Uruk Was Ruled By Gilgamesh Who Built City’s Great Walls
A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - In Mesopotamian myths, Gilgamesh is presented as a demigod of superhuman strength that lived a very long life. Based on the’ Sumerian King List’, we learn that the great hero, Gilgamesh, reigned 126 years.
He lived in the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. He was the son of the mortal Lugulbanda and a minor goddess, Ninsun.
Gilgamesh built and beautifully remodeled this great city to honor An, the father of the gods, and his daughter, Inanna, the goddess of love and war. He also irrigated the fields, dug wells, and made orchards.
One of his greater achievements was the construction of the city walls of Uruk to defend his people from enemies.
The city of Uruk was an important Sumerian city:
'…The outer wall shines in the sun like the brightest copper; the inner wall is beyond the imagining of kings. Study the brickwork, study the fortification; climb the great ancient staircase to the terrace; study how it is made; from the terrace see the planted and fallow fields, the ponds and orchards. One league is the inner city, another league is orchards; still another the fields beyond; over there is the precinct of the temple.
Three leagues and the temple precinct of Ishtar measure Uruk, the city of Gilgamesh….'
According to the Sumerian King List, Uruk was founded by King Enmerkar around 4500 BC and was the largest settlement in southern Mesopotamia, if not the world.
During the Early Dynastic period (2900–2350 BC), Uruk dominated Mesopotamia.
Towards the end of the fourth millennium BC, at about the time that writing was being invented but before it is able to tell us much, Uruk had already spread over some 400 hectares, and became greater in size and population than Rome, about 3000 years later, or Athens, when the northern and southern walls of the Acropolis were reconstructed and major temples including the Parthenon, were rebuilt under the leadership of Pericles during the Golden Age of Athens (460-430 BC).
Uruk was surrounded by a massive wall, which according to tradition was built on the orders of King Gilgamesh, who ruled around 2700 BC.
In the Epic of Gilgamesh’ is written:
"….they arrived at Uruk, the strong-walled city. Gilgamesh spoke to him, to Urshanabi the ferryman, ‘Urshanabi, climb up onto the wall of Uruk, inspect its foundation terrace, and examine well the brickwork; see if it is not of burnt bricks; and did not the seven wise men lay these foundations?
One-third of the whole is the city, one-third is the garden, and one-third is the field, with the precinct of the goddess Ishtar. These parts and the precinct are all Uruk.
This too was the work of Gilgamesh, the king, who knew the countries of the world. He was wise 'he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went a long journey, was weary, worn out with labor, and returning engraved on a stone the whole story…’
Uruk was a place of intense activity, a city of pulsating public life within its busy and impressive streets. The city had monumental mud-brick buildings decorated with mosaics of painted clay cones embedded in the walls, and richly decorated with art.
Large-scale sculpture in the round and relief carving appeared for the first time, together with metal casting using the lost-wax process.
Widely accepted as the historical 5th king of Uruk whose influence was so profound, Gilgamesh was later remembered in many stories and epics as a great hero.
Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
Expand for referencesReferences:
Kriwaczek, P. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization
Freeman, H. Sumerians: A History From Beginning to End
More From Ancient Pages
-
On This Day In History: Roman Emperor Trajan Was Born In Spain – On Sep 18, 53 AD
News | Sep 18, 2016
-
Tragic Curse Of Kaskaskia – The First Capital Of Illinois
Featured Stories | Jan 9, 2020
-
Cyrus The Great Cylinder – Legacy Of The Ancients
Artifacts | Aug 25, 2015
-
Extremely Brutal Conflicts Among Maya Broke Out Before Civilization’s Decline
Archaeology | Aug 8, 2019
-
Rock-Cut Tomb Of Pennut, Viceroy Of Nubia Under Reign Of Ramses VI
Civilizations | Dec 7, 2018
-
Why Did Neolithic Make Us Taller And More Intelligent But More Prune To Heart Disease?
Archaeology | Apr 8, 2022
-
Early Human Communication May Have Been Influenced By Changing African Landscape – Anthropologists Say
Evolution | Dec 28, 2023
-
Fossilized Million-Year-Old Human Skull Of Yunxian Man Excavated In China
Archaeology | Jan 10, 2023
-
Spectacular 2,500 Years Old Shwedagon Pagoda In Myanmar – World’s Oldest Pagoda
Featured Stories | Oct 18, 2018
-
Surprising Discovery Of Almost Intact Roman Sanctuary With Temples In The Netherlands
Archaeology | Dec 23, 2022
-
Humans May Be The Result Of An Evolution ‘Accident’- Scientists Say
Evolution | Sep 8, 2023
-
Surprising Time Capsule In Antarctica – Evidence Of Toxic Heavy Metal Pollution 800 Years Ago
Earth Changes | Jan 18, 2024
-
Baths Of Caracalla: Italian Antique Thermae Complex For Leisure, Gossip, Business And Socialisation
Featured Stories | Dec 4, 2023
-
New Species Of Softshell Turtle That Lived In North Dakota 66.5 Million Years Ago With Dinosaurs Discovered
Fossils | Mar 14, 2022
-
Ivar The Boneless: Famous Viking And Son Of Ragnar Lodbrok
Featured Stories | Jun 6, 2016
-
Interbreeding With Modern Humans Wiped Out Neanderthals’ Y Chromosomes 100,000 Years Ago
Archaeology | Sep 28, 2020
-
Mysterious 1,800-Year-Old Roman Marble Inscription Found In The Ancient City Of Aigai Deciphered
Archaeology | Oct 5, 2022
-
‘Impossible’ Ancient Egyptian Visit Troubles Historians
Featured Stories | Feb 11, 2021
-
Art Historians Solve Mystery Of Raphael’s Tomb By Reconstructing His Face
Archaeology | Aug 7, 2020
-
Catequil – Inca God Of Thunder And Lightning Who Predicted The Future And Was Cultural Hero Of Inca People
Featured Stories | Nov 11, 2023