See Also: Erech(encyclopedia)

Erech (sh)




or Uruk

Ancient city, Mesopotamia.

Located northwest of Ur on the Euphrates River, it was one of the greatest cities of Sumer and was enclosed by brickwork walls that, according to legend, were built by the mythical hero Gilgamesh. Excavations have traced successive cities that date from the prehistoric Ubaid period (งใ 5000 BC) to Parthian times (126 BC-AD 224), when in งใ 70 BC an ancient school of learned scribes was still using cuneiform script. Urban life in what is known as the Erech-Jamdat Nasr period (งใ 3500-2900 BC) is more fully illustrated at Erech than at any other Mesopotamian city.