Uruk

The great city of Uruk, considered as one of the first cities ever made, was founded around the 5th century BC. Uruk was located more to the southern side of Mesopotamia, where modern day Iraq is now. Uruk is known for many things, but the most known thing is that Uruk is the birthplace of writing. One other thing that they are known for is the great king, King Gilgamesh. The list goes on and on of the inventions Uruk created. 

There were two main reasons Uruk was important: science and religion, confirmed by clay tablets made thousands of years ago, that archaeologists have dug up. There was a sudden uprising in urban life in Mesopotamia. This period of time was known as the Uruk period. This then led to the Early Dynastic period. At the height of this time period Uruk’s walls were a staggering 9.5 kilometers long, enclosing a huge 450 hectares, which converts to 1111.97 acres. That’s big! 

In conclusion, Uruk was one of the most important cities in Mesopotamia at the time, and frankly one of the most important cities of all time. (SM)

Ur

Ur was a big Sumerian city-state located in Mesopotamia,  discovered about 3800 BCE. Cuneiform tablets show that Ur was a highly popular and wealthy city.  Some people estimated that Ur was the biggest city in the world from 2030-1980 BCE, with about 65,000 people. The Ziggurat (rectangular stepped temple ) of Ur was built in the 21st century BCE, during the reign of Ur-Nammu, and was rebuilt in the 6th century BCE by Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon.

Between the 24th and 22nd century BCE, Ur was controlled by Sargon the Great, of the Akkadian Empire. After the fall of this empire, Ur was ruled by the barbarian Gutians, until King Ur-Nammu came to power. Three more kings, Amar-Sin, ShuoSin and Ibbi-Sin, ruled Ur before it fell to the Elamites in 1940 BCE. After the 7th century BCE, Ur was ruled by the Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon. It began its final decline around 550 BCE, and was uninhabited by 500 BE.  (CC)

Babylon

Babylon, what a beautiful place to be. Babylon was founded by Hammurabi. Babylon was the most famous city in ancient Mesopotamia, which is in current day Iraq and Baghdad.

There were several kings in Babylon such as Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II. Hammurabi took advantage of the resulting power and expanded Babylon's land, Ashur. The king of the Assyrian nation. After Hammurabi defeated Ashur, the empire was devastated after Hammurabi’s death and went back to a small kingdom. After Nebuchadnezzar II took advantage of Babylon, he became the greatest King of ancient Babylon during (605- 562 BCE). Nebuchadnezzar II was the oldest son of his family.

Babylon, what a beautiful place to be. During Nebuchadnezzar II 

rule. Babylon became a city of beautiful sites, including the Hanging Garden of Babylon, and the Ishtar Gate. Art was big throughout the Babylonian Empire, especially in the capital city of Babylon. The main entrance to the inner city of Babylon was called the Ishtar Gate. The door was decorated with bright blue bricks with pictures of bulls, dragons and lions. (RK)

Nineveh

The city of Nineveh was first settled around 6000 BCE; not much is known about this period of Nineveh’s history. It was the capital of the Assyrian empire from 900–700 BCE. It was destroyed around 612 BCE when the Assyrian empire collapsed. The city was renamed Mosul around the 13th century CE, when the Muslims took over. The ruins of Nineveh are now encircled by Mosul. The walls of Nineveh were destroyed by ISIS in 2015. 

Life in Nineveh

Life in Nineveh was a comfortable one with bountiful pleasures. It was relatively stable under the Assyrian empire. The city of Nineveh in the Bible is referred to as huge (three days to walk across) and an evil or sinful city.  

The brick city walls of Nineveh had a circumference of about 6 miles. (The walls were toppled in 2015 by ISIS.) The city was at the intersection of the Tigris and Khosr. The best time to visit the city is during the spring and fall. You could easily get there by river using the Quppu ferry service or by the Assyrian royal road service. Once you get there, you will see Iamussa's, which are human-headed bulls. They are thought to ward off evil. Once you are there, there's a multitude of things to do in the city, such as the Ziggurat of Nineveh, the Royal Palace, the Temple of Ishtar, and the Botanical Gardens. (LB)