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- This article is about the city mentioned in the Bible. For the fictional location in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, see Erech (Middle-earth).
Erech (Hebrew name ארך, meaning 'to extract' or 'draw out') according to the Book of Genesis, was an ancient city in the land of Shinar, the second city built by king Nimrod. The ancient city of Erech was one of the first cities established after the Biblical account of the Great Flood. Nimrod, a third generation descendant of Noah is credited with establishing this as one of the centers of the Babylon Kingdom. Erech was located in the alluvial plain area of southern Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Through the domestication of grains from the nearby Hilly Flanks region and extensive irrigation techniques, this arid terrain soon supported a vast variety of edible vegetation. The domestication of grains and proximity to the regions two great rivers increased the population of Erech to the regions largest, both in population and area. It has been estimated at its peak, Erech supported approximately 50,000 inhabitants with an area of just under 6 square miles. The inhabitants of the city soon began to refer to Erech as Uruk and now it is known as Warka, Iraq.
Excavations of Erech began in the mid-1850’s by William K. Loftus. By Loftus’ own account, he admits that the first excavations were superficial at best, as his financiers forced him to deliver large museum artifacts at a minimal cost. From 1912 – 1913, Julius Jordan and his team from the German Oriental Society discovered the temple of the goddess Ishtar, one of the four temples located at the site. The temples at Erech were quite remarkable as they were constructed with brick and adorned with colorful mosaics. Jordan also discovered part of the city wall. It was later discovered that this 40 to 50 foot high brick wall, probably utilized as a defense mechanism, totally encompassed the city at a length of 5 ½ miles. Utilizing sedimentary strata dating techniques, this wall is estimated to have been erected around 3000 BC. Jordan returned 15 years later and worked for nearly 10 years, reconstructing the city’s layout. In 1954 Heinrich Lenzen began work at the site and discovered unarguably the most important artifacts. They were clay tablets with Sumerian and pictorial inscriptions that are thought to be some of the earliest recorded writings, dating to approximately 3300 BC. These tablets were deciphered and include the infamous Kings List. This is a record that contains all of the kings of the Sumer civilization.
Together with the impressive temples, ziggurats were discovered. These were large temple towers with a pyramidal shaped building at the top. Large courtyards were uncovered to verify that these temples with ziggurats were the city’s main hubs of activity. Many religious writings were uncovered within the temples and a nearby cemetery yielded numerous sarcophagi.
The artifacts found at the Erech site indicate that during the Uruk period (4000 – 3200 BC) this civilization thrived and was the model for many other Mesopotamian cities. The artifacts also confirm that religion was an important aspect of culture of the city. It’s proximity to the two great waterways of the land, and artifacts found that are non-indigenous, indicate that Erech was heavily involved in cultural trading. The domestication of grain (involving the construction of irrigation systems), the different types of structures excavated, the finding of the King’s List, and the presence of religious temples, all indicate that a social and political system was established and maintained throughout the history of Erech. References:
Postgate, J.N. Early Mesopotamia, Society and Economy at the Dawn of History. New York, New York: Routledge Publishing, 1994.
Vos, Howard F. Archaeology in Bible Lands. Chicago, Illinois: Moody Press, 1977.
Lloyd, Seton. Foundations in the Dust. New York, New York: AMS Press Inc., 1978.
“The Old Testament and the Ancient Near East, Erech.” Western Evangelical Seminary BST 550 (20 April 1998) http://www.seminary.georgefox.edu/courses/bst550/reports/Jbartlett/Erech.html June 2000
“Erech” The Utah Card (Unknown) http://www.utahcard.com/magazine/news/religion/geographicaldictionary/erech.html (it is unavailable.) June 2000
“City of Uruk” (Unknown) http://home.achilles.net/~sal/uruk.html June 2000
Written By: Mark Bestick
The consensus among scholars is that the site of Erech is Uruk (modern Warka) in southern Mesopotamia.
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Last updated on Monday May 12, 2008 at 14:02:47 PDT (GMT -0700)
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