Mesopotamian Cities

Uruk

The city of Uruk was located in the southern region of Sumer, east of the bed of Euphrates River (now it's called Iraq). Uruk was one of the most important cities in ancient Mesopotamia, because it was one of the first cities where development of civilization occurred. It was founded by King Enmerkar around 4,500 B.C.E. In the list of Kings, Enmerkar was the second king of the first Dynasty of Uruk. His father was the son of a god named Utu, which was the twin of the goddess Inanna, the queen of heaven. The god of Uruk was Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh is best known from the story Epic of Gilgamesh. Epic of Gilgamesh was about the dangerous journeys and adventures Gilgamesh went through One of his adventures was looking for the plant of everlasting life. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written in 2,150 through 1,400 B.C.E. Gilgamesh's father was a priest called King Lugalbanda. Priests were very important in ancient Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh's mother was the goddess of Ninsun.

In 3,100 B.C.E Uruk had around 40,000 residents. In the center of Uruk there was a temple called the White Temple that rested on top of a ziggurat. A ziggurat is a raised base that has four sides and rises up to the realms of the gods. To make the ziggurat, the ancient Sumerians used mud brick covered with baked bricks and laid with bitumen which is a naturally occurring tar. No one lived in the ziggurat. It was meant for the gods only. The ziggurat was surrounded by town houses. Only priests could enter the ziggurat. (CB)

Ur

From the beginning, Ur was an important trade center owing to its location at a pivotal point where the Tigris and Euphrates run into the Persian Gulf. They often traded with Merchants. They traded, usually exporting grains, cooking oil, pottery, leather goods, baskets, textiles and jewelry and importing Egyptian gold, Indian ivory and pearls, Anatolian silver, Arabian copper and Persian tin. At some time in the 4th millennium (an anniversary of a thousand years) BCE, the city was founded by settlers thought to have been from northern Mesopotamia, farmers still in the Copper age of culture. There is evidence that their occupation was ended by a flood, formerly thought to be the one described in Genesis (The one in the Old Testament in the Bible) Remember, for those of you who don’t know what the word “Mesopotamia” means, it is formed from the ancient words “meso,” meaning between or in the middle of, and “potamos,” meaning river. Situated in the fertile valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the region is now home to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria. Ur is also very important because It is where Abraham lived, and Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all trace their roots to Abraham.

The Ziggurat at Ur and the temple on its top were built around 2100 B.C.E. by the king Ur-Nammu of the Third Dynasty of Ur for the moon god Nanna, the divine patron of the city state. Ur also had the Royal Tombs. The Royal tombs of Ur excavated by Leonard Woolley and his team contained about 1800 burials. Woolley classified 16 of these as “royal” based on their form, their wealth, and the fact that they contained burials of servants and other high-ranking people along with the “royal” person. This told us a lot more about ancient Sumerian (Mesopotamian) life. (LT)

Babylon

Babylon is the most Famous city of any ancient cities today. Babylon is 60 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. Babylon is so ancient that when they found Babylon from today it was 4,000 years ago as a small port on the Euphrates river. Babylon grew as one as the largest ancient cities. Babylons building were so big that they made the city of Babylon so beautiful and Lavish just because of the big tall buildings. People lived in Babylon the population of Babylon was around 500,000 people. Babylon's city was so powerful and Influential city. Not a lot of people live in Babylon but Babylon is a big city. The reason why Babylon got destroyed is because the conditions in Babylon aren't good. Also why Babylon got destroyed is because the population of Babylon became restive and inceasingly disaffected under Nabonidus. (EDV)

Nineveh

Nineveh, was the oldest, most populated city of Assyrian. Nineveh was located at the intersection of the Tigris and the Kawsar River. Nineveh was founded in 6000 BCE, and by 3000 BCE they started worshiping the goddess Ishtar. The first people known the live there was the Hatti. These people most likely constructed the city of Nineveh. Nineveh had a lot of earthquakes therefore they suffered damage from this. The city grew in size and fame under King Sennacherib who made Nineveh the capital. Sennacherib was the son of King Sargon II who was building his own capital Dur-Sharrukin. Sargon II and his son did not get along so when Sargon II died he wished to get far away from him. Sennacherib abandoned Sargon II Dur-Sharrukin and moved to Nineveh.

Sennacherib added big walls and created public parks and gardens and more. After King Shamaski of Nineveh died King Hammurabi of Babylon conquered Assyrian. After Hammurabi died, the kingdom fell apart and the Nineveh was taken by the Assyrian. The Assyrian and there army were feared and respected. The rest of the empire to a disadvantage and revengeful. In 612 BCE Nineveh was burned and destroyed by Persian and Medes. The ruins of Nineveh was discovered by Austin Henry Layard in 1846 and 1847. (GB)

Nimrud

Nimrud was a very powerful city. Nimrud is located on the Tigris southeast of Mosul in the north of modern day Iraq. Nimrud was a major city in the Assyrian Empire. Nimrud was once a city that no one seemed to remember. But in the earlier centuries, however, Nimrud was very populated and thrived in those earlier centuries. The Assyrian Empire had many capitals and Nimrud was one of them. Even when Nimrud was not the capital of the Assyrian Empire, Nimrud was still an important city. The royal family had a place there, and it was the site of the Great Ziggurat, a temple that is shaped like a tower. Although many of the kings of Assyria were buried at the traditional capital city of Ashur many queens were buried in Nimrud. And that is why Nimrud was a very important city. (SS)

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