38 Facts About Uruk period

The late Uruk period saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age; it has been described as the "Protoliterate period".

Term Uruk period was coined at a conference in Baghdad in 1930, along with the preceding Ubaid period and following Jemdet Nasr period.

In Lower Mesopotamia, the researchers identify this as the Jemdet Nasr Uruk period, which sees a shift to more concentrated habitation, undoubtedly accompanied by a reorganisation of power; in southwestern Iran, it is the Proto-Elamite Uruk period; Niniveh V in Upper Mesopotamia; the "Scarlet Ware" culture in Diyala.

However, this region is not well-known archaeologically, since only the site of Uruk period itself has provided traces of monumental architecture and administrative documents which justify seeing this region as the most dynamic and influential.

At some other sites, construction from this Uruk period has been found, but they are usually known only as a result of soundages.

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Uruk period is the site of the most important discoveries of early writing tablets, in levels IV and III, in a context where they had been disposed of, which means that the context in which they were created is not known to us.

Sources relating to the Uruk period derive from a group of sites distributed over an immense area, covering all of Mesopotamia and the neighbouring regions up to central Iran and southeastern Anatolia.

The relations of some areas with the Uruk culture are very unclear, such as the little-known cultures of the Persian Gulf in this period, and Egypt whose exact relations with the Uruk culture were distant and are the object of debate, as well as the Levant, where the influence of southern Mesopotamia remains barely perceptible.

Several important sites of the Uruk period have been excavated in the Middle Euphrates region, during the salvage campaigns preceding the construction of hydroelectric dams in the area.

Some residences from the period have been uncovered, along with pottery typical of Uruk, but what has received the most attention is a succession of monuments which are definitely for cultic purposes.

Nearby, Tepe Gawra, which was important in the Ubayd Uruk period, is an important case of the changing scale of monumental architecture and of political entities between the end of the 5th millennium and the first half of the 4th millennium BC.

The culture of Late Uruk period had a discernible influence, which can be seen most clearly in the numerous sealings found on the site, many of which are in a south Mesopotamian style.

The fact that the characteristics of the culture of the Uruk region are found across such a large territory, with Lower Mesopotamia as a clear centre, led the archaeologists who studied this period to see this phenomenon as an "Uruk expansion".

Recent excavations have focused on sites outside Mesopotamia, as a 'periphery', and with an interest in how they related to the 'centre', which is paradoxically the region in this period which is least well-known—limited to the impressionistic discoveries of the monuments of Uruk.

Algaze's theory, like other alternative models, has been criticised, particularly because a solid model remains difficult to demonstrate while the Uruk period civilization remains poorly known in Lower Mesopotamia aside from the two monumental complexes that have been excavated at Uruk period itself.

In effect, the impact of Uruk period is generally distinguished in specific sites and regions, which has led to the development of multiple typologies of material considered to be characteristic of the Uruk period culture.

The aspects traced here are mostly those of the Late Uruk period, which is the best known and undoubtedly the period in which the most rapid change took place—it is the moment when the characteristic traits of the ancient Mesopotamian civilization were established.

Uruk period saw important developments in the realm of pastoralism.

Archaeological sites from this Uruk period produce large quantities of pottery, showing that a new level of mass-production had been reached, for a larger population—especially in cities in contact with large administrative systems.

The preceding Ubayd Uruk period marked the beginning of what is known as the chalcolithic or 'copper age', with the beginning of production of copper objects.

The metal objects found in the sites of the 4th millennium BC are thus above all made with copper, and some alloys appear towards the end of the period, the most common being that of copper and arsenic, the copper-lead alloy being found, while the tin bronze does not begin to spread until the following millennium (although the Late Uruk Period is supposed to be the beginning of the 'Bronze Age').

Uruk period provides the earliest signs of the existence of states in the Near East.

The idea that the Uruk period saw the appearance of a true state, simultaneously with the appearance of the first cities, is generally accepted in scholarship but has been criticised by some scholars, notably J D Forest who prefers to see the Empire of Akkad in the 24th century BC as the first true state and considers Late Uruk to have known only "city-states" (which are not complete states in his view).

Uruk period is found in victory scenes accompanied by prisoners or structures.

Uruk period is shown leading cult activities, as on a vase from Uruk of the Jemdet Nasr period which shows him leading a procession towards a goddess, who is almost certainly Inanna.

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Uruk period could represent a power of a monarchic type, like that would subsequently exist in Mesopotamia.

Only two names relating to these institutions and their personnel have been deciphered: a large authority indicated by the sign NUN, at Uruk period, which possessed an administrator in chief, a messenger, some workers, etc.

Uruk period saw some settlements achieve a new importance and population density, as well as the development of monumental civic architecture.

Examples of urbanism in this Uruk period are still rare, and in Lower Mesopotamia, the only residential area which has been excavated is at Abu Salabikh, a settlement of limited size.

The planners of this Uruk period were thus capable of creating a complete urban plan and thus had an idea of what a city was, including its internal organisation and principal monuments.

The houses seem to fold in on themselves, with a new floor plan developed from the tripartite plan current in the Ubayd Uruk period, but augmented by a reception area and by a central space, around which the other rooms were arranged.

Uruk period saw the development of what seem to be accounting tools: tokens and clay envelopes containing tokens.

Developments that society experienced in the Uruk period had an impact in the mental and symbolic realm which manifested as a number of different phenomena.

Texts of this Uruk period are mostly of an administrative type and are found principally in contexts that seem to be public, rather than private.

Majority of the texts of the Uruk period are concerned with management and accounting, so it is logical to imagine that writing was developed in response to the needs of the state institutions which engaged in more and more management over time, since it offered the possibility of recording more complex operations and of creating an archive.

Uruk period saw a notable renewal, which accompanied substantial changes in the symbolic sphere.

The other great deity of Uruk period, Anu, seems to appear in some texts, but it is not certain because the sign that indicates him (a star) can indicate divinities in a general sense (DINGIR).

The great vase of Uruk period seems to represent a procession bringing offerings to the goddess Inanna, whose symbol appears on the frieze.