Oscar Hernandez

Professor Griffiths

ANTH 2030

November 14, 2018

Final Research Project

There’s more to Uruk than I covered in my previous report on it discussing only the bare

minimum of information. This time around not only did I dive into the matter more deeply but I

also put myself in the place of the director of the site in order to see how one would go about the

excavation. The main reason I’d do this is because the entirety of Uruk simply catches my

deepest interest. I want to know what’s really behind the epic of Gilgamesh and what purpose it

served to the people of the time. If it was merely just a tall tale or if it was actually some

religious script that was pushed on them to depict Gods in an evil manner.

The piece of history I’m looking into took place in the Bronze Age sometime around

2700 BC. It was founded in 4500 BC by King Enmerkar (Mark, 2011). As for the location of

Uruk, one might already know it lies in present day Iraq, and that being said I was thinking of

practicing some of the excavation techniques learned in class. For starters, suppose there’s

already an area marked on the map, a square area that needs to be excavated. Priority would be

digging up whatever we can find below but it also needs to be understood that there is a

surrounding matrix that must not be disturbed. Once an artifact is found it is imperative to not

disturb the ground because the different strata below can sometimes be mixed in with each other,

and if that happens it’s similar to two different time periods interconnecting. This will cause

some errors to arise in the data and blow out the law of superposition. Basically stating that one
layer overlies another and the lowest is deposited first. Another thing to note is that there were

also monuments present that have potential to hold valuable information.

The ziggurats were built as a tomb for the deceased and were more like temples than

actual burial grounds. While they did have similarities to pyramids, they served different

purposes. (Brittanica, 2018)

(ZigguratArchitecture, 2016)

Pyramids were for pharaohs who had passed away, real humans. Ziggurats on the other

hand were built for deities and were believed to reside in them. They also had their uses for the

priests to escape to during a flood. Ziggurats also had a very complicated chamber system that

housed many rooms each with their own special purpose (ZigguratArchitecture, 2016). If I was

directing this excavation project I would go through certain procedures if I came across any

artifacts. First off one would have to sort the basics apart; bones, stones, pottery, wood, and

metal objects. Next the finds would have to be classified based on attributes such as surface,

shape, and technological significance. To specify, they’d be separated by decoration and color,

dimension and shape, and raw material. (Renfrew, 2015, p. 103)

 For example the beveled-rim bowls that have been found scattered throughout

Mesopotamia can be sorted under plain, small pottery. The overabundance of these small bowls

was due to their simplicity and how they were used as payment for workers based on how much

rice or food they received in it. They seem to have been thrown out immediately after use

possibly eluding to the fact that this is one of the first mass produced products. (Cheng, 2005) On

the other hand the stone tablets of The Epic of Gilgamesh are to be under the utmost care for

they are a sacred text.

(Palermo, 2015)

Just how much of this epic is true? For starters this is a story about a hero who is also a

demigod so Gilgamesh may have existed but this is simply a story made to make him be more

heroic and shed a new light upon him and instill fear of the Gods to the readers. Although since

his tomb has been found we no longer question whether he existed but more so we look back and

reflect on the epic that depicts one facing death and questioning one’s own mortality. (Mark,

2011)
Bibliography
Brittanica, T. E. (2018, October 1). Epic of Gilgamesh. Retrieved from Brittanica:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Epic-of-Gilgamesh

Cheng, J. (2005, January 1). world history sources. Retrieved from World History Sources:
http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/d/250/whm.html

Mark, J. J. (2011, April 28). Uruk. Retrieved from ancient.eu: https://www.ancient.eu/uruk/

Palermo, E. (2015, October 2). Lost Epic of Gilgamesh. Retrieved from sott:
https://www.sott.net/article/303256-Lost-Epic-of-Gilgamesh-verse-depicts-cacophonous-
abode-of-gods

Renfrew, C. (2015). Archaeology Essentials. New York: Thames & Hudson Inc.

ZigguratArchitecture. (2016, April 18). archeyes. Retrieved from Ziggurat Architecture in Mesopotamia:
http://archeyes.com/ziggurat-temples-architecture-mesopotamia/