Uruk Exhibition at the Pergamon Museum

URUK - 5000 Years of the Megacity

Exhibition 25th April - 8th September 2013 Pergamonmuseum, Berlin

Exhibition 20th October 2013–21st April 2014, Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim

Bird goddess icons?  Game pieces - pawns?  Both?  Source.  This is Goddesschess think :)  Hey - why not?  LOOK at them!

In Winter 1912/13 large scale archaeological excavations started in Uruk-Warka (Iraq). Initiated by the German Oriental Society and continued between 1928 and 1939 by the German Research Foundation, the official research permit was transferred by the Iraqi State oard of Antiquities to the German Archaeological Institute in 1954. Ever since Uruk has been the most important archaeological project of the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute in Iraq.

The exhibition „URUK – 5000 years of the Megacity“ presents, for the first time, the results of these excavations to a greater public. Especially for this event a close cooperation was established between the Vorderasiatisches Museum – Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Museum of the Ancient Near East), the Curt-Engelhorn-Foundation for the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen, Mannheim, the German Oriental Society, Berlin, and the German Archaeological Institute. The exhibition will be on show between 25th April and 8th September 2013 at the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Pergamon-Museum) in Berlin and between 20th October 2013 and 21st April 2014 at the Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen in Mannheim. On 25th and 26th April 2013 the latest scientific results on Uruk will be discussed in an international colloquium, organized by the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute in cooperation with the German Oriental Society, generously funded by the German Research Foundation.

In the city of Uruk an impressive number of important innovations developed, which still impact our life today. At the end of the 4th millennium BC, the first large urban centre was established along with complex structures for social life and administration. Food supply for a large population and that of everyday equipment, next to water management, distribution of imported goods and knowledge were among the most important functions of the city. The first cuneiform script was invented here, and the Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest epic in the world, shrouded in myth this king of Uruk. Especially in the 4th millennium BC Uruk played an important political role and was cross-linked all over the Ancient Near East. During the following more than 3 000 years the city served as important scientific and religious centre.

„We are delighted to present, for the first time, many 3D-models of the impressive and monumental mud brick architecture of early Uruk – badly preserved when discovered in the excavation. These models were generated by the German Archaeological Institute on the basis of the latest scientific results including high resolution satellite imagery“ says Margarete van Ess, scientific director of the Orient Department of the German Archaeological Institute. „The young company artefacts-berlin.de, implemented our ideas technically and graphically and substantially contributed to their visualization.“

More information about the Uruk project is available here.
More information about the exhibition is available here.