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Uruk period

The Uruk period (c. 4000 to 3100 BC; also known as Protoliterate period) existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period.[1] Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization.[2] The late Uruk period (34th to 32nd centuries) saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age; it has also been described as the "Protoliterate period".[3][4]

Geographical range

Mesopotamia

Copper Age

c. 4000–3100 BC

Uruk

Ubaid period

Jemdet Nasr period

It was during this period that pottery painting declined as copper started to become popular, along with cylinder seals.[5]

Eanna, levels VI–V.

Eanna, levels VI–V.

Eanna, level IV.

Eanna, level IV.

Sector of An, levels IV–III.

Sector of An, levels IV–III.

Uruk period vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.

Uruk period vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.

Vase. Terracotta with red slip, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.

Vase. Terracotta with red slip, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu. Louvre Museum.

Vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.

Vase. Terracotta, ca. 3500–2900 BC. From Telloh, ancient city of Girsu.

Uruk period beveled rim bowl from Habuba Kabira South (Syria), ca. 3400–3200. University of Mainz, Germany

Uruk period beveled rim bowl from Habuba Kabira South (Syria), ca. 3400–3200. University of Mainz, Germany

End of the Uruk period[edit]

Near the end of the 4th millennium, small settlements in the Uruk heartland were abandoned whilst the urban center increased in size. The Eanna precinct also underwent restructuring. Meanwhile, Uruk's influence declined in the northern Mesopotamia, the rest of Syria and Iran.[152]


Some blame the collapse on the Piora Oscillation, which was characterized by decreased temperatures and increased rainfall[153] [152].Others blame it on the intrusion of East Semitic tribes.[154]


Regardless, Uruk's legacy was preserved through the development of cuneiform, which improved on Uruk writing systems, and the popularization of myths such as the Epic of Gilgamesh[152] and the Great Flood.[153]

History of Mesopotamia

History of Sumer

in Jordan, proto-urban settlement with a masonry gravity dam initially built between 3500 and 3400 BCE

Jawa

in Jordan, with a walled city dated to 3400 BCE

Pella

; Quesnel, Michel, eds. (1999–2002). "Sumer". Supplément au Dictionnaire de la Bible fasc. 72–73 (in French). Letouzey and Ané. col. 77–359. SDB.

Briend, Jacques

Benoit, Agnès (2003). Art et archéologie : les civilisations du Proche-Orient ancien. Manuels de l'école du Louvre (in French). Paris: RMN. BEN.

Charvát, Petr (2002). Mesopotamia Before History. London & New York: Routledge. CHA.

(2004). Sumer and the Sumerians (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521533386.

Crawford, Harriet E. W.

Forest, Jean-Daniel (1996). Mésopotamie: L'apparition de l'État, VIIe-IIIe millénaires (in French). Paris: Paris-Méditerranée. FOR.

Huot, Jean-Louis (2004). Une archéologie des peuples du Proche-Orient: vol. I, Des peuples villageois aux cités-États (Xe-IIIe millénaire av. J.-C.) (in French). Paris: Errances. Huot.

Joannès, Francis (2001). Dictionnaire de la civilisation mésopotamienne. Bouquins (in French). Paris: Robert Laffont. DIC.

Lamb, Hubert H. (1995). Climate, History, and the Modern World. London: Routledge.  0-415-12735-1.

ISBN

(1988). The Early History of the Ancient Near East. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. NIS.

Nissen, Hans-Jörg