The Ancient City of

Ur

Kamila Telemtayeva
Writing / Cultural Studies
Ms. Correa / Mr. Vlad
Writing E0-6 / Cultural Studies E0-2
 Ur played a significant role in humans' history by being the first ones to go from

hunter-gatherers to an agricultural land. Even though they were created long before the

modern society started to live, there is quite a bit in common. Why though do people still

manage to live the same lifestyle and follow the same rules learn the same subjects, yet ​live ​in

completely different time periods? These intelligent people of the past could have impacted

the way we live today and affect how we live in the future.

The City of Ur was first established in 3800 BCE and only discovered six thousand

years later, after it being unknown of for centuries. City of Ur is in the region of Sumer,

southern Mesopotamia, in the location modern day Iraq. Mesopotamia was divided into

city-states and the capital of them was Ur. Ur was important because it was located at a

pivotal point between the Tigris and the Euphrates River that flew into the Persian Gulf. This

leads to them opening up trade routes and delivering and receiving goods which helped

Mesopotamians develop as civilized humans. Mesopotamians started building more trade

routes and connections between other countries; making immense profits. They also

encouraged the making of special sailboats that allowed them to go through the Persian Gulf.

It was also now simpler for them to get more exotic goods that they had never seen before

and trade what they have most for riches and materials they needed for themselves. Although

the trips for merchants was very time consuming, no matter where it was. Through their trade

they got to exchange art, pottery, stylus (which were inventions that were not complicated for

them to make), which could be foreign and rare in another country or city. Therefore, we

know, that the rarer the object is in that period of time the easier it is to get the material they

need from another merchant. Since Mesopotamians received a lot of goods and wealth from

other countries.

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 When Ur first flourished in the early 3800 BCE, it had placed amazing architecture

throughout the city. One example would be the ancient palace of Ziggurat. Ziggurat first

prosper in 2100 BCE in the city of Ur. The people of Ur were very proud and honored to

have this monumental building in their city-state. The purpose of the building was originally

for the gods. In Mesopotamia each city state had its own god they sent prayers to, and made

sure they were honored and fed. All of the gods were related to nature. The god that Ur

honored was the god of the moon, known as Nana.

The god Nana was honored because of the guidance it gave to the people through dark

night and on their journeys. Urians also thought that Nana was one of the most important

gods. Since the people of Ur didn’t have a good understanding of the solar system, they

thought that the moon was stabilizing everything in the universe. This affected the way

Urians lived in the past.

Daily every one living in the towns and villages sent their prayers to the god in the

Ziggurat. They honored them and asked for forgiveness if one commited crime or possible

future outcomes they wanted in their lives. Also, when the honoring of the god was

established it started furthering the astrological knowledge in the city. Priests were the first

ones to get that astrological skill and was incredible how they managed to use it. Priests

would figure out zodiacs and the movement of the stars and therefore incorporated times and

dates based on the number sixty. They were able to be the first to manufacture a calendar

based on the stars and zodiacs.

Priests were a huge part of Ziggurat, in every one of the city-states there were priests.

In the social class of Mesopotamia, priests were the second highest in the hierarchy. It is so

because they were the ones that were feeding the god and tried to make him feel honored.

They were also the only human beings allowed in the ancient palace of Ziggurat. As well as

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having such an important job as celebrating the god, they were also in charge of splitting and

sharing grain and other crops between people. Not everyone had the same amount since the

underprivileged towns people got less attention from the king and had less benefits and food.

Furthermore, a distinguished excavator of the ruins of Ur was ​Sir Charles Leonard

Woolley​. He was a well-known adventurer that discovered one of the most important

physical remains of Ur between 1922-1934 on behalf of the British Museum. One of his

discoveries was the royal tombs left in the graveyard, or as Wooley called it “The Death Pit”.

The death pit was a special man-made palace were all the royalties would lay when they

passed away. It specifically made it very luxurious, because, the kings or the governor would

pay them a lot of money so the builders and priests would create for them an amazing after

life. Everything inside was magnificent and looked rich; they put in servants, guards, food

and lots of treasures like silver, gold, and jewelry.

“Woolley found six armed guards, sixty-eight serving a woman.They wore ribbons of gold

and silver in their hair, except one woman who still held in her hand the coiled-up silver

ribbon she was unable to fasten before the sleeping potion took hold that painlessly carried

her away to the afterlife with her master” (Bertman 36).

A few other discoveries made in Ur were 28 tablets. It was a important device for

Mesopotamians since it allowed them to write. Therefore, Mesopotamians had scribes to

record the events happening throughout the years. The way tablets that tablets were used was

with thick dried clay as paper, and stylus dipped in wet mud was used like a pen. They also

carved drawings out of them too but later on mainly focused on writing since drawing was

too time consuming.

Meanwhile archaeologists of the British Museum have found a small amount of

villages made out of mud bricks. Since over-flooding of the river happened so often it got to

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the dirt and turned it into wet mud. The amount of mud in the city was beginning to cause a

problem for the people living in the city. Therefore, they decided to make bricks out of the

mud by carving rectangular shapes and molding it, and then putting it in the sun to dry. That

was how they made the brick for the walls of their villages.

With the intention of finding out more about Ur, modern day archeologists discovered

that the whole area was divided into the wealthy and the poor. Their lives were different, and

the same thing happened to the arrangement of their houses. For the wealthy there was a

backyard to keep laundry and animals (if they bought any), there was a room for the slaves

and everything else similar to the houses we have today. ‘This is a typical Iraqi house,’ said

Abdul-Amir Hamdani, the senior Iraqi archaeologist on the project, who grew up in the area.

He gestures at the mud-brick walls. ‘There are stairs to the roof and rooms around a

courtyard. I lived in a house just like this. There’s a continuity in the way people live here,’

(National Geographic). They were also two story, while the housing for the poor was one

story and it was a lot more cramped then the others. Archaeologist have not only found

houses they have also found weaving factories, wool factories, and warehouses. These were

the places that women most likely found their jobs. By manufacturing clothing, carpets, wool

and many other fabric related items and goods.

Ur had dynasties over the years it was known to people. There were three dynasties in

total while Ur was there, that played a big role in their lives. Every one of the dynasties and

its emperors affected the people of Ur. They also changed the people's perspective on living

too. All of the three dynasties impacted each other and the people living in Ur. For instance,

the first dynasty was ruled during the mid-third millennium BCE by the immediate

successors of the kings and queens whose tombs Woolley discovered in the Royal Cemetery.

As it was the first dynasty to ever rule there was a lot of stabilizing and working out how the

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city of Ur was going to be. Therefore, the first dynasty wasn’t mature enough to rule the city.

The second dynasty left no records or text analysis therefore nothing was discovered about it.

Although the third dynasty played a huge role in forming the great city of Ur.

The third dynasty was the most well-known one; it was one of great potential to the

Sumerians. The third dynasty started ruling during the third millennium. Throughout the

years the emperor's governed they achieved many achievements and prosperity for the city of

Ur. The reigns of its kings—Urnamma, Shulgi, Amar-Suen, Shu-Suen, and Ibbi-Suen—are

well-documented in economic and literary texts. All of them played a big role in the

Sumerians life. For example, they built and developed military forces, they evolved the

economy of Ur, and furthered astrological knowledge with the monumental buildings they

built. During the time the emperor's governed, Shulgi and his father Ur-nammu were

probably the ones who really expanded and matured Ur.

First, Ur-nammu created a more governed city by creating the first system of law.

Although, people first thought that it was Hammurabi, he actually was only able to do that

300 years after Ur-nammu. Ur-nammu also led the city by a patriarchal hierarchy in which he

was the father of the people who he considered his children. He was leading and helping

them on a journey of prosperity and continued health. Another great achievement of his was

the Ziggurat which was built under his ruling and trade flourished when he opened the trade

stations in the Persian Gulf. He also encouraged the learning of astrology, advanced

mathematics, arts, and literature and the technological discoveries that were all developed by

him.

Shulgi, son of Ur-nammu took over the throne after his father passed away. He was

known to be one of the greatest kings of the third dynasty because of the heights the

civilization reached during his reign. Although he continued to follow his father's policies, he

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was also improving them when he saw fit. He later on built an enormous 150-mile wall

running across the border of Sumer to prevent the attack, from the Barbarian tribes also

known as “Martu” which the city took as an incredible and generous act. Overall throughout

his leadership he performed great acts and strong firm decisions that made the city flourish.

He managed for it to remain the center of language and culture for almost 5 decades.

To conclude, the way people of Ur lived in the past affect the way people live today.

It helped us develop our economy. Dominique Charpin, a specialist in Cuneiform, says “It

was the first planned economy, just like the Soviet Union,” (National Geographic).

Mesopotamians economy helped figure out the jobs we need to assign and the laws we

should incorporate . Policies, politics, subjects etc. have still managed to stay the same and

that is the amazing thing about Ur. Ur and Ancient Mesopotamia may have had an effect on

people’s knowledge and skill today based on the things that have been discovered about it.

As a result Ur has shedd light and perspective on the people from the past that

possibly have an impact on the way all of us live in the today. Mesopotamians skill and

knowledge was impeccable and the things they managed to discover too. Their social classes,

housing, jobs, and skill are very similar to what is still seed in modern society. Overall, Ur

developed through the millennials they lived and had a great effect on how humans live

today. Their precise learning and discoveries have led to people attempting to follow the

same pattern. It helped humankind evolve and prosper. Their knowledge furthered with

different ways of ruling and inventing. Ur had flourished over the centuries and will be

forever remembered.

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