Archaeological culture · c. 4000–3100 BCE
Uruk culture
The culture of southern Mesopotamia when the first cities grew up, named after Uruk. Temples became huge, cylinder seals and clay tokens were used to manage goods and workers, and around 3400–3300 BCE the first writing, proto-cuneiform, appeared for record-keeping.
In the 'Uruk expansion' its people set up colonies and trading posts up the Euphrates and into northern Syria and Turkey. The map shows the city-states themselves from 3400 BCE.
See Uruk culture on the map in 4000 BCE
- On the map
- 4000–3100 BCE
How we know
Known from excavated cities; the first proto-cuneiform tablets appear only near its end, around 3400–3300 BCE.
Sites
- Uruk (Eanna and the White Temple) c. 5000 BCE – c. 700 CE; Eanna and White Temple c. 3500–3100 BCE
- Arslantepe c. 4000–700 BCE; palace c. 3400–3200 BCE