page_title: Uruk period
section_title: Religion
hierarchical_section_title: Uruk period / Society and culture / Intellectual and symbolic life / Religion
caption_attribution_description: Tontäfelchen aus Mesopotamien, 3200 v. Chr., Auflistung von Getreideprodukten Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Vorderasiatisches Museum, VAT 15246 Fotografiert in der Ausstellung "Am Anfang war das Formular", Museum für Kommunikation Frankfurt, 2008
context_page_description: The Uruk period existed from the protohistoric Chalcolithic to Early Bronze Age period in the history of Mesopotamia, after the Ubaid period and before the Jemdet Nasr period. Named after the Sumerian city of Uruk, this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia and the Sumerian civilization. The late Uruk period saw the gradual emergence of the cuneiform script and corresponds to the Early Bronze Age; it has also been described as the "Protoliterate period".
  It was during this period that pottery painting declined as copper started to become popular, along with cylinder seals.
context_section_description: The religious universe of the Late Uruk period is very difficult to understand. As already stated, the cult places are very difficult to identify archaeologically, in particular in the area of the Eanna in Uruk. But in many cases, the cult foundations of buildings seems very probable, based on the similarity with buildings in later periods which were certainly sanctuaries: the white temple of Uruk, the temples of Eridu, of Tell Uqair. Some religious installations like altars and basins have been found here. It appears that deities were worshiped in temples. They call to mind several temples, designated by the sign for 'house' (É), because these buildings were seen as the earthly residence of the god. Religious personnel ('priests') appear in some texts like lists of jobs.
  The best-attested figure in the tablets is the goddess designated by the sign MÙŠ, Inanna (later Ishtar), the great goddess of Uruk whose sanctuary was located in the Eanna. The other great deity of Uruk, Anu (the Sky), seems to appear in some texts, but it is not certain because the sign that indicates him (a star) can also indicate divinities in a general sense (DINGIR). These gods received various offerings in everyday cult, but also in festival ceremonies like those in subsequent periods. The great vase of Uruk also seems to represent a procession bringing offerings to the goddess Inanna, whose symbol appears on the frieze. The religious beliefs of the 4th millennium BC have been the object of debate: Thorkild Jacobsen saw a religion focused on gods linked to the cycle of nature and fertility, but this remains very speculative.
  Other analyses have revealed the existence of a collective cult in the Sumerian cities of the Jemdet Nasr period, focused on the cult of the goddess Inanna and her sanctuary at Uruk, who thus had a preeminent position. The gods seem to be associated with specific cities - as was characteristic of Mesopotamia from the 3rd millennium BC—rather than being linked to specific forces of nature. The presence of a cult surrounded by institutions and bureaucracy, relying on their capacity to produce or collect wealth and apparently controlled by a royal figure indicates that the religion which is seen in the sources was an official religion, in which the sacrificial act was seen as preserving good relations between men and gods, so that the latter would ensure the prosperity of the former.
caption: Accounting tablet, Uruk III (c. 3200–3000 BC): listing a delivery of cereals for a festival of the goddess Inanna.[142] Pergamon Museum.
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