Uruk-The Mother of All Cities

When we talk about the ancient world we tend to think of rare and exotic artefacts or the monumental remains of epic architecture. But these are just the empty shells that got left behind when the tide of history turned.The living creatures the civilisations that once inhabited these shells were rarely if ever static or stately. They were dynamic chaotic and always threatening to spin out of control, because civilisation is based on an improbable idea that strangers can live together in dense urban settings forging new allegiances that replace the ties of family clan or tribe. It's an idea we're still coming to terms with today. But one of the best ways to understand the challenges is to look at how our ancestors tackled them the first time around. In Baghdad people know all too well just how precious civilisation is and how vulnerable. The ancient Greeks believed that the cornerstone for all successful societies was Eunomia, good order. Lose that and you're in danger of losing everything. Today slowly and painfully Iraqis are struggling to put back together the good order that dictatorship regime change and civil war tore apart. They live with the hope that things will be better one day. It's a tall order but not an impossible one. In this part of the world it's a story that's been played out again and again from the time of the very first cities, which appeared in this region some 6000 years ago. So here it is: Uruk the mother of all cities. Nowadays as you can imagine it's quite difficult to get to. But I'm glad I did. Athens Rome Constantinople London Paris New York. If you traced the family trees of all these great cities they'd all lead back here to this dry and dusty corner of southern Iraq. Nowadays there's not much to see. But years ago this was home to 40.000 or perhaps 50,000 people. A population density unprecedented in human history. In the mythology of Mesopotamia Uruk was built by Gilgamesh two thirds god one third human. The great epic poem The Legend of Gilgamesh contains a proud description of his city. Go up pace the walls of Uruk study the foundation terrace and examine the brickwork. Is not the masonry made of kilnfired brick? And did not the seven sages lay its foundations? Three and a half square miles is the measure of Uruk. In fact if anything The Legend of Gilgamesh understates things. The walls that surrounded Uruk were nearly 10 kilometers in length enclosing an area of six square kilometers. Now just to give you a point of comparison classical Athens at its height was no more than five square kilometers. And even Imperial Rome was little more than ten. So by the measures of the ancient world these first cities were neither small nor insignificant. Right from the very start they were big players.