Uruk

Uruk, the archeological site known today as Warka, was an ancient city in the Near East or West Asia, located east of the current bed of the Euphrates River, on an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate [1]. Uruk is the type site for the Uruk period and played a leading role in the early urbanization of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC [1]. William Kennett Loftus visited the site of Uruk in 1849, identifying it as "Erech", known as "the second city of Nimrod", and led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854 [1]. The city was formed when two smaller Ubaid settlements developed into the cities of Unug and Kullaba and later merged to become Uruk [1]. The temple complexes at their cores became the Eanna District dedicated to Inanna and the "Anu" District of Kullaba [1]. The Mask of Warka, also known as the 'Lady of Uruk' and the 'Sumerian Mona Lisa', dating from 3100 BC, is one of the earliest representations of the human face [1]. The Eanna district is historically significant as both writing and monumental public architecture emerged here during Uruk periods VI–IV [1].