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Ubaid Mesopotamia: White Temple of Uruk
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- Heraldic scenes with mythical animals
- Three dimensional figures out of more than one element
- Mosaic floors and walls
- Warka vase showing narrative relief
- protocuneiform pictographic script
- The Mask of Warka
Ubaid Mesopotamia: White Temple of Uruk
Uruk
Ziggurat
- Modern name: Warka
-Located in southern Mesopotamia; modern day southern Iraq and was founded in the 5th millennium. Six miles in circumference with archaeological depth of up to 20 m.
- Marshal and alluvial land with river tributaries
- 22 miles east of the Euphrates River
- Uruk + Kullah = Uruk
- First excavated by Englishman K. Loftus in 1849 and 1853
- Staged tower with raised platforms
- Sun baked bricks made up the core and with fired bricks facing the outside
- Facings were glazed with different colors with possible astrological significance.
- Possible connection to the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11:1-9
Artifacts
Ancient Near Eastern significance
- The form of a Sumerian temple is manifestation of Near Eastern cosmology: world = disc of land + surrounded by a salt water ocean + floating on another sea of fresh water called apsu + a world mountain formed an axis mundi that joined all three layers.
- The role of the temple was to act as that axis mundi, a meeting place between gods and men
- The sacredness of 'high places' as a meeting point between realms is a pre-Ubaid belief well attested in the Near East back the Neolithic age
- Using the temple roof as an observatory for Sumerian timekeeping
- The temple was built on a low terrace of rammed earth meant to represent the sacred mound of primordial land which emerged from the water called dukug, 'pure mound' (Sumerian: du6-ku3 Cuneiform:) during creation
Why does it matter?
- Concept of temple holds biblical significance to mankind
- Can be used as an example of how not to form theology
White Temple of Uruk
- This temple is one of the last remnants of the oldest building phase and is comprised of adobe brick
- In some sections remaining its original height of 2.5 meters (8.202 ft.), its walls coated in white plaster
- Also known as the Temple of Anu, this deity was worshiped by the city of Uruk as the sky god, creation god, or the great god of heaven
- Located in temples and cult buildings were numerous sherds of commonly painted pottery of fine quality
- A farming culture is indicated from clay figurines regarding fragments of sickles and cattle
.- As the temple decayed it was ritually destroyed and a new temple built on its foundations.
- The successor temple was larger and more articulated than its predecessor temple