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Uruk: The First Great City

Uruk was one of the most important cities (at one time, the most important) in ancient Mesopotamia. According to the Sumerian King List, it was founded by King Enmerkar circa 5000/4500 BCE. Uruk is best known as the birthplace of writing circa 3200 BCE, as well as for its architecture, the famous exploits of its king Gilgamesh, the invention of the cylinder seal, and other cultural innovations.

Located in the southern region of Sumer (modern-day Warka, Iraq), Uruk was known in the Aramaic language as Erech, which, it is believed, gave rise to the modern name for the country of Iraq, though another likely derivation is Al-Iraq, the Arabic name for the region of Babylonia. The city of Uruk is most famous for its great king Gilgamesh and the epic tale of his quest for immortality (now regarded as the oldest work of literature in the world), but also for a number of firsts in the development of civilization, which occurred there.

It is considered the first true city in the world, the origin of writing, the first example of architectural work in stone, the building of great stone structures, the origin of the ziggurat, and the first city to develop the cylinder seal, which the ancient Mesopotamians used to designate personal property or as a signature on documents. Considering the importance the cylinder seal had for the people of the time, and that it stood for one's personal identity and reputation, Uruk could also be credited as the city that first recognized the importance of the individual in the collective community.

The city was continuously inhabited from its founding until circa 300 CE, when, owing to both natural and human influences, people began to desert the area; it was largely abandoned (though not entirely) by circa 700 CE. By this time, it had depleted natural resources in the surrounding area and was no longer a major political or commercial power. The once-great city finally lay abandoned and buried until it was excavated in 1853 by William Loftus for the British Museum.

The Uruk Period

The Ubaid period (circa 6500-4000 BCE), when the so-called Ubaid people first inhabited the region of Sumer, is followed by the Uruk Period (4000-3100 BCE), during which time cities began to develop across Mesopotamia and Uruk became the most influential. The Uruk period is divided into 8 phases from the oldest through its prominence and into its decline, based upon the levels of the ruins excavated and the history that the artifacts found there reveal. The city was most influential between 4100 and circa 3000 BCE when Uruk was the largest urban center and the hub of trade and administration.

In precisely what manner Uruk ruled the region, why and how it became known as the first city in the world, and in what manner it exercised its authority are not fully known. Scholar Gwendolyn Leick writes:

The Uruk phenomenon is still much debated, as to what extent Uruk exercised political control over the large area covered by the Uruk artifacts, whether this relied on the use of force, and which institutions were in charge. Too little of the site has been excavated to provide any firm answers to these questions. However, it is clear that, at this time, the urbanization process was set in motion, concentrated at Uruk itself.

(183-184)

Since the city of Ur had a more advantageous placement for trade, further south toward the Persian Gulf, it would seem to make sense that city, rather than Uruk, would have wielded more influence, but this is not the case.

Artifacts from Uruk appear at virtually every excavated site throughout Mesopotamia and even in Egypt. The historian Julian Reade notes:

Perhaps the most striking example of the wide spread of some features of the Uruk culture consists in the distribution of what must be one of the crudest forms ever made, the so-called beveled-rim bowl. This kind of bowl, mould-made and mass-produced, is found in large numbers throughout Mesopotamia and beyond. (30)

This bowl was the means by which workers seem to have been paid: by a certain amount of grain ladled into a standard-sized bowl. The remains of these bowls, throughout all of Mesopotamia, suggest that they "were frequently discarded immediately after use, like the aluminum foil containing a modern take-away meal" (Reade, 30). So popular was the beveled-rim bowl that manufacturing centres sprang up throughout Mesopotamia, extending as far away from Uruk as the city of Mari in the far north. Because of this, it is unclear if the bowl originated at Uruk or elsewhere (though Uruk is generally held as the bowl's origin). If at Uruk, then the beveled-rim bowl must be counted among the many of the city's accomplishments, as it is the first known example of a mass-produced product.

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Sumer: The Cradle of Civilization

Sumer is recognized as the birthplace of many of the "firsts" of civilization, including writing and the development of the city. Their legacy continues in many aspects of civilization, which those in the modern day take for granted as having always existed. Everything begins somewhere, however, and in History Begins at Sumer, Samual Noah Kramer lists 39 'firsts' in history from the region.

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Mesopotamia: The Rise of the Cities: Personal Identity, Safety, and Civilization in the Near East

Once upon a time, in the land known as Sumer, the people built a temple to their god, who had conquered the forces of chaos and brought order to the world. They built this temple at a place called Eridu, which, as scholar Gwendolyn Leick notes, was:

One of the most southerly sites, at the very edge of the alluvial river plain and close to the marshes: the transitional zone between sea and land, with its shifting watercourses, islands and deep reed thickets.

(City, 2)

From this rural setting, the Mesopotamian city arose, and urbanization – wherever it developed in the region afterwards – would become central to Mesopotamian personal identity, communal commerce, education, industry, military, religious, and cultural advances from circa 4000 BCE onwards. The rise of the Mesopotamian cities not only came to define the region but also its people. Leick writes:

Mesopotamian scribes considered urban life as the only form of civilized communality. A person's civic identity was that of a citizen of a particular city with its suburbs and surrounding countryside. Nonurban members of the population defined themselves by tribal allegiance.

(A to Z, 42)

The city was not just somewhere to live but also provided people their identity, livelihood, and purpose in life. In the same way people today champion their individual city and its landmarks, culinary specialities, and peculiarities, so did the people of ancient Mesopotamia. The city also came to be associated with kingship and, therefore, order. The semi-mythical Sumerian King List gives the first five cities on which kingship was bestowed by divine will:

Eridu

Bad-tibira

Larak

Sippar

Shuruppak

Kingship, according to this document, passed from Eridu on down to Shuruppak and from there further, maintaining the divine vision of social order first realized at Eridu. Although modern-day scholarship has proven this a false narrative, the worldview expressed in the Sumerian King List shows how the city was equated with order and civilization at the time the piece was written during the Ur III Period (circa 2112 to circa 2004 BCE).

Why did the first cities rise in Mesopotamia? The simplest answer is that people established communities near water sources. developed irrigation techniques to draw that water toward their fields, and so attracted others who wanted the same level of affluence they saw in those living in that locale. As more people arrived, the city developed not only to encourage economic growth, but to protect those engaged in making that happen through a king, government, laws, walls, a military force, and religious/cultural obligations.

Mythological Origins

This marshy area around Eridu represented to the people the life-giving force of the god and provided a physical manifestation of the order their god had created from chaos; the sweet waters of life were celebrated at Eridu as they were associated with what the Sumerians called the abzu, the primordial source of all existence, the realm in which the gods lived and from which they emerged.

The god Enki came forth from the abzu and dwelt at Eridu, and the Sumerian King List states, "After kingship had descended from heaven, kingship was in Eridu," meaning that, to the Sumerians, Eridu was the first city and the origin of the divine mandate of kingship that would maintain order. Leick writes:

Thus the Mesopotamian Eden is not a garden but a city, formed from a piece of dry land surrounded by the waters. The first building is a temple…This is how Mesopotamian tradition presented the evolution and function of cities, and Eridu provides the mythical paradigm. Contrary to the biblical Eden, from which man was banished forever after the Fall, Eridu remained a real place, imbued with sacredness but always accessible.

(City, 2)

Eridu was not only the first city in the world to the Sumerians, but the beginning of civilization. Every other city ever raised, they believed, had its origin in the sand and waters which surrounded Eridu.

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Rise of Mesopotamian Cities

Mesopotamia, often called the “cradle of civilization,” saw the birth of the world’s first cities in the land of Sumer. Here, people built not just homes, but temples dedicated to their gods, symbolizing the conquest of chaos by divine order. These early cities emerged in challenging environments, like Eridu near marshes and shifting waterways, showing remarkable human adaptation and organization.

Key Facts

Eridu was one of the earliest Sumerian cities, located at the edge of alluvial plains and marshes.

The construction of temples marked the rise of city-states with religious centers.

Mesopotamia’s cities thrived in a landscape of rivers and marshes, balancing land and water.

The Sumerians developed cuneiform writing around 3500 BCE, enabling historical record-keeping.

Early education included memorizing hymns and complex compositions that preserved culture.

Literature from this era expressed human emotions, divine relationships, and the human experience, as seen in priestess Enheduanna’s hymns.

Historical Context

The Sumerian cities arose in Mesopotamia’s fertile river valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates. This environment required sophisticated irrigation and social organization. Temples like those in Eridu symbolized both political and religious authority, anchoring these early urban centers.

Historical Significance

Mesopotamia’s early cities laid the groundwork for civilization by developing organized states, writing systems, and cultural institutions. The rise of temples and the written word allowed societies to control and document complex social, religious, and political life. These innovations influenced all future civilizations and mark the beginning of recorded human history.

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