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Article: Ancient Mesopotamian cities.(Brief article)
- Article from:
- Calliope
- Article date:
- October 1, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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URUK, the biblical Erech, was one of Sumer's greatest cities. Tradition held that its brick walls, measuring about six miles in circumference, had been built by the epic hero Gilgamesh (see pages 12-15).
ERIDU was, according to the Assyrian King List, the oldest of all Sumerian cities. It was founded on sand dunes sometime around the fifth millennium B.C. (5000-4001). The city's patron god was Enki (also known as Ea), "lord of sweet waters that flow under the earth" and the god of wisdom. It is interesting to note that cities such as Eridu, Ur, and Uruk were all within sight of each other.
KALHU (present-day Nimrud) was chosen as the royal capital of ...