mosaic Temple	Stiftmosaikgebäude	Uruk IVb	unique	x	x
Temple A	Gebäude A	Uruk IVb	Tripartite	Adobe brick	738
Temple B	Gebäude B	Uruk IVb	Tripartite	Adobe brick	338
Temple C	Gebäude C	Uruk IVb	T-shaped	Adobe brick	1314
Temple/Palace E	Gebäude E	Uruk IVb	unique	Adobe brick	2905
Temple F	Gebäude F	Uruk IVb	T-shaped	Adobe brick	465
Temple G	Gebäude G	Uruk IVb	T-shaped	Adobe brick	734
Temple H	Gebäude H	Uruk IVb	T-shaped	Adobe brick	628
Temple D	Gebäude D	Uruk IVa	T-shaped	Adobe brick	2596
Room I	Gebäude I	Uruk V	x	x	x
Temple J	Gebäude J	Uruk IVb	x	Adobe brick	x
Temple K	Gebäude K	Uruk IVb	x	Adobe brick	x
Temple L	Gebäude L	Uruk V	x	x	x
Temple M	Gebäude M	Uruk IVa	x	Adobe brick	x
Temple N	Gebäude N	Uruk IVb	unique	Adobe brick	x
Temple O	Gebäude O	x	x	x	x
Hall Building/Great Hall	Hallenbau	Uruk IVa	unique	Adobe brick	821
Pillar Hall	Pfeilerhalle	Uruk IVa	unique	x	219
Bath Building	Bäder	Uruk III	unique	x	x
Red Temple	Roter Tempel	Uruk IVa	x	Adobe brick	x
Great Court	Großer Hof	Uruk IVa	unique	Burnt Brick	2873
Rammed-Earth Building	Stampflehm	Uruk III	unique	x	x
Round Pillar Hall	Rundpeifeilerhalle	Uruk IVb	unique	Adobe brick	x
Anu district: 4000–3000 BC
Stone Building	Steingebäude	Uruk VI	unique	Limestone and bitumen	x
White Temple	x	Uruk III	Tripartite	Adobe brick	382

It is clear that Eanna was dedicated to Inanna, symbolized by Venus from the Uruk period. At that time, she was worshipped in four aspects as Inanna of the netherworld (Sumerian: ᵈinanna-kur), Inanna of the morning (Sumerian: ᵈinanna-hud₂), Inanna of the evening (Sumerian: ᵈinanna-sig), and Inanna (Sumerian: ᵈinanna-NUN). The names of four temples in Uruk at this time are known, but it is impossible to match them with either a specific structure and in some cases a deity.

• sanctuary of Inanna (Sumerian: eš-ᵈinanna)
• sanctuary of Inanna of the evening (Sumerian: eš-ᵈinanna-sig)
• temple of heaven (Sumerian: e₂-an)
• temple of heaven and netherworld (Sumerian: e₂-an-ki)

• Architecture of Uruk
• Plan of Eanna VI–V
• Plan of Eanna IVb
• Plan of Eanna IVa
• Plan of Eanna III
• Plan of Neo-Sumerian Eanna
• Plan of Anu District Phase E
• Reconstruction of a mosaic from the Eanna temple.
• Detail of Reconstruction of a mosaic from the Eanna temple.

Archaeology

By the end of the Uruk period c. 3100 BC) Uruk had reached a size of 250 ha (620 acres). During the following Jemdet Nasr period it grew to a size of 600 ha (1,500 acres) by c. 2800 BC with the main temple area of Eanna being completely rebuilt after leveling the foundations of the Uruk period construction. A new city wall was constructed in this period.

The site, which lies about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of ancient Ur, is one of the largest in the region at around 5.5 km² (2.1 sq mi) in area. The maximum extent is 3 km (1.9 miles) north/south, and 2.5 km (1.6 miles) east/west. There are three major tells within the site: The Eanna district, Bit Resh (Kullaba), and Irigal. Archaeologically, the site is divided into six parts

1. the É-Anna ziggurat ' Egipar-imin,
2. the É-Anna enclosure (Zingel),
3. the Anu-Antum temple complex, BitRes and Anu-ziggurat,
4. Irigal, the South Building,
5. Parthian structures including the Gareus-temple, and the Multiple Apse building,
6. the "Gilgameš" city-wall with associated Sinkâsid Palace and the Seleucid Bit Akîtu.

The location of Uruk was first noted by Fraser and Ross in 1835. William Loftus excavated there in 1850 and 1854 after a scouting mission in 1849. By Loftus' own account, he admits that the first excavations were superficial at best, as his financiers forced him to deliver large museum artifacts at a minimal cost. A large basalt stela found by Loftus was later lost. Warka was also scouted by archaeologist Walter Andrae in 1902. In 1905 Warka was visited by archaeologist Edgar James Banks.

From 1912 to 1913, Julius Jordan and his team from the German Oriental Society discovered the temple of Ishtar, one of four known temples located at the site. The temples at Uruk were quite remarkable as they were constructed with brick and adorned with colorful mosaics. Jordan also discovered part of the city wall. It was later discovered that this 40-to-50-foot (12 to 15 m) high brick wall, probably utilized as a defense mechanism, totally encompassed the city at a length of 9 km (5.6 mi). Utilizing sedimentary strata dating techniques, this wall is estimated to have been erected around 3000 BC. Jordan produced a contour map of the entire site. The GOS returned to Uruk in 1928 and excavated until 1939, when World War II intervened. The team was led by Jordan until 1931 when Jordan became Director of Antiquities in Baghdad, then by A. Nöldeke, Ernst Heinrich, and H. J. Lenzen. Among the finds was the Stell of the Lion Hunt, excavated in a Jemdat Nadr layer but sylistically dated to Uruk IV.

The German excavations resumed after the war and were under the direction of Heinrich Lenzen from 1954 to 1967. He was followed in 1968 by J. Schmidt, and in 1978 by R.M. Boehmer. In total, the German archaeologists spent 39 seasons working at Uruk. The results are documented in two series of reports:

• Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk (ADFU), 17 volumes, 1912–2001
• Ausgrabungen in Uruk-Warka, Endberichte (AUWE), 25 volumes, 1987–2007

Most recently, from 2001 to 2002, the German Archaeological Institute team led by Margarete van Ess, with Joerg Fassbinder and Helmut Becker, conducted a partial magnetometer survey in Uruk. In addition to the geophysical survey, core samples and aerial photographs were taken. This was followed up with high-resolution satellite imagery in 2005. Work resumed in 2016 and is currently concentrated on the city wall area and a survey of the surrounding landscape. Part of the work has been to create a digital twin of the Uruk archaeological area. The current effort also involves geophysical surveying. The soil characteristics of the site make ground penetrating radar unsuitable so caesium magnetometers, combined with resistivity probes, are being used.

Cuneiform tablets

A number of Proto-cuneiform clay tablets were found at Uruk. About 190 were Uruk V period (c. 3500 BC) "numerical tablets" or "impressed tablets", 1776 were from the Uruk IV period (c. 3300 BC), 3094 from the Uruk III period (c. 3200–2900 BC) which is also called the Jemdet Nasr period. Later cuneiform tablets were deciphered and include the famous SKL, a record of kings of the Sumerian civilization. There was an even larger cache of legal and scholarly tablets of the Neo-Babylonian, Late Babylonian, and Seleucid period, that have been published by Adam Falkenstein and other Assyriological members of the German Archaeological Institute in Baghdad as Jan J. A. Djik, Hermann Hunger, Antoine Cavigneaux, Egbert von Weiher [de], and Karlheinz Kessler [de], or others as Erlend Gehlken. Many of the cuneiform tablets form acquisitions by museums and collections as the British Museum, Yale Babylonian Collection, and the Louvre. The latter holds a unique cuneiform tablet in Aramaic known as the Aramaic Uruk incantation. The last dated cuneiform tablet from Uruk was W22340a, an astronomical almanac, which is dated to 79/80 AD.

The oldest known writing to feature a person's name was found in Uruk, in the form of several tablets that mention Kushim, who (assuming they are an individual person) served as an accountant recording transactions made in trading barley – 29,086 measures barley 37 months Kushim.

Beveled rim bowls were the most common type of container used during the Uruk period. They are believed to be vessels for serving rations of food or drink to dependent laborers. The introduction of the fast wheel for throwing pottery was developed during the later part of the Uruk period, and made the mass production of pottery simpler and more standardized.

Artifacts

The Mask of Warka, also known as the 'Lady of Uruk' and the 'Sumerian Mona Lisa', dating from 3100 BC, is one of the earliest representations of the human face. The carved marble female face is probably a depiction of Inanna. It is approximately 20 cm (7.9 in) tall, and may have been incorporated into a larger cult image. The mask was looted from the Iraq Museum during the invasion of Iraq in April 2003. It was recovered in September 2003 and returned to the museum.

• Lugal-kisalsi, king of Uruk
• Mask of Warka
• Bull sculpture, Jemdet Nasr period, c. 3000 BC
• Stele of the Lion Hunt – Uruk period

Archaeological levels of Uruk

Archeologists have discovered multiple cities of Uruk built atop each other in chronological order.

• Uruk XVIII Eridu period (c. 5000 BC): the founding of Uruk
• Uruk XVIII–XVI Late Ubaid period (4800–4200 BC)
• Uruk XVI–X Early Uruk period (4000–3800 BC)
• Uruk IX–VI Middle Uruk period (3800–3400 BC)
• Uruk V–IV Late Uruk period (3400–3100 BC): the earliest monumental temples of Eanna District are built
• Uruk III Jemdet Nasr period (3100–2900 BC): the 9 km city wall is built
• Uruk II
• Uruk I

Anu District

Anu/ White Temple ziggurat