Cities in Mesopotamian Culture

The City as a Source of Pride

Mesopotamian culture was built around the city — a place where many communities and cultures lived side by side. This was not merely a practical arrangement; it was a source of deep emotional attachment. When cities were destroyed in war, the people remembered them in poetry. The most moving expression of this pride appears at the end of the Epic of Gilgamesh, a long poem written on twelve tablets.

Gilgamesh is said to have ruled the city of Uruk sometime after the earlier king Enmerkar. He was a great hero who subdued people far and wide. But when his heroic friend died, Gilgamesh was shaken. He set out to find the secret of immortality, even crossing the waters that surround the world. After a heroic attempt, he failed and returned to Uruk. There, he consoled himself by walking along the city wall, back and forth, admiring the foundations of fired bricks that he had put into place. It is on this city wall that the long tale of heroism and endeavour fizzles out. …