Uruk

Sumerian · Iraq

Field notes

civilizations

Sumerian

types

City · Village

built

3,200 BCE

occupied

5,000 BCE — 300 CE

country

Iraq

The site

Uruk, known today as Warka, was an ancient Sumerian city in what is now southern Iraq and the type site for the Uruk period. It played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer, and at its peak around 3100 BCE may have held up to 50,000 residents, making its region the largest urban area in the world at the time. Ringed by walls and crowned with ziggurats and temples, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is the storied home of the legendary king Gilgamesh.

Nearby sites

~60 km

Ur

~66 km

Eridu

~97 km

Nippur

~177 km

Babylon