Uruk period

Japanese: ウルク期 - ウルクき（英語表記）Uruk period

This cultural period follows the Ubaid period in Mesopotamia. It is divided into an early and late period, and since pictographs appeared in the late period, the prevailing theory is that the late period and the Jemdet Nasr period together constitute the proto-text period. Ruins from the early period of Uruk are well known, such as Eridu, Ubaid (→Ubaid ruins), Nuzi (→Nuzhi ruins), Nineveh (→Nineveh ruins), and Gaura (→Tepe Gaura ruins), but most of them have layers from the proto-text period on top, and extensive investigations have not been conducted. As a result, many points are unknown, including the scale of the ruins. However, since the lowest level (10th level) of the temple of Anu, the sky god, in Uruk is nearly 9m high, it is believed that large-scale temples had already begun to be built, and since the remains of buildings thought to be watchtowers and fortresses have been discovered in Gaura, it is believed that a considerable town had already been formed. Culturally, other notable features include the beginning of the use of potter's wheels to make pottery, the fact that there was little or no decorative design; instead, pottery was covered with a red or gray veneer and polished, and the beginning of the production of cylindrical seals.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia About Encyclopaedia Britannica Concise Encyclopedia Information

Japanese:

メソポタミアのウバイド期に続く文化期。前期と後期に二分し，後期に絵文字の出現がみられるところから，後期とジェムデット・ナスル期を合わせて原文字期とする説が有力である。ウルク前期の遺跡はエリドゥ，ウバイド (→ウバイド遺跡 ) ，ヌジ (→ヌジ遺跡 ) ，ニネベ (→ニネベ遺跡 ) ，ガウラ (→テペ・ガウラ遺跡 ) などかなり知られているが，ほとんどは上層に原文字期の層が重なっていて広範な調査は行なわれていない。そのため遺跡の規模をはじめ不明な点が多い。ただウルクの天空神アヌの神殿の最下層 (第 10層) が 9m近くあることから，すでに大規模な神殿がつくられ始めたことや，ガウラでは見張り台や要塞と考えられる建物址が発見されていることなどからかなりの町邑が形成されていたと考えられる。また文化的には，土器の製作に轆轤 (ろくろ) が使用され始め，彩文はほとんど施されず，赤色，灰色の化粧土をかけ研磨したこと，円筒印章がつくられ始めたことが特徴としてあげられる。

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