Uruk
ancient city of Sumer and Babylonia
Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East or West Asia, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq. The site lies 93 kilometers (58 miles) northwest of ancient Ur, 108 kilometers (67 miles) southeast of ancient Nippur, and 24 kilometers (15 miles) northwest of ancient Larsa.
Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period and played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. At its peak around 3100 BC, the city may have had up to 50,000 residents, with 80,000–90,000 people living in its environs, making it the largest urban area in the world at the time. Gilgamesh, according to the chronology presented in the Sumerian King List (SKL), ruled Uruk in the 27th century BC. After the end of the Early Dynastic period, with the rise of the Akkadian Empire, the city lost its prime importance. It had periods of flourishing during the Isin-Larsa period, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian periods and throughout the Achaemenid (550–330 BC), Seleucid (312–63 BC) and Parthian (227 BC to AD 224) periods, until it was finally abandoned shortly before or after the Islamic conquest of 633–638. William Kennett Loftus visited the site of Uruk in 1849, identifying it as "Erech", known as "the second city of Nimrod", and led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854.
Toponymy
Uruk () has several spellings in cuneiform. In Sumerian, it is 𒀕𒆠 unugᵏⁱ, and in Akkadian, it is spelled 𒌷𒀕 or 𒌷𒀔 Uruk (URUUNUG). In Arabic, it is called وركاء (Warkāʾ) or أوروك (Auruk); in Syriac, ܐܘܿܪܘܿܟ (ʾÚrūk); and in Biblical Hebrew, אֶרֶךְ (ʾÉreḵ). In Ancient Greek, it was known as Ὀρχόη (Orkhóē), Ὀρέχ (Orékh), and Ὠρύγεια (Ōrúgeia).
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q168518. VIAF identifies the subject as 315170028. The Library of Congress control number is sh85044578. Authority coordinates are 31.326, 45.637. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1849, 1850 and 1854.
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