Uruk was a famous metropolis in biblical times. Located in present-day southern Iraq, it was among the earliest post-flood settlements (Gen 10:10).1 According to the Sumerian King List,2 it was the second city to have its own king after the deluge.
Uruk’s population and significance surged in the fourth millennium BC. It was possibly the world’s largest city of this era. Its monumental architecture included a ziggurat and an immense limestone building measuring 76 m by 30 m, which probably functioned as a temple.
The importance of Uruk waxed and waned over the next 3000 years. The killer blow for the city was likely the changing course of the adjacent Euphrates River, which moved away to the west, and the city was all but abandoned by AD 300.
Fun facts
- The modern name ‘Iraq’ is thought to derive from ‘Uruk’.
- Uruk is known as Erech (אֶרֶך) in the Bible. In addition to Gen 10:10, it is also alluded to in Ezra 4:9.
- It is commonly believed that the practice of writing originated in Uruk, around 3300-3200 BC. This early writing took a pictographic form.
- Uruk was home of the legendary king Gilgamesh, who perhaps reigned around 2700 BC.
- The city spanned hundreds of hectares by the third millennium BC. Based on modern estimates, it had up to 140,000 inhabitants at this time.
- It also boasted a wall 8.9 km (5.5 miles) long, 5-9 m thick, and approximately 12-15 m high.
- Uruk featured a vast network of canals linked to the Euphrates River.3
References
Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “Uruk: The First City.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/uruk/hd_uruk.htm (October 2003)
Kennedy, Titus. The Essential Archaeological Guide to Bible Lands: Uncovering Biblical Sites of the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean World. Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 2024.
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