Glossary · Term

Uruk period

c. 4000–3100 BCE

The Uruk period is the archaeological period of Mesopotamia from about 4000 to 3100 BCE, named after the city of Uruk. Its later phase saw the growth of the first true cities, monumental temples, the cylinder seal and the earliest proto-cuneiform writing, and an Uruk expansion of colonies and trading outposts reaching Syria, Anatolia and Iran.

Uruk period
Image: Middle_East_topographic_map-blank.svg: Sémhur (talk) derivative work: Zunkir · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

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UrukFoundation, Military, Decline

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Uruk

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Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Uruk period. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/uruk-period
MLA
“Uruk period.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/uruk-period. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Uruk period.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/uruk-period.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Uruk period’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/uruk-period (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻