THE RECORD
What changed
In the late fourth millennium BCE, Uruk in southern Mesopotamia grew into a major urban centre where irrigated surplus, specialist labour, long-distance exchange and institutional management converged.
EVIDENCE
What remains
Monumental precincts, cylinder seals, mass-produced pottery and early accounting tablets preserve traces of organized people, goods and labour.
WHY IT MATTERS
Why it matters
A city was more than a large village: it was a new way for strangers to remain connected through rules, records and divided labour.
OPEN QUESTION
Where interpretation begins
Uruk is often called the first city, but definitions of urbanism and the character of contemporary centres remain debated.