The Loftus mound at Uruk (Warka), southern Iraq, site of the world's first city

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Country Record

Oldest City in Iraq

都市UNESCO注目

Uruk

Q: Urukはどこにありますか？

Urukはイラクに位置しています。

Q: Urukの年代はいつ頃ですか？

Urukはおよそ紀元前5000年–紀元前200年のものとされています。

Seyfi Cem Baskin

وركاء5000 紀元前 – 200 紀元前

The world's first city — a 6-kilometre urban complex on the Euphrates in southern Mesopotamia that pioneered writing, monumental public architecture, cylinder seals, and civic organization around 3200 BCE, and whose legendary king Gilgamesh inspired the oldest surviving work of literature.

Chalcolithic Bronze Age Sumerian

311

関心 75

所在地

イラク

31.32°N · 45.64°E · アジア

地図全体と詳細 →Googleマップで開く ↗

Founded

c. 5000 BCE; Uruk period peak c. 3200–2900 BCE

City size

~550 hectares within Late Uruk walls — the world's largest city at its peak

Writing

Proto-cuneiform script invented here c. 3200 BCE — the world's first writing system

Population

Estimated 40,000–80,000 at peak; Uruk period (c. 3100 BCE)

UNESCO

Part of "Ahwar of Southern Iraq" WHS (2016)

Gilgamesh

Legendary king of Uruk; his epic is the world's oldest surviving literary work

Location

Warka (Varka), Dhi Qar Governorate, southern Iraq

“Uruk is where writing began.”

所在地

概要

Uruk (modern Warka) lies in the alluvial lowlands of southern Iraq, about 300 kilometres southeast of Baghdad, in a region now largely desert but once threaded by the channels of the ancient Euphrates. The site covers approximately 550 hectares within its Late Uruk city walls — walls that may have been built by Gilgamesh himself, according to the epic — making it at its height (c. 3100–2900 BCE) by far the largest settlement on Earth.

German excavations at Warka, conducted by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft from 1912 with interruptions through to the present day, have revealed a deep stratigraphic sequence spanning the Ubaid period (c. 5500 BCE) through the Parthian era (c. 200 CE). The critical period is the "Uruk period" (c. 4100–2900 BCE), when the city experienced explosive growth that archaeologists call the "Urban Revolution." The city was organized around two principal cult precincts: the Eanna, dedicated to Inanna (goddess of love and war, the city's patron deity), and the Anu Ziggurat, a monumental stepped platform topped by the White Temple dedicated to the sky god Anu.

The innovations associated with the Uruk period are among the most consequential in human history. Writing — specifically proto-cuneiform script, the earliest writing system — appeared here around 3200 BCE, initially as an administrative tool to track grain rations, cattle counts, and temple property. Cylinder seals (engraved stone cylinders rolled into clay to create unique impressions) were invented as a bureaucratic identity marker. Monumental public buildings with specialized functions (storage, administration, temple ritual) were constructed on a scale requiring centralized direction of labor. Long-distance trade networks linked Uruk to Anatolia, Iran, Egypt, and the Indus Valley.

Uruk's population during the Uruk period has been estimated at 40,000–80,000, with a surrounding territory of dependent villages. Its influence extended across a vast region: "Uruk colonies" — settlements with Uruk-style material culture — have been identified as far north as Arslantepe in Turkey and Habuba Kabira in Syria, suggesting a sphere of economic and cultural influence unprecedented in pre-history.

重要性

Uruk is where writing began. The approximately 5,000 proto-cuneiform tablets from the Eanna precinct, dating to c. 3200–3000 BCE, are the earliest written documents on Earth — administrative records from a complex bureaucratic society. The city is also the setting of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the world's oldest literary work, which describes its walls and temple as the city's defining achievements. No other site represents such a concentration of "firsts": first city, first writing, first cylinder seals, first monumental public architecture organized around institutional functions. Understanding Uruk is foundational to understanding why human civilization took the form it did. The site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2016 as part of the Ahwar of Southern Iraq.

証拠と解釈

確立された事実と議論が続く事柄を区別する。

確立された事実

Approximately 5,000 proto-cuneiform tablets from the Eanna precinct, dated to c. 3200–3000 BCE, are the earliest writing in the world. They record rations, livestock, and commodities using pictographic signs that are the direct precursors of cuneiform script.
The Anu Ziggurat White Temple, excavated by German teams, dates to the Late Uruk period (c. 3200 BCE). It stands on a platform approximately 13 metres high and is one of the earliest monumental public buildings in the world. The White Temple itself was dedicated to the sky god Anu.
"Uruk colonies" — settlements outside Mesopotamia with Uruk-style pottery, cylinder seals, and architectural forms — have been documented at Habuba Kabira (Syria), Arslantepe (Turkey), Godin Tepe (Iran), and other sites, demonstrating the city's far-reaching economic influence.

学術的推論

The Epic of Gilgamesh credits the legendary king with building Uruk's walls and founding its temple precinct. Some scholars associate a historical Gilgamesh with the Early Dynastic I period (c. 2800–2600 BCE) on the basis of the Sumerian King List, which places him as the fifth king of Uruk. Whether the historical person and the literary figure are connected is unknown.

議論のある解釈

The mechanisms of the Uruk Expansion — whether the colonies represent trade outposts, colonies, or the spread of material culture through exchange networks — is actively debated. Some scholars favor a model of Uruk merchants establishing outposts; others argue for indigenous adoption of Uruk material culture by local elites. The available evidence supports both interpretations.

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記事

古代文明完全年表

12 分で読了

このページの引用方法

Atlas Anatolia. (5000). Uruk. Atlas Anatolia. https://atlasanatolia.com/ja/site/uruk

コンテンツはCC BY-SA 4.0ライセンスの下で提供されています — 再利用の際は出典表示が必要です。

グラフ

関連する遺跡やストーリーへのつながり。

出典

The Uruk World System: The Dynamics of Expansion of Early Mesopotamian Civilization — Algaze, Guillermo (2005)
Uruk: The First City — Liverani, Mario (2006)
A History of the Ancient Near East — Van De Mieroop, Marc (2007)

よくある質問

Urukはどこにありますか？

UrukはIraqに位置しています。

Urukの年代はいつ頃ですか？

Urukはおよそ5000 紀元前 – 200 紀元前のものとされています。

Urukはどの文明に関連していますか？

UrukはSumerian文明に関連しています。

Urukが重要な理由は何ですか？

Uruk is where writing began.

Urukはユネスコ世界遺産ですか？

はい — Urukはユネスコ世界遺産に登録されています。

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