Overview

• Rise of the first true city: Uruk.
• Invention of writing (early cuneiform).

People & Society

• Cities up to 40,000+ inhabitants.
• Centralized administration.
• Specialized workers: priests, craftsmen, scribes.

Religion

• Major deities: Inanna (Ishtar), Anu, Enlil.
• Large temples and white temple of Uruk built on platforms (early ziggurats).

Economy

• Massive grain production.
• Trade with Anatolia, Iran, and the Gulf.
• First recorded bureaucracy.

Army

• Organized militias supported by city-states.
• Bows, spears, copper blades.
• Evidence of early fortifications.