Credible Theories
PlaceSources (3)Mentioned in (13)
Place ยท Real place

Uruk

The Sumerian city where some of the earliest writing appears and where tradition places Gilgamesh as king.

c. 5000 BCE
Location
Near the old Euphrates channel, Muthanna Governorate
Modern name
Warka
Modern country
Iraq
Known for
Earliest writing; Eanna and Anu districts; the White Temple
Peak
c. 3100 BCE, perhaps the largest city in the world
Status
UNESCO World Heritage (Ahwar of Southern Iraq, 2016)
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What is Uruk known for?

Uruk, modern Warka in southern Iraq, gives its name to the Uruk period of the fourth millennium BCE, when cities, monumental temples and writing first appear in Mesopotamia. Around 3100 BCE it may have held tens of thousands of people. Its Eanna district, sacred to Inanna, yielded some of the earliest known proto-cuneiform tablets, and its Anu district holds the White Temple on a high terrace.

The Sumerian King List and the Epic of Gilgamesh name Gilgamesh as a king of Uruk, and the epic opens and closes with praise of its walls. The Bible lists it as Erech, one of the first cities of Nimrod's kingdom. Inanna brings the gifts of civilization to Uruk in the myth of Inanna and Enki.

Uruk was occupied from about 5000 BCE until late antiquity. It became part of a UNESCO World Heritage listing in 2016.

Why it is on Credible Theories

The city of Gilgamesh, of Inanna's Eanna temple, and of Anu's White Temple.

Mentioned on these pages

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, 'Uruk'Reference
  2. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 'The Ahwar of Southern Iraq'Reference
  3. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Gilgamesh'Reference

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