page_title: Art of Uruk
section_title: Pottery
hierarchical_section_title: Art of Uruk / Pottery
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Uruk-zeitlicher Glockentopf aus Habuba Kabira Süd (Syrien), ca. 3400-3200 v.Chr. Institut für Altertumswissenschaften, Arbeitsbereich Vorderasiatische Archäologie, JGU Mainz English: Bevelled-rim bowl from Habuba Kabira South, Syria. Late Uruk period, ca. 3400-3200 BC. Institute for Ancient Studies, University of Mainz, Germany.
context_page_description: The art of Uruk encompasses the sculptures, seals, pottery, architecture, and other arts produced in Uruk, an ancient city in southern Mesopotamia that thrived during the Uruk period around 4200-3000 BCE. The city continued to develop into the Early Dynastic Period around 2900-2350 BCE. Considered one of the first cities, the site of Uruk – modern-day Warka in Iraq – shows evidence of social stratification, institutionalized religion, a centralized administration, and what art historians would categorize as high art and architecture, the first in the long history of the art of Mesopotamia. Much of the art of Uruk shows a high technical skill and was often made using precious materials.
context_section_description: Pottery found at Uruk includes wheel made, hand-made and molded pieces. Potters at Uruk specialized in mass-produced functional vessels. The fast potter's wheel was introduced during the later part of the Uruk period, making it quicker and easier to produce pottery on a massive scale and with a greater sense of standardization. Thousands of beveled rim bowls have been found at the site, and it has been theorized that they were used to measure rations for families or dependant laborers. Another innovation in pottery invented and used by the potters of Uruk is the ceramic ring scraper. As the exportation of ceramics began, the weight of a large vessel became problematic when travelling as a trader. The ring scraper allowed excess, unnecessary material to be scraped from a vessel before firing, making the piece much lighter and easier to carry through town or across the desert. Because of the ability for artists to create pottery on a mass scale, the pottery of Uruk could be distributed to other parts of what is now modern Iraq. Studies have shown that Uruk pottery seemed to be more popular in northern Iraq than it was in southern Iraq.
caption: Beveled-rim bowl, c. 3400-3200 BCE
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