Editing Uruk (section)

===Eanna District===
[[File:Eanna4composite.svg|right|thumb|Eanna IVa (light brown) and IVb (dark brown)]]
The Eanna district is historically significant as both writing and monumental public architecture emerged here during Uruk periods VI–IV. The combination of these two developments places Eanna as arguably the first true city and civilization in human history. Eanna during period IVa contains the earliest examples of writing.<ref>{{cite book|last=Nissen|first=Hans J.|chapter=Urbanization and the techniques of communication: the Mesopotamian city of Uruk during the fourth millennium BCE|series=[[The Cambridge World History]]|volume=3|title=Early Cities in Comparative Perspective, 4000 BCE–1200 CE|editor-last=Yoffee|editor-first=Norman|editor-link=Norman Yoffee|year=2015|isbn=978-0-521-19008-4|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=113}}</ref>

The first building of [[Eanna]], Stone-Cone Temple (Mosaic Temple), was built in period VI over a preexisting Ubaid temple and is enclosed by a limestone wall with an elaborate system of [[buttress]]es. The Stone-Cone Temple, named for the [[mosaic]] of colored stone cones driven into the Ad[[adobe brick|obe brick]] façade, may be the earliest water cult in Mesopotamia. It was "destroyed by force" in Uruk IVb period and its contents interred in the Riemchen Building.<ref name="Lenzen1960" />

[[File:Cylinder seal king Louvre AO6620.jpg|thumb|left|An Uruk period cylinder-seal and its impression, c. 3100 BCE. [[Louvre Museum|Louvre]]]]
In the following period, Uruk V, about 100&nbsp;m east of the Stone-Cone Temple the Limestone Temple was built on a 2&nbsp;m high rammed-earth [[podium]] over a pre-existing Ubaid temple, which like the Stone-Cone Temple represents a continuation of Ubaid culture. However, the Limestone Temple was unprecedented for its size and use of stone, a clear departure from traditional Ubaid architecture. The stone was quarried from an outcrop at Umayyad about 60&nbsp;km east of Uruk. It is unclear if the entire temple or just the foundation was built of this [[limestone]]. The Limestone Temple is probably the first Inanna temple, but it is impossible to know with certainty. Like the Stone-Cone temple the Limestone temple was also covered in cone mosaics. Both of these temples were rectangles with their corners aligned to the cardinal directions, a central hall flanked along the long axis by two smaller halls, and buttressed façades; the prototype of all future Mesopotamian temple architectural [[Typology (urban planning and architecture)|typology]].

[[File:Pictographs Recording the Allocation of Beer (London, England).jpg|thumb|right|Tablet from Uruk III (c. 3200–3000 BCE) recording beer distributions from the storerooms of an institution,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdli.ucla.edu/cdlisearch/search/index.php?SearchMode=Browse&ResultCount=1&txtID_Txt=P005323|title=Tablet MSVO 3,12 /BM 140855: description on CDLI.}}</ref> [[British Museum]]]]
Between these two monumental structures a complex of buildings (called A–C, E–K, Riemchen, Cone-Mosaic), courts, and walls was built during Eanna IVb. These buildings were built during a time of great expansion in Uruk as the city grew to {{Convert|250|ha|abbr=on}} and established long-distance trade, and are a continuation of architecture from the previous period. The Riemchen Building, named for the {{Convert|16|cm|abbr=on}}×{{Convert|16|cm|abbr=on}} brick shape called ''Riemchen'' by the Germans, is a memorial with a ritual fire kept burning in the center for the Stone-Cone Temple after it was destroyed. For this reason, Uruk IV period represents a reorientation of belief and culture. The facade of this memorial may have been covered in geometric and figural murals. The Riemchen bricks first used in this temple were used to construct all buildings of Uruk IV period Eanna. The use of colored cones as a façade treatment was greatly developed as well, perhaps used to greatest effect in the Cone-Mosaic Temple. Composed of three parts: Temple N, the Round Pillar Hall, and the Cone-Mosaic Courtyard, this temple was the most monumental structure of Eanna at the time. They were all ritually destroyed and the entire Eanna district was rebuilt in period IVa at an even grander scale.

During Eanna IVa, the Limestone Temple was demolished and the Red Temple built on its foundations. The accumulated debris of the Uruk IVb buildings were formed into a [[Terrace (building)|terrace]], the L-Shaped Terrace, on which Buildings C, D, M, Great Hall, and Pillar Hall were built. Building E was initially thought to be a palace, but later proven to be a communal building. Also in period IV, the Great Court, a sunken courtyard surrounded by two tiers of benches covered in cone mosaic, was built. A small [[aqueduct (watercourse)|aqueduct]] drains into the Great Courtyard, which may have irrigated a garden at one time. The impressive buildings of this period were built as Uruk reached its zenith and expanded to 600&nbsp;hectares. All the buildings of Eanna IVa were destroyed sometime in Uruk III, for unclear reasons.{{Citation needed|date=September 2021}}

The architecture of Eanna in period III was very different from what had preceded it. The complex of monumental temples was replaced with baths around the Great Courtyard and the labyrinthine Rammed-Earth Building. This period corresponds to [[History of Sumer|Early Dynastic Sumer]] {{circa}} 2900&nbsp;BCE, a time of great social upheaval when the dominance of Uruk was eclipsed by competing [[city-state]]s. The [[fortress]]-like architecture of this time is a reflection of that turmoil. The temple of Inanna continued functioning during this time in a new form and under a new name, 'The House of Inanna in Uruk' (Sumerian: {{Transliteration|sux|e₂-ᵈinanna unuᵏⁱ-ga}}). The location of this structure is currently unknown.<ref name="Beaulieu2003" />