Located in southern Mesopotamia, about 250 kilometers from the city of present-day Baghdad, Uruk was once a majestic and magnificent city of the ancient Sumerian people, with an area of 5,500 square kilometers. Uruk was the first metropolis of antiquity, where the culture of the Sumerian people was highly developed, and it had its own script 5,000 years ago.
Construction of the Walls of Uruk
The Epic of Gilgamesh has been lost at the beginning of the Common Era, and cuneiform sources have been lost. It was not until the middle of the 19th century that the most outstanding work in the history of Sumir-Babylonian literature reappeared.
The British scholar and traveler Genny Laiyad found a book from the collection of The Assyrian king Ashurbanibal among the ruins of ancient Nineveh. In 1872, the Anglo-Chinese-languageist Zold Schmidt published a translation based on a Babylonian story in the collection that immediately attracted widespread attention.
Slate of Sumer - Epic of Gilgamesh
...... For six days, seven nights, the wind raged, the floods raged, and everyone was drowned, and only Utnabyshgi was rescued. Because the God of Wisdom told him of the impending catastrophe of extinction, he commanded him to build a ship and take the "seeds of life" of all species with him. Utnamishji went to build an ark, carrying all the seeds, objects and tools of life, and then thickly painted the door with resin to prevent the intrusion of water...
Gilgamesh is one of the protagonists of this masterpiece. In the collection of King Ashurbanipal, there are a total of 12 stories about Gilgamesh. The legend of the Flood is recorded in the 11th story. After research, Schmidt speculated that the legendary story took place in the city of Uruk. Since then, articles written in Sumerian have been gradually discovered.
In Gilgamesh's consciousness, death is not terrible, as long as it is a battle to die on the battlefield, the name is glorious and precious.
"The most beautiful Gilgamesh, 'he is two-thirds God and one-third man,' a description that indicates that he was a great man, "son of God." Legend has it that he was seen as a harsh ruler. The citizens of Uruk complained that he had driven them to forced labor and would not allow them to rest, "all his friends were beating drums and not letting the men of Uruk sleep".
Gilgamesh provoked God by being too harsh, and God created a barbarian named Nkidu to punish him.
Since the reappearance of this ancient poem, the academic community has not stopped arguing: Can Gilgamesh be regarded as a historical figure? Is he the leader of the city of Uruk?
Istar Istar (sumer Innana)
"As arthur argued," said the English historian Ndelyou Zjölderger, "we have not yet found a single piece of evidence to confirm that there is a real person." However, he may well be a real historical figure. "For a long time, the author of the epic is believed to be Hi Lekunini, who lived in the middle of 1000 BC. As some linguists have confirmed, he added fragments to this narrative poem, which was completed around 1800 BC, to organize this otherwise incoherent historical event into a complete epic.
Legends about Gilgamesh have been circulating since 3000 BC.
Enkidu Enkidu (presumably)
...... Nkidu, who possessed extraordinary powers, did not teach anyone to hunt. This man, the child of nature, coexisted with the beast, and he left the hunters with nothing, and took away their nets, filling in the depressions dug by the hunters. At that time, Gilgamesh planned to go to him and lure him to the city of Uruk. Enkidu walks the streets of Uruk City. Even if I call 30 strong men, I will fight them!"
Nkidu and Gilgamesh began to fight, and the barbarians were more energetic.
Gilgamesh knelt on one leg, and he suppressed his anger and calmed himself down...
Afterwards, Gilgamesh vowed to be eternal friends with him. Gilgamesh returned to her mother and begged her to take Nkidu as her own son.
"To some extent, Nkidu can be seen as a symbol of humanity's transition from barbarism to civilization." German orientalist Stevan Maul said.
cuneiform
Two friends embraced each other, fought side by side, shook hands and spoke in harmony, and were as close as brothers and sisters.
Together, they build merit. Gilgamesh fights against the demon Hum Baba, who is hiding in the snowy woods, and confronts the bull created by the gods. The gods hesitated to decide that one of the two friends should bear this sin, and finally chose Nkidu. Nkidu died in his friend's arms. For the first time, Gilgamesh realized that death was an inevitable thing for all living things, and from then on he refused honor and went in search of eternal life.
He left Uruk like an unfortunate poor man who went around seeking elixirs, but to no avail. When he returned to Uruk, he was completely transformed into a man—a wise ruler. His glorious deeds made him the ruler of eternity, from a tyrant who displeased the gods into a good shepherd. He abandoned his fear of death and was anxious to leave behind great cities of prosperity—cities that no enemy could approach. The original epic ends with the following lines:
Sun God Shamash (Seated)
Gilgamesh solemnly said to him, the ship's owner Ursanabi, go aboard, Ursanabi, walk along the Uruk Wall, touch it with your hands, and see if the bricks of the wall are burned, and if the seeds stored by homo sapiens are still there.
The goddess Ninsun
According to legend, the walls of Uruk are 9 meters high and about 9,000 meters long. This is truly a wonder in the world! Archaeologists have so far failed to decipher how Gilgamesh managed Uruk. The base of the wall, or precisely the base of the two-story wall that surrounds the city, is 5,000 years old.
Gilgamesh crossed the mountains, despite the obstruction of the half-scorpion and the goddess Dionysus, Gilgamesh and Enkidu allied their war against Fenba.
German archaeologist Markagnet Van Ace said: "I firmly believe that Gilgamesh has survived the memory of generations because this wall has defended the safety of Uruk. This is the longest, and perhaps most majestic, city wall we know of. Therefore, it is impossible for people to forget him. ”
The creation of the primitive bureaucracy
Two Rivers Valley - Mesopotamia
German archaeologists excavated it in 1936. Under the thick sand, they found something not very tall—the wall base. As the excavations deepened, the walls continued to stretch. Following the ring inside the wall, there is a watchtower every 100 meters. Archaeologists have determined that the wall was built between 2900 BC and 2600 BC. According to records, Gilgamesh ruled Uruk from 2652 BC to 2602 BC. "It is entirely possible that Gilgamesh was a king in the history of Uruk during this period, and his name was later lost." German Orientalist Schtevan Maur speculated.
Uruk City
Legends about Gilgamesh reached Uruk very early. Apparently, as early as 7000 BC, the city played an important political role in the life of the Mesopotamians, and its heyday was about 3700 years. After 3200 BC in the late heyday, Uruk became the "economic center of unprecedented prosperity". According to the famous German Orientalist Hans Niceschen, around 3200 BC to 3100 BC Uruk had formed "a system of management with many branches, and the city had a large amount of grain, necessities and luxuries". He also pointed out that "its politics and culture have affected many regions of the ancient Eastern countries."
Here, craftsmen produce a large number of ceramics. These ordinary, simple products, without complex decorative patterns, are directly pressed out of clay piece by piece, so they are very simple. Hans was greatly distressed by this: "The typical pottery of Uruk is so simple that you can recognize it at a glance, even when you find it in Anatolia." ”
Archaeologists have also discovered uruk architectural styles throughout the ancient Orient. According to scholars, the architecture of some cities, such as Habba Kabila in Syria, appeared "exact reproductions" of the city of Uruk, mainly from the hands of Uruk immigrants.
The land of Mesopotamia is very fertile and suitable for growing food and grazing livestock. But other aspects of things are scarce and have to be brought from afar. Uruk's prosperity was based on commercial development with other countries. The construction stones transported here come from the coast of the Southern Arabian Peninsula, the timber from Lebanon, the metal from Anatolia, and the gemstones from Afghanistan.
At that time, Uruk had become the center of a "quasi-state institution" – the first powerful state in history and controlling a vast area of Mesopotamia.
Hydraulic irrigation is the most important civilization in Uruk. Since ancient times, mesopotamia, a fertile land, has been a region with little rainfall, and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers have been flooded regularly during the annual flood season. In order to irrigate the farmland, it is necessary to use the only river water to divert water into the canal and let the river flow along a special waterway without losing it.
Conquering water became the key to their survival. "These water experts monitor the rise and fall of the river's water level and organize labor to irrigate the farmland." Van Ace pointed out, "They are at the top of society, they are the elite of society. ”
In order to achieve water irrigation, there must be not only craftsmen and technicians, but also administrative leadership. The researchers believe that because Uruk's management system is quite complex, it must be managed with the help of some kind of writing. They don't like to keep everything in their heads, but use certain writing marks to record what they do. Thus, cuneiform script appeared in Uruk, and writing became their means of management.
In the 9-hectare temple of the goddess Inana in Aigne, archaeologists found thousands of tables embossed by clay seals and cracked cuneiform script. But according to Nisshin, these cuneiform scripts were not intended at all to transmit the language of the inhabitants of Uruk in a special form to future generations in its entirety. The tables with these notes are entirely temporary marks, such as the number of goods bought and sold and the name of the item. To the regret of archaeologists, the first scribes were clearly people who didn't like to talk much.
It is generally believed that, in addition to hydraulic techniques and writing, in southern Mesopotamia, in Uruk, it is possible that majestic buildings and strict administrative systems have emerged, as well as primitive bureaucracies." However, based on the latest excavation results, archaeologists have overturned the well-known and repeated so-called truths.
According to the research of Markagnet van Ace, certain written documents found in Mesopotamia belonging to 6000 BC confirm that none of these creations belonged to either the Sumirs nor the Semitic, but rather "the predecessors of these peoples." In fact, as early as 6000 BC, the inhabitants of Mesopotamia began to migrate – long before the Sumerians migrated here. No one can be sure where they came from, but most historians speculate that they migrated from the east to Mesopotamia, from the Iranian plateau region.
As for the written word, uruk and other rulers of Mesopotamia—Eridus, Lagash, Ulla, Uma, etc.—left only inscriptions inscribed on stone tablets in 3000 BC, recording victories over "humble enemies." The enemy here refers to the inhabitants of nearby cities.
The Akkadian era at the end of the 24th century BC was an era of political decline. The Akkadian Empire, located north of Sumir, began annexing southwestern Mesopotamia, bringing them under his rule for 100 years. From that time on, Uruk began to gradually decline.
Remnants of the Great Flood
Books about Gilgamesh were also studied. Manuscripts of this era record the history of Palestine, Syria, and Turkey, and can be found in the Bible, the ancient Greek epic poems Iliad, and the One Thousand and One Nights.
Now, the Epic of Gilgamesh has been translated into many languages. Perhaps the plot of the most famous Epic of Gilgamesh is the story of the Flood, which is based on historical facts. In the 1820s, British archaeologist Leonard Bourney excavated in Ulla (about near the Yevfrat River, about 60 km from Uruk) and found the remains of a massive flood.
Geological evidence of the suspected existence of the "Prehistoric Flood"
But was Uruk also hit by floods? A few years ago, German researcher Helmut Berlukschel discovered that there was a large area of silt formed by floods, and that relics of large cities could be found under the silt, and it was clear that Uruk had been harmed by floods (the first disaster in Uruk occurred in 5000 BC). "At a depth of 17 meters I found very consistent sand... Apparently a trace left by the floods, I think it should be the sedimentary layers left by the flooding of the river of Gigel and Yevfrat. ”
The Great Prehistoric Flood
The disaster that caused the flooding may have been accidental, and it broke the defensive on the outskirts of Uruk. Floods occurred about 3,000 years ago. Indeed, during this period, local instruments inexplicably interrupted records. Historians speculate that the dike was deliberately destroyed by the enemies who attacked Uruk, either by the inhabitants of neighboring cities or by militant tribes from the north.
Uruk survived a catastrophe. By the first half of 3000 BC, it was perhaps the most majestic city in the world. It is estimated that there were 30,000 to 60,000 inhabitants living in Uruk at that time. In the 2000 years that followed, the political heyday of Uruk lasted for a long time, and Uruk became one of the most powerful scientific and artistic centers in the ancient East. Here, astronomy, art, and especially literature appeared in its heyday.
A local astronomy school enjoys the honor of World Light. Academician B.B. Struvey wrote: "A whole map of the sky, possibly not observed with a telescope, was drawn in Babylon and then transmitted through the Hittite Empire to the western Mediterranean. Babylonian astronomy had a fairly high level and influenced the development of Greek astronomy. ”
Sumer also had a wealth of astronomical knowledge
During the Sassandera Iranian era in the third and fourth centuries BC, Uruk became an empty, uninhabited city. In 1849, the Englishman Uyiljam Kennet Lofodus discovered the empty city. But to this day, Uruk is still forgotten. Excavations began in 1912, and 100 years have passed, but the city of Gilgamesh still shines beneath Ulla, Nineveh and Babylon.
Ancient Venice of the East
In the place of ancient Uruk, the peaks are now undulating. And beneath these rolling peaks are the ruins of ancient buildings. You know, the ancient houses here are usually made of wet bricks. As the years passed, the buildings gradually became layers of clay and river soil deposits, and on the plains that surrounded it, the place of the site protruded significantly. Beneath it, extremely well-preserved stone foundations are often found, so it's not hard for archaeologists to imagine the scale of these buildings, but they can't know their actual height.
Over the past 100 years, 41 archaeological teams have excavated the site. However, less than 5% of the city's area has been excavated so far. Uruk is home to many temples in the middle of the city and many palaces located on the outskirts. Archaeologists have found that the area of uruk is almost 3 times the size of the present Principality of Monaco. From 2001 to 2002, German scholars used geomagnetism to conduct research that gave them a glimpse of the uruk topography.
This city, which was built directly on the banks of the Euphrates River and is now located about 20 kilometers east of the river, can be called the "Ancient Venice of the East". The canals laid here not only provide irrigation for farmland and vegetable fields, but also become the main transportation arteries. At least two long main canals run through the city, and from the main canals many small aqueducts extend throughout the city. The canal is paved with stones and paved with fired bricks, as unburned wet clay bricks gradually melt in water. Wet clay bricks are often used as materials for various buildings. Baked bricks are very expensive in Uruk, and the wood for firing the bricks needs to be transported from afar to Mesopotamia. Therefore, only very wealthy cities, such as Uruk, could afford to buy this valuable wood to burn bricks to lay the entire canal network.
People travel from one place in the city to another by boat through the waterways, and can also enter the city center. Above some of the canals stood gates, which were 15 meters wide, showing that the traffic here was very busy at that time. And the priests were so comfortable that they sat comfortably on a reed-bound boat and rushed to the temple. This scene is reminiscent of a gondola cruise in Venice. Farmers in nearby settlements also used small boats to transport grain to Uruk.
This extensive river network is a masterpiece of engineering. And the city itself is reminiscent of the garden of heaven – lined with trees, flowers, rivers flowing, full of life.
However, restoring the appearance of this ancient site is very difficult work.
So far, on the whole, archaeologists do not know what exactly was hidden in Uruk 4,000 years ago. In other words, the work of archaeologists has not yet come close to the time when the city was formed. For reasons that are well known, there is currently no more in-depth study of Uruk.
How did the port of Uruk come into being? Is there a gate control for the Uruk Canal? What does a city's residential home look like? Did they sometimes build with stones, or did they just use stones as reinforcement? Markcanet Van Es said: "To answer these questions, archaeologists need to do another 500 years of archaeological research here. ”
The city of Gilgamesh still hides many unsolved mysteries. Fortunately, satellite surveys confirm that in the past years, Uruk has not found a phenomenon of antiquities by thieves, as in other Ancient Iraqi cities.
Those of you who like this article may also like ↓↓
How was the Sumerian civilization dug out by the Diggers?
Why do national myths have stories about the Great Flood?