Historical place profile
Uruk/Orchoe/Erech/Orikut
Uruk was an ancient Sumerian (and later Babylonian) city located on the Euphrates river. At its height (ca. 2900 BC), Uruk's population may have topped 50,000 people and its walls enclosed an area of more than six square kilometers, making it the largest city in the world at that point in time.
Record details
- Research ID
- catholon:place:pleiades:912986
- Catalogue ID
- pleiades:912986
- Place type
- archaeological-site, findspot, settlement, urban
- Coordinates
- 31.323375, 45.639052
- Precision
- precise
- Locator semantics
- representative_point_not_boundary
Historical description
Uruk was an ancient Sumerian (and later Babylonian) city located on the Euphrates river. At its height (ca. 2900 BC), Uruk's population may have topped 50,000 people and its walls enclosed an area of more than six square kilometers, making it the largest city in the world at that point in time.
Geographic evidence
The coordinates are a representative_point_not_boundary. They identify a research anchor and do not by themselves assert an ancient administrative boundary or the full extent of the settlement.
Provenance: Barrington Atlas: BAtlas 93 B2 Uruk/Orchoe/Erech/Orikut
Source and reuse
This profile derives from the Pleiades current GIS record, licensed CC BY 3.0. Pleiades place record The profile preserves the source name, point, type, description, precision and provenance without silently adding a boundary reconstruction.
Research path
Compare this place with the chronological map at the relevant year, nearby political units, routes, institutions and the period portals. Where the source record is silent about jurisdiction, population or ecclesiastical rank, this profile makes no such claim.
Phase II — chronological and spatial research layer
Historical problem
Uruk was an ancient Sumerian (and later Babylonian) city located on the Euphrates river. At its height (ca. 2900 BC), Uruk's population may have topped 50,000 people and its walls enclosed an area of more than six square kilometers, making it the largest city in the world at that point in time.
Spatial reading
The record classifies this location as archaeological-site, findspot, settlement, urban with precise point precision. The coordinate is a research anchor, not a timeless urban, political or ecclesiastical boundary.
Source path
Geographic provenance: Barrington Atlas: BAtlas 93 B2 Uruk/Orchoe/Erech/Orikut. The place should be compared with the active time slice, routes, neighbouring polities, institutions and dated textual witnesses.
Questions for further dossier work
- Which occupation phases are directly attested at this coordinate?
- Which ancient or medieval names refer to the same site, and which remain disputed?
- Which political and ecclesiastical jurisdictions changed over time?
- Which routes, ports or regional centres explain the place’s historical importance?