Near East: Uruk Period

Uruk period pottery

• beveled reed bowls

  • very small pots (.3L volume) all of nearly equal size used to distribute rations

“Money” in Uruk Period

• no official money, only barter system, backed by a silver exchange rate

  • silver used not as coin but to determine equal value with different goods

    • X wheat = X silver and X silver = X beer, so you know how much beer to give to equal the value of the wheat

• rations used as payment, not money

  • beeveled reed bowls for accuracy

Rations in Uruk Period

• distributed in beeveled reed bowls

• women get ½ of men’s, and children ¼

• only grain, never meat or veg

Administration in Uruk Period

• Temple was main administrative unit

• Cuneiform used as administrative tool

• Clay tokens used as transactions receipts

  • a pre-arranged # and symbol decided and then given after transaction as proof to ensure no theft

• Seals

  • show a concept of ownership

  • complex iconography

    • fighting lion motif

Uruk Period timeline

• 4000-3100 BC

City of Urk

• where the period gets its name from

• one of the largest cities of the time

• walled city

• temple and palace inside

• branch of Euphrates ran through