"Erech" redirects here. For the fictional location in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, seeErech (Middle-earth). For the fictional monsters in the same works, seeUruk-hai.
Uruk, the archeological site known today asWarka, was an ancient city in the Near East or West Asia, located east of the current bed of theEuphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river inMuthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilometers (58 miles) northwest of ancientUr, 108 kilometers (67 miles) southeast of ancientNippur, and 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of ancientLarsa. It is 30 km (19 mi) east of modernSamawah.[1]
Uruk is thetype site for theUruk period. Uruk played a leading role in the early urbanization ofSumer 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,[2] with 80,000–90,000 people living in its environs,[3] making it the largest urban area in the world at the time.Gilgamesh, according to thechronology presented in theSumerian King List (SKL), ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. After the end of the Early Dynastic period, with the rise of theAkkadian Empire, the city lost its prime importance. It had periods of florescence during theIsin-Larsa period, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods and throughout theAchaemenid (550–330 BC),Seleucid (312–63 BC) andParthian (227 BC to AD 224) periods, until it was finally abandoned shortly before or after theIslamic conquest of 633–638.
William Kennett Loftus visited the site of Uruk in 1849, identifying it as "Erech", known as "the second city ofNimrod", and led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854.[4] In myth and literature, Uruk was famous as the capital city ofGilgamesh, hero of theEpic of Gilgamesh. Biblical scholars identify Uruk as the biblical Erech (Genesis 10:10), the second city founded byNimrod inShinar.[5]
Devotional scene toInanna,Warka Vase, c. 3200–3000 BC, Uruk. This is one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture.
According to theSKL, Uruk was founded by the kingEnmerkar. Though the king-list mentions a father before him, the epicEnmerkar and the Lord of Aratta relates that Enmerkar constructed theHouse of Heaven (Sumerian:e₂-anna; cuneiform:𒂍𒀭 E₂.AN) for the goddessInanna in the Eanna District of Uruk. In theEpic 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).[1] The city was formed when two smallerUbaid settlements developed into the cities of Unug andKullaba and later merged to become Uruk. The temple complexes at their cores became the Eanna District (Unug) dedicated to Inanna and the "Anu" District ofKullaba.[1]
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 toInanna from the earliest Uruk period throughout the history of the city.[7] 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".[8] 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.
In addition to being one of the first cities, Uruk was the main force ofurbanization andstate 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 10hectares 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 asTell Brak by military force.
Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Ur III, and Old Babylonian period
Clay impression of a cylinder seal with monstrous lions and lion-headed eagles, Mesopotamia, Uruk Period (4100–3000 BC). Louvre MuseumFoundation peg ofLugal-kisal-si, king of Uruk, Ur and Kish, circa 2380 BC. The inscription reads "For (goddess)Namma, wife of (the god)An, Lugalkisalsi, King of Uruk, King of Ur, erected this temple of Namma".Pergamon Museum VA 4855[2]Dedication tablet ofSîn-gāmil, ruler of Uruk, 18th century BC.
Dynastic categorizations are described solely from theSumerian King List, which is of problematic historical accuracy;[9][10] the organization might be analogous toManetho'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.[11]
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 (possiblyIkūn-pî-Ištar, Sumu-binasa, Alila-hadum, and Naram-Sin),Sîn-kāšid, his son Sîn-irībam, his son Sîn-gāmil, Ilum-gāmil, brother ofSîn-gāmil, Etēia,AN-am3 (Dingiram), ÌR3-ne-ne (Irdanene), who was defeated byRīm-Sîn I of Larsa in his year 14 (c. 1740 BC),Rîm-Anum and Nabi-ilīšu.[12][11][13][14][15]
It is known that during the time of Ilum-gāmil a temple was built for the godIškur (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]".[12]
Foundation tablet from the Temple of Inanna at Uruk (Eanna), dating to the reign of Ur-Nammu.
Although it had been a thriving city in Early Dynastic Sumer, especially Early Dynastic II, Uruk was ultimately annexed by theAkkadian Empire and went into decline. Later, in the Neo-Sumerian period, Uruk enjoyed revival as a major economic and cultural center under the sovereignty ofUr. The Eanna District was restored as part of an ambitious building program, which included a new temple for Inanna. This temple included aziggurat, 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 theNeo-Assyrian Empire annexed it as a provincial capital. Under the Neo-Assyrians andNeo-Babylonians, Uruk regained much of its former glory. By 250 BC, a new temple complex the 'Head Temple' (Akkadian:Bīt Reš) was added to northeast of the Uruk period Anu district. TheBīt Reš along with theEsagila was one of the two main centers ofNeo-Babylonian astronomy. All of the temples and canals were restored again underNabopolassar. During this era, Uruk was divided into five main districts: theAdad Temple, Royal Orchard, Ištar Gate, Lugalirra Temple, andŠamaš Gate districts.[16]
Uruk, known as Orcha (Ὄρχα) to the Greeks, continued to thrive under theSeleucid Empire. During this period, Uruk was a city of 300 hectares and perhaps 40,000 inhabitants.[16][17][18] In 200 BC, the 'Great Sanctuary' (Cuneiform: E₂.IRI₁₂.GAL, Sumerian: eš-gal) ofIshtar 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.[18] When the Seleucids lost Mesopotamia to theParthians in 141 BC, Uruk continued in use.[19] 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 ofMandaeans settled there, based on some finds ofMandaicincantation bowls, and byc. 700 AD it was completely abandoned.[20]
Uruk played a very important part in the political history of Sumer. Starting from the Early Uruk period, the city exercisedhegemony over nearby settlements. At this time (c. 3800 BC), there were two centers of 20 ha (49 acres), Uruk in the south andNippur in the north surrounded by much smaller 10 ha (25 acres) settlements.[23] 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 toUr.
Probable Uruk King-Priest with a beard and hat (c. 3300 BC, Uruk).Louvre[25]
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 toEridu then passed successively through five cities until the deluge which ended the Uruk period. Afterwards, kingship passed toKish at the beginning of the Early Dynastic period, which corresponds to the beginning of theEarly 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 is the time of the First Dynasty of Uruk sometimes called 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 theAkkadian Empire underSargon of Akkad), Uruk continued to be ruled by Ur.
Relief on the front of the Inanna temple ofKaraindash from Uruk. Mid 15th century BC.Pergamon Museum, BerlinTheParthian Temple of Charyios at Uruk
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 by two different naming conventions, one in German from the initial expedition, and the English translation of the same. The stratigraphy of the site is complex and as such much of the dating is disputed. In general, the structures follow the two main typologies ofSumerian architecture, Tripartite with 3 parallel halls and T-Shaped also with three halls, but the central one extends into two perpendicular bays at one end. The following table summarizes the significant architecture of the Eanna and Anu Districts.[26] Temple N, Cone-Mosaic Courtyard, and 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 Eanna was dedicated to Inanna symbolized byVenus 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).[7] 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.[7]
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.
By the end of the Uruk period c. 3100 BC) Uruk had reached a size of 250 ha (620 acres). During the followingJemdet 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.[27] A new city wall was constructed in this period.[28]
The site, which lies about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of ancientUr, 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 majortells within the site: The Eanna district, Bit Resh (Kullaba), and Irigal. Archaeologically, the site is divided into six parts
the É-Anna ziggurat ' Egipar-imin,
the É-Anna enclosure (Zingel),
the Anu-Antum temple complex, BitRes and Anu-ziggurat,
Irigal, the South Building,
Parthian structures including the Gareus-temple, and the Multiple Apse building,
the "Gilgameš" city-wall with associated Sinkâsid Palace and the Seleucid Bit Akîtu.[29]
Reconstruction video of Uruk (English subtitles)
The location of Uruk was first noted by Fraser and Ross in 1835.[30]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.[4] A large basalt stela found by Loftus was later lost.[31] Warka was also scouted by archaeologistWalter Andrae in 1902.[32] In 1905 Warka was visited by archaeologistEdgar James Banks.[33]
Male deity pouring a life-giving water from a vessel. Facade of Inanna Temple at Uruk, Iraq. 15th century BC. The Pergamon Museum
From 1912 to 1913,Julius Jordan and his team from theGerman Oriental Society discovered the temple ofIshtar, 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 colorfulmosaics. Jordan also discovered part of thecity 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.[28]The GOS returned to Uruk in 1928 and excavated until 1939, whenWorld 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.[34][35] Among the finds was the Stell of the Lion Hunt, excavated in a Jemdat Nadr layer but sylistically dated to Uruk IV.[36]
The German excavations resumed after the war and were under the direction of Heinrich Lenzen from 1954 to 1967.[37][38][39] He was followed in 1968 by J. Schmidt, and in 1978 by R.M. Boehmer.[40][41] 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, theGerman 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.[42] Work resumed in 2016 and is currently concentrated on the city wall area and a survey of the surrounding landscape.[43][44][45] Part of the work has been to create adigital twin of the Uruk archaeological area.[46] 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.[47]
A massive ziggurat dating from the 4th millennium BC stands at the entrance to Uruk (Warka), 39 km east ofSamawah, Iraq
A number ofProto-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 theJemdet Nasr period.[48][49] Later cuneiform tablets were deciphered and include the famousSKL, a record of kings of the Sumerian civilization. There was an even larger cache of legal and scholarly tablets of theNeo-Babylonian,Late Babylonian, andSeleucid period, that have been published byAdam Falkenstein and otherAssyriological members of the German Archaeological Institute in Baghdad as Jan J. A. Djik,[50]Hermann Hunger, Antoine Cavigneaux,Egbert von Weiher [de],[51][52][53][54] andKarlheinz Kessler [de], or others as Erlend Gehlken.[55][56][57] Many of the cuneiform tablets form acquisitions by museums and collections as theBritish Museum,Yale Babylonian Collection, and theLouvre. The latter holds a unique cuneiform tablet in Aramaic known as theAramaic Uruk incantation. The last dated cuneiform tablet from Uruk was W22340a, an astronomical almanac, which is dated to 79/80 AD.[58]
The oldest known writing to feature a person's name was found in Uruk, in the form of several tablets that mentionKushim, who (assuming they are an individual person) served as an accountant recording transactions made in trading barley –29,086 measures barley 37 months Kushim.[59][60]
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 fastwheel for throwing pottery was developed during the later part of the Uruk period, and made the mass production of pottery simpler and more standardized.[61]
TheMask of Warka, also known as the 'Lady of Uruk' and the 'SumerianMona 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 theIraq Museum during theinvasion of Iraq in April 2003. It was recovered in September 2003 and returned to the museum.
The area traditionally called the Anu district consists of a single massive terrace, theAnu ziggurat, originally proposed to have been dedicated to the Sumerian sky godAnu.
The Stone Temple was built of limestone and bitumen on a podium oframmed earth and plastered with lime mortar. The podium itself was built over a woven reed mat calledĝipar, which was ritually used as a nuptial bed. The ĝipar was a source of generative power which then radiated upward into the structure. The structure of the Stone Temple further develops some mythological concepts fromEnuma Elish, perhaps involving libation rites as indicated from the channels, tanks, and vessels found there. The structure was ritually destroyed, covered with alternating layers of clay and stone, then excavated and filled with mortar sometime later.
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.[62]
The first building ofEanna, 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 ofbuttresses. The Stone-Cone Temple, named for themosaic of colored stone cones driven into theadobe 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.[38]
An Uruk period cylinder-seal and its impression, c. 3100 BC.Louvre
In the following period, Uruk V, about 100 m east of the Stone-Cone Temple the Limestone Temple was built on a 2 m high rammed-earthpodium 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 km east of Uruk. It is unclear if the entire temple or just the foundation was built of thislimestone. 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 architecturaltypology.
Tablet from Uruk III (c. 3200–3000 BC) recording beer distributions from the storerooms of an institution,[63]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 250 ha (620 acres) and established long-distance trade, and are a continuation of architecture from the previous period. The Riemchen Building, named for the 16 cm (6.3 in)×16 cm (6.3 in) brick shape calledRiemchen 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 aterrace, 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 smallaqueduct 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 hectares. All the buildings of Eanna IVa were destroyed sometime in Uruk III, for unclear reasons.[citation needed]
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 toEarly Dynastic Sumerc. 2900 BC, a time of great social upheaval when the dominance of Uruk was eclipsed by competingcity-states. Thefortress-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:e₂-ᵈinanna unuᵏⁱ-ga). The location of this structure is currently unknown.[7]
TheSumerian King List (SKL) lists only 22 rulers among five dynasties of Uruk. The sixth dynasty was anAmorite dynasty not mentioned on theSKL. The following list should not be considered complete:
A"governor" of Uruk who overthrew theGutians and briefly ruled Sumer until he was succeeded byUr-Nammu, who he had appointed governor ofUr, thus ending the final Sumerian dynasty of Uruk.[71]
Said on theSKL to have held the title of,"King" of not just Uruk; but, to have held the"Kingship" overall of Sumer
Historicity certain
"1 king; he ruled for 7 years, 6 months, and 15 days. Then Uruk was defeated and the kingship was taken toUr."
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