04-2 Uruk: The First City

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Uruk: The First City

By around 3200 B.C., 

the largest settlement

t 

 was Uruk    a true city dominated by monumental mud-brick buildings decorated with mosaics of painted clay cones embedded 

in the walls

Dynastic period

 (2900–2350 B.C.), when city-states dominated Mesopotamia, the city rulers gradually grew in importance and increasingly sought luxury materials to express their power. These goods, often from abroad, were acquired either by trade or conquest. At this time Uruk was surrounded by a massive wall, which according to tradition was built on the orders of King

Gilgamesh

. Although he may have been an actual king of Uruk around 2700 B.C., Gilgamesh became the hero of many later stories and epics.