Discover the fascinating story of Uruk, the world's first city, known for its towering walls and advanced irrigation systems. Uncover how it became a cradle of urbanization, trade networks, and even early writing. Dive into the Agricultural Revolution that transformed societies, leading to permanent settlements. Explore how this magnificent city thrived and ultimately faced decline, raising questions about its mysterious fate. The legacy of Uruk reveals much about the birth of modern urban civilization and the complexities it brought.
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Loftus's Discovery of Warka
Sir William Loftus, a British geologist, explored the ruins of Warka in 1857.
He described massive mounds and earthen ramparts, sensing the site's historical importance.
insights INSIGHT
Uruk: The First City
Uruk, formerly Warka, is considered the world's first true city, marking a turning point in human civilization.
Its vast size and ancient origins, dating back to 5000 BC, distinguish it from earlier settlements.
insights INSIGHT
Agricultural Revolution and Early Settlements
The Fertile Crescent's diverse environment and domesticable plants and animals facilitated early agriculture.
Jericho, one of the oldest settlements, exemplifies this transition, featuring early architecture like walls and a tower.
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This book draws on the latest research in archaeology, cognitive science, palaeontology, geology, and evolutionary sciences to paint a vivid picture of human life during the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods. Using the fictional character John Lubbock, a time-traveling explorer equipped with modern theoretical tools and archaeological knowledge, Steven Mithen brings to life the daily routines, struggles, and cognitive developments of prehistoric communities. The narrative spans various regions, including Tasmania, the Sahara, and Oaxaca, highlighting the diverse cultures and landscapes that laid the foundations of the modern world.
Ancient Mesopotamia at the Dawn of Civilization
The Evolution of an Urban Landscape
Guillermo Algaze
In this book, Guillermo Algaze uses insights from modern economic geographers to analyze how the natural conditions of the Tigris-Euphrates region granted southern Mesopotamian polities significant competitive advantages. He argues that these advantages, such as easy transportation of commodities, led to increased trade, economic activity, and higher population densities. Algaze also discusses the socially created innovations in labor organization and record keeping that contributed to the emergence of fully developed city-states in the region earlier than elsewhere in Southwest Asia or the world.
Metropolis
A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention
Ben Wilson
In 'Metropolis', Ben Wilson takes readers on a journey through 7,000 years of urban history, from the world's first city, Uruk, to modern-day metropolises like New York and Shanghai. The book explores how cities have been the cradles of innovation, art, religion, and trade, and how they have shaped human society. Wilson delves into the complexities of urban life, including both the positive and negative aspects, such as urban resilience, social dysfunction, and the evolution of public spaces. The book is a rich and accessible account, filled with historical anecdotes and analysis, making it a compelling read for history and public policy enthusiasts.
Mesopotamia
Gwendolyn Leick
Este livro explora a Mesopotâmia, uma região que corresponde aproximadamente ao Iraque atual, conhecida pelos antigos gregos como 'entre os rios'. A autora, Gwendolyn Leick, apresenta uma visão abrangente da história, cultura e desenvolvimento urbano da região, destacando sua importância como berço da civilização.
Travels and researches in Chaldæa and Susiana
William Kennett Loftus
This book details the archaeological expeditions and research conducted by William Kennett Loftus in Mesopotamia. It includes descriptions of excavations at Warka (the ancient city of Erech associated with Nimrod) and Shúsh (Shushan, the palace of Esther). The work provides valuable insights into the archaeological findings and historical significance of these regions during the mid-19th century.
In as early as 5000 BC the vast and spectacular city of Uruk - replete with towering walls, glistening temples and complex irrigation systems - lay sprawled across the face of Southern Mesopotamia. Not only is Uruk the oldest city in the world, but it is arguably one of the most consequential, having facilitated one of the great turning points of human civilisation. Here, in this mysterious metropolis lay the origins of urbanisation, making Uruk the predecessor and antecedent of every modern city today. It was the cradle of formidable trading networks, sophisticated craftsmanship, agricultural prosperity, the earliest examples of writing, and even home to the very first person in human history to be named. Yet, by 700 AD this once great wonder of the ancient world had been abandoned, leaving nothing behind but haunting ruins and two burning questions: firstly, how did this marvel of urbanisation come to exist, and secondly, what led to its ruin? Was it colonisation, climate change, or conquest…?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Uruk, the first city in the whole of world history and the mother of modern urbanisation, revealing the remarkable tale of its discovery, its mysterious origins, and equally enigmatic decline.
The Rest Is History 
