Editing Uruk (section)

==History==
[[File:Warka vase (background retouched).jpg|thumb|left|Devotional scene to [[Inanna]], [[Warka Vase]], c. 3200–3000 BCE, Uruk. This is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture.]]

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 ''[[Eanna|House of Heaven]]'' (Sumerian: ''e₂-anna''; cuneiform: {{cuneiform|4|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&nbsp;BCE) to the Late Uruk period (3500–3100&nbsp;BCE).<ref name="Harmansah2007" /> The city was formed when two smaller [[Ubaid period|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]].<ref name="Harmansah2007" />

The Eanna District was composed of several buildings with spaces for workshops, and it 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.<ref name="Beaulieu2003" >{{Cite book | last = Beaulieu | first = Paul-Alain | author-link = Paul-Alain Beaulieu | title = The Pantheon of Uruk During the Neo-Babylonian Period | publisher = BRILL | year = 2003 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=v-WRJhvfudIC | isbn = 90-04-13024-1}}</ref> 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".<ref>Fassbinder, J.W.E., and H. Becker, "Magnetometry at Uruk (Iraq): The city of King Gilgamesh", Archaeologia Polona, vol. 41, pp. 122–124, 2003</ref> 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, now dry. Currently, the site of Warka is northeast of the modern Euphrates river. The change in position was caused by a shift in the Euphrates at some point in history, which, together with salination due to irrigation, may have contributed to the decline of Uruk.

===Uruk period===
[[File:Uruk expansion.svg|thumb|upright=1.2|left|Uruk expansion and colonial outposts, {{Circa|3600}}–3200 BCE]]

{{main|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 BCE). This period of 800&nbsp;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 [[hectare]]s while Uruk was significantly larger and more complex. The Uruk period culture exported by Sumerian traders and colonists had an effect on 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===
[[File:Uruk3000BCE.jpg|thumb|right|Clay impression of a cylinder seal with monstrous lions and lion-headed eagles, Mesopotamia, Uruk Period (4100 BCE–3000 BCE). Louvre Museum]]
[[File:Limestone foundation peg of Lugal-kisal-si, from Uruk, Iraq. C. 2380 BCE. Pergamon Museum.jpg|thumb|left|Foundation peg of [[Lugal-kisal-si]], king of Uruk, Ur and Kish, circa 2380 BCE. The inscription reads "For (goddess) [[Nammu|Namma]], wife of (the god) [[Anu|An]], Lugalkisalsi, King of Uruk, King of Ur, erected this temple of Namma". [[Pergamon Museum]] VA 4855<ref name="Nissen2003" />]]
[[File:Tablet of Sin-Gamil of Uruk.jpg|thumb|Dedication tablet of [[Sîn-gāmil]], ruler of Uruk, 18th century BCE.]]
Dynastic categorizations are described solely from the [[Sumerian King List]], which is of problematic historical accuracy;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kesecker|first=Nshan|title=Lugalzagesi: The First Emperor of Mesopotamia?|url=https://www.academia.edu/38693392|journal=ARAMAZD Armenian Journal of Near Eastern Studies|date=January 2018|volume=12 |pages=76–96 |doi=10.32028/ajnes.v12i1.893 |s2cid=257461809}}</ref><ref>Marchesi, Gianni, "The Sumerian King List and the early history of Mesopotamia", ''Vicino Oriente Quaderno'', pp. 231–248, 2010</ref> the organization might be analogous to [[Manetho|Manetho's]].

In 2009, two different copies of an inscription were put forth as evidence of a 19th-century BCE ruler of Uruk named Naram-sin.<ref name="Dassow2009" >Eva von Dassow, "Narām-Sîn of Uruk: A New King in an Old Shoebox", ''Journal of Cuneiform Studies'', vol. 61, pp. 63–91, 2009</ref>

Uruk continued as 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-am|AN-am<sub>3</sub>]] (Dingiram), ÌR<sub>3</sub>-ne-ne ([[Irdanene]]), who was defeated by [[Rim-Sin I|Rīm-Sîn I]] of Larsa in his year 14 (c. 1740&nbsp;BCE), [[Rîm-Anum]] and Nabi-ilīšu.<ref name="Frayne1990" /><ref name="Dassow2009" /><ref>Rients de Boer, "Beginnings of Old Babylonian Babylon: Sumu-Abum and Sumu-La-El", Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 70, pp. 53–86, 2018</ref><ref>Seri, Andrea, "The archive of the house of prisoners and political history", The House of Prisoners: Slavery and State in Uruk during the Revolt against Samsu-iluna, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 20-54, 2013</ref><ref name="Tyborowski2012" >Witold Tyborowski, "New Tablets from Kisurra and the Chronology of Central Babylonia in the Early Old Babylonian Period", Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 102, iss. 2, pp. 245–269, 2012, ISSN 0084-5299</ref>

It is known that during the time of Ilum-gāmil a temple was built for the god [[Iškur]] (HAD) 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]".<ref name="Frayne1990" >Frayne, Douglas, "Uruk", Old Babylonian Period (2003-1595 B.C.): Early Periods, Volume 4, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 439-483, 1990</ref>

===Uruk into Late Antiquity===
[[File:British Museum Foundation Tablet.jpg|thumb|Foundation tablet from the Temple of Inanna at Uruk (Eanna), dating to the reign of Ur-Nammu.]]
Although it hadbeen 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 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: [[É (temple)|E₂]].[[E-sara|SAR.A]]) ({{cuneiform|𒂍𒊬𒀀}}) to the northeast of the Uruk period Eanna ruins.

Following the collapse of Ur ({{circa}} 2000&nbsp;BCE), Uruk went into a steep decline until about 850&nbsp;BCE when the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] annexed it as a provincial capital. Under the Neo-Assyrians and [[Neo-Babylonian]]s, Uruk regained much of its former glory. By 250&nbsp;BCE, a new temple complex the 'Head Temple' (Akkadian: ''Bīt Reš'') was added to northeast of the Uruk period Anu district. The ''Bīt Reš'' along with the ''[[Esagila]]'' was one of the two main centers of [[Babylonian astronomy|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 [[Shamash|Šamaš]] Gate districts.<ref name="Baker2002" >H. D. Baker, "The Urban Landscape in First Millennium BC Babylonia", University of Vienna, 2002</ref>

Uruk, known as Orcha ({{lang|grc|Ὄρχα}}) to the Greeks, continued to thrive under the [[Seleucid Empire]]. During this period, Uruk was a city of 300&nbsp;hectares and perhaps 40,000 inhabitants.<ref name="Baker2002" /><ref>R. van der Spek  "The Latest on Seleucid Empire Building in the East". ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' 138.2 (2018): 385–394.</ref><ref name="RvdS">R. van der Spek. "Feeding Hellenistic Seleucia on the Tigris". In R. Alston & O. van Nijf, eds. ''Feeding the Ancient Greek City'' 36. Leuven ; Dudley, Massachusetts: Peeters Publishers, 2008.</ref> In 200&nbsp;BCE, 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.<ref name="RvdS"/> When the Seleucids lost Mesopotamia to the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]] in 141 BCE, Uruk continued in use.<ref>C. A. Petrie, "Seleucid Uruk: An Analysis of Ceramic Distribution", ''Iraq'', vol. 64, 2002, pp. 85–123, 2002</ref> The decline of Uruk after the Parthians may have been in part caused by a shift in the Euphrates River. By 300&nbsp;CE, Uruk was mostly abandoned, but a group of [[Mandaeans]] settled there, based on some finds of [[Mandaic language|Mandaic]] [[incantation bowl]]s, and by {{circa|700 AD}} it was completely abandoned.<ref>[[Rudolf Macuch]], "Gefäßinschriften", in Eva Strommenger (ed.), Gefässe aus Uruk von der Neubabylonischen Zeit bis zu den Sasaniden (= Ausgrabungen der deutschen Forschungsgemeinschaft in Uruk-Warka 7), pp. 55–57, pl. 57.1–3, Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1967</ref>

===Political history===
[[File:Gebel el-Arak Knife ivory handle (front top part detail).jpg|thumb|150px|Mesopotamian king as [[Master of Animals]] on the [[Gebel el-Arak Knife]] (c. 3300–3200 BCE, [[Abydos, Egypt]]), a work indicating [[Egypt-Mesopotamia relations]] and showing the early influence of Mesopotamia on [[Egypt]] and the state of Mesopotamian royal iconography in the Uruk period. [[Louvre Museum|Louvre]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Couteau du Gebel el-Arak at the Louvre Museum |url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=668 |website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Cooper |first1=Jerrol S. |pages=10–14|title=The Study of the Ancient Near East in the Twenty-first Century: The William Foxwell Albright Centennial Conference |date=1996 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |isbn=978-0-931464-96-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3hc1Yp0VcjoC&pg=PA10 |language=en}}</ref>]]

Uruk played a very important part in the political history of Sumer. Starting from the Early Uruk period, the city exercised [[hegemony]] over nearby settlements. At this time ({{circa|3800&nbsp;BC}}), there were two centers of {{Convert|20|ha|abbr=on}}, Uruk in the south and [[Nippur]] in the north surrounded by much smaller {{Convert|10|ha|abbr=on}} settlements.<ref>[[Harriet Crawford|Crawford, Harriet E.W.]], "Sumer and the Sumerians", Cambridge University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-521-53338-4}}</ref> Later, in the Late Uruk period, its sphere of influence extended over all Sumer and beyond to external colonies in upper Mesopotamia and Syria.
{{blockquote|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<ref>{{Cite book | last = Oppenheim | first = A. Leo |author2=Erica Reiner  | title = Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a Dead Civilization | publisher = University of Chicago Press | year = 1977 | location = Chicago | pages = [https://archive.org/details/ancientmesopotam00aleo/page/445 445] | url = https://archive.org/details/ancientmesopotam00aleo | url-access = registration | isbn = 0-226-63187-7| author2-link = Erica Reiner
}}</ref>}}

[[File:Uruk King-Priest 3300 BCE portrait detail.jpg|thumb|left|Probable Uruk King-Priest with a beard and hat (c. 3300 BCE, Uruk). [[Louvre Museum|Louvre]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Site officiel du musée du Louvre |url=http://cartelfr.louvre.fr/cartelfr/visite?srv=car_not_frame&idNotice=11232 |website=cartelfr.louvre.fr}}</ref>]]
The recorded chronology of rulers over Uruk includes both mythological and historic figures in 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 lowered from heaven to Eridu then passed successively through five cities until the deluge which ended the Uruk period. Afterwards, kingship passed to [[Kish (Sumer)|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&nbsp;BCE), 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&nbsp;BCE), Uruk was again the dominant city exercising control of Sumer. This period is the time of the First Dynasty of Uruk sometimes called the Heroic Age. However, by the Early Dynastic IIIa period (2600–2500&nbsp;BCE) 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&nbsp;BCE), also called the Pre-Sargonic period (before the rise of the [[Akkadian Empire]] under [[Sargon of Akkad]]), Uruk continued to be ruled by Ur.