Author : Wahid Ahmad
The
rise of city states in ancient Mesopotamia goes back to ancient Uruk, a
city whose legacy still resonates today. Located in the southern region of Sumer,
what we now know as modern-day Warka in Iraq, Uruk is believed to have
inspired the name Iraq and holds an important place in human history as
the birthplace of key developments in civilization.
Now,
what makes Uruk so special? Well, for beginners, scholars are drawn to it
not just for its immense historical significance, but also because it’s
mentioned as Erech in the Book of Genesis. It’s also the
legendary setting of one of the world’s oldest stories, the Epic of
Gilgamesh. This incredible tale, written around 2100 BCE on clay
tablets in Akkadian, follows Gilgamesh, the great king of Uruk, on his epic
quest for immortality.
The
most complete version of this epic was found centuries later in the
library of the Assyrian King Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, which is in
modern-day Iraq. Imagine that – a story so ancient, yet it survived for
millennia!
According
to the Sumerian King List, Enmerkar founded Uruk, followed by kings Lugalbanda
and Gilgamesh. Between the 9th and 4th millennia BCE, the Fertile Crescent saw
rapid societal evolution. By the fourth millennium BCE, southern Mesopotamia,
especially Uruk, began to stand out, transforming into the first urban society
by 3200 BCE. This shift, known as the "Uruk phenomenon" or "Uruk
intrusion," saw the city’s material culture spread far and wide.
The Uruk period is divided into distinct phases. The Early Uruk phase, (between
4000 and 3500 BCE) reflects continuity with the earlier Ubaid period in
architecture and ceramics. During the Middle Uruk phase, (between 3500 and 3300
BCE), urbanization accelerated, and Uruk expanded its influence across southern
Mesopotamia.
In the Late Uruk phase, (between 3300 and 3100 BCE), the city saw significant
architectural and cultural advances, including the development of proto-cuneiform
writing and the construction of large public buildings.
The
period immediately following 3000 bce, known as Jemdet Nasr after the place of
its discovery, was largely a continuation of Late Uruk, but with an emphasis on
speeding up production. Cylinder seals, for instance, became less detailed
because artisans prioritized quicker methods of production. While these seals
looked rougher than before, the focus was on efficiency. The writing system
also evolved, with a new technique where marks were pressed into clay using a
stylus held at an angle. This made the script more abstract, resembling later
cuneiform writing.
In
pottery, mass production began to take hold. Potters used a wheel to quickly
form bowls from a large lump of clay, producing one bowl after another with
little waste. This trend of speeding up processes was evident across different
aspects of life in Jemdet Nasr, continuing what had already begun in the Late Uruk
period.
A
major change in Uruk occurred around 3200 BCE when the city’s layout was
reorganized. In the Eanna district, the variety of buildings was replaced by
one large central structure, likely a temple, which stood on a terrace
surrounded by smaller buildings. This new layout symbolized a shift toward
centralized religious power. At the same time, the western part of the city saw
the White Temple integrated into a massive terrace, marking a similar
concentration of authority in this area.
Toward
the end of the Late Uruk period, Uruk’s influence over neighboring regions
began to wane. The extensive trade and political connections Uruk had with
surrounding areas began to dissolve, with local networks forming instead. For
example, the Proto-Elamite network emerged, linking Susiana (modern Khuzestan)
with areas further east, rather than with Mesopotamia, signaling a realignment
of regional dynamics.
The period after 3000 BCE is called the Early
Dynastic period because it marks the time when the first dynasties of rulers
were recorded. A new type of brick, known as "plano-convex" bricks,
was introduced during this time. These bricks had a curved top, like a cake
baked in a rectangular pan, and it’s believed they were used to speed up
construction compared to the smaller, older bricks. This new brick design was used
to build Uruk’s massive city wall, which was about 9.5 kilometers long and
featured 900 towers and several fortified gates. According to the Epic of
Gilgamesh, Gilgamesh, the famous king of Uruk, was responsible for building
this wall, and archaeological evidence dates it to around 3000–2900 BCE,
matching the time when Gilgamesh is thought to have lived.
By this period, Uruk had grown significantly.
The city expanded to cover over five square kilometers, nearly tripling in size
compared to 3200 BCE. Most of this area in and outside the city walls was
densely populated. This rapid growth wasn’t just due to natural population
increases but was likely tied to changes in the surrounding areas.
In earlier times, during the Late Uruk
period, there were around 110 small settlements around Uruk. However, by 2900
BCE, fewer of these settlements remained, but the ones that did survive had
grown larger. For example, a cluster of 11 small settlements northeast of Uruk
shrank to only 3, but the central one became much bigger. Some medium-sized
settlements had also grown large enough to be considered cities.
Another important change was in the water
system. During the Late Uruk period, there were many rivers and streams used
for irrigation. By the Early Dynastic period, these natural watercourses were
straightened and transformed into canals, marking the beginning of large-scale
irrigation systems that would later define the region of Babylonia.
By around 3000 BCE, water shortages became a
growing problem in the Babylonian plain, where settlements had previously
thrived due to easy access to natural water sources. As water became scarcer,
many areas no longer had direct access to flowing rivers or streams. People
tried to solve this by building long canals to bring water to those areas, but
many smaller settlements were abandoned as a result. The populations of these
abandoned settlements moved to larger cities like Uruk, causing these cities to
grow rapidly.
By the middle of the third millennium BCE,
most of the population in Babylonia lived in cities. As these cities grew, so
did the challenges, including managing conflicts among the growing urban
population and ensuring there was enough food and water for everyone.
The need for canal irrigation led to the
development of what were essentially "irrigation oases." These oases
were agricultural areas fed by canals branching from the Euphrates River.
However, their success depended on a reliable water supply, which became harder
to maintain as the climate dried and competition for water increased.
This reliance on canal irrigation also
brought risks. Water levels in the rivers fluctuated from year to year, meaning
some areas, especially those on the edges of the irrigation system, didn’t
always receive enough water. In response, people in these marginal areas
developed a semi-sedentary lifestyle, focusing more on herding when water was
scarce. Over time, this way of life made it easier for nomadic groups from
outside to settle in Babylonia, shaping the region’s future population and culture.
As
cities in Mesopotamia grew, especially after attaining the status of
city-states, they needed more land to provide enough food for their increasing
populations. This expansion often led to overlapping territories with older
cities, sparking new types of conflicts. Although military operations may have
occurred before, as hinted in ancient texts like the Epic of Gilgamesh,
the closer proximity of cities made these conflicts harder to avoid and
resolve.
Around
2600 BCE, the nature of historical records changed significantly. For the first
time, writing began to be used for more than just recording economic data.
Inscriptions appeared that detailed the achievements of rulers, their family
histories, and political events, marking a shift toward documenting history
more comprehensively. This gave historians a clearer picture of individual
kings, dynasties, and their historical context, even though the events
themselves may not have been more significant than those of earlier times.
One
of the most well-documented conflicts of this era occurred between the cities
of Lagash and Umma around 2500 BCE. These cities fought for generations over a
disputed region and a shared canal at their border. Various attempts were made
to resolve the conflict—through war, treaties, and arbitration—but the dispute
kept reigniting. The recurring nature of these conflicts demonstrated the
limits of the city-state system. Ultimately, only by forming larger territories
or states could such intercity conflicts be managed as internal issues within a
unified political system.
During
the Early Dynastic period, it’s still challaning to make definitive statements
about religious beliefs, but there are clues about how cults were organized. In
Uruk, the central area was reorganized with a raised temple on a terrace,
creating a clear religious focus for the city. This arrangement reflected the
idea that every city had a specific deity, a concept that would become
characteristic of Babylonian cities. Early writings used the same sign for the
city and its deity, suggesting a deep connection between the two. However, we
don't have clear evidence of cult leaders being among the city's top officials.
While the ruler was often seen as the highest servant of the city’s deity,
there were signs that rulers were becoming more independent from religious
authorities, leading to tensions between the temple and palace.
In
addition to the city deity's official cult, other temples in each city
worshiped different gods, but we don’t know why these temples varied or served
different worshipers. Personal piety was also evident, with smaller shrines in
residential areas containing limestone statues. These statues, often depicting
men, were likely placed to represent donors, asking for the deity’s protection
and long life. These private worship practices involved lower-level deities,
unlike the official city gods, and reflect a distinction between official cults
and personal devotion.
Early
Dynastic art is challenging to assess. Art from the Late Uruk period and Jemdet
Nasr focused on glorifying the ruler, making it "official" art, while
Early Dynastic art, such as prayer statues, seemed more personal or
"unofficial." The prayer statues, usually abstract and geometric,
likely reflected personal religious practices. The few official artworks from
later in the period, like the Stela of the Vultures, depicted
significant events, such as military victories. These reliefs followed a
symbolic style, where important figures were larger, eyes were exaggerated, and
deities, when represented, were even taller than the rulers. Temples from this
time had niches that probably once held deity statues, although no examples
have been found.
A
list of deity names found in the city of Shuruppak, dating back to just before
the earliest fully legible texts, shows an early systematization of the divine
world. This list includes key gods such as An, Enlil, Inanna, Enki, Nanna, and
Utu, suggesting an early theological structure that mirrors later religious
hierarchies. It remains unclear whether these deities were originally linked to
specific cities or if they had already been categorized based on roles like the
goddess of love and war, or gods of water, moon, and sun. The list includes
over 500 names, many of which remain unidentified, making it challenging to
pinpoint which deities were worshiped in specific temples. Later texts suggest
that religious traditions evolved and replaced earlier understandings of the
gods.
Burial
practices, particularly those in the city of Ur, provide another perspective on
religious beliefs. Ur, which later became the cult center of the moon god
Nanna, had a burial ground on the southeastern slope of its central area from
2600 to 2000 BCE. The graves, dug into rubble, contained many burial goods such
as jewellery, weapons, tools, and pottery, indicating the belief in an
afterlife. Provisions of solid and liquid food were placed with the dead,
reflecting a strong concept of life after death and the importance of rituals
performed by the living to ease the journey of the deceased.
The
cemetery at Urr began with seventeen funerary complexes known as the Royal
Tombs of Ur. While only a few of these tombs have inscriptions indicating they belonged
to rulers or their families, their incredible wealth supports their royal
designation. Many complexes contained a variety of burial gifts, suggesting
that entire households were buried together. These included high-ranking
individuals, personal servants, musicians, soldiers, and even complete wagons
with animals and drivers. Some musicians were found with their fingers still on
the strings of lyres made from precious materials. The positioning of the
corpses indicates that they may have taken poison, suggesting they were
intended to accompany the deceased in the afterlife.
Such
elaborate funerary customs appear to have been abandoned shortly after this
period, leaving little written evidence to understand them. The lavish burial
gifts reflect a display of wealth aimed at enhancing the deceased's prestige.
This wealth is most evident in the Royal Tombs but is also found in private
tombs, which sometimes contained numerous valuable items like jewelry, tools,
and weapons made from copper or bronze.
Cylinder
seals, which were found in about a quarter of the 1,850 excavated tombs, are
significant artifacts from this time. These seals were essential for
identifying individuals in economic transactions, with each one featuring a
unique design. By the middle of the third millennium, the seals began to
include the owner's name to improve identification. Unlike statues and reliefs,
which were less common, cylinder seals were widespread and provide valuable
insights into the artistic development and economic life of the era. They
feature a variety of illustrations that help historians understand the cultural
context of the time.
In
Early Dynastic art, variability in themes was achieved not by a wide range of
subjects, but by exploring a limited number of topics with great diversity. One
prominent theme was the battle between wild and domestic animals, with lions
and bulls as central figures. Some designs became quite intricate, featuring
human and animal figures intertwined in complex arrangements.
A
notable protective figure is the bull-man, a creature that is human above and
bull below. Although this figure appears frequently in Mesopotamian art, its
name and purpose remain unknown, though it may relate to demons from later
periods. The meaning of animal contests depicted in the art is also unclear.
Establishing
a direct link between the design of seals and the social status of their owners
is challenging, as only a few seals have personal inscriptions. However, one
theme that indicates social status is the symposium, or drinking scene. In
these depictions, two or more individuals sit opposite each other, drinking
from cups or using tubes to sip from a large vessel, likely containing beer.
They are often attended by servants and may be accompanied by additional figures
dancing or playing music.
Seals
featuring symposium scenes are typically crafted from lapis lazuli, with many
found in the Royal Tombs of Ur, suggesting a connection between this theme and
higher social status.
The
description of this period would be incomplete without acknowledging
Babylonia's connections to neighboring regions, particularly through
long-distance trade, as evidenced by the diverse materials found in the Royal
Tombs of Ur. While the origin of gold remains unknown, silver and many semi-precious
stones were sourced from the high Zagros Mountains to the east. Lapis lazuli,
which is only mined in Badakhshan (northeastern Afghanistan), required even
greater distance to obtain. Notably, beads made of reddish-brown carnelian with
white etchings indicate early direct contacts between urban civilizations in
the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia, as this etching technique originated there.
Archaeological
discoveries also highlight ties to present-day Syria and southeastern Anatolia.
By the mid-third millennium BCE, city-states in Syria had become sufficiently
complex that they adopted Babylonian cuneiform script, believing it would help
address their administrative challenges. Thousands of cuneiform texts have been
found in the West Syrian city of Ebla and elsewhere, which significantly
influenced Babylonian culture.
Initially,
cuneiform was primarily used for recording economic transactions, without the
need to represent the spoken language in detail. However, as Semitic groups in
Babylonia and Syria began using cuneiform to write their own languages, a shift
occurred. Unlike Sumerian, which used word signs to represent sounds and
meanings, Semitic languages required modifications to the word stems for tense
and person. This led to a more phonetic use of the writing system.
As
Sumerian speakers observed the Semitic usage, they adopted these practices to
fully express their own language in writing. This development allowed for the
detailed recording of Sumerian literary, historical, and religious texts, marking
a significant transition from oral tradition to a high literary culture in
Babylonian civilization.
In
the mid-third millennium, new political structures were tested as cities faced
ongoing conflicts, like the one between Lagash and Umma. Cities often became
involved in endless wars. One common solution was to expand territories by
conquering neighboring cities. While this was likely motivated by personal
ambition, it addressed pressing issues. However, these conquests typically
ended with the death of the ruler. Despite their short-lived nature, these
efforts set the stage for the first unification of Babylonia under Sargon,
founder of the Akkadian dynasty, which lasted for generations.