Uruk: Origins and Legends of History's Earliest City 

you made a vid about Jericho... and said it was founded around 10.000 BC .... - This does not compute -

Just in case, i have made several comments with a table of content on several of your videos: if you want to add it the description, feel free...

I had a dream, where Simon go back to VP

Hey Simon, since scientists are always finding these "autistic renderings", can those of us on the spectrum get a little recognition XD

@Wim de B Gobekili Tepi was not a city or a place where people live. there is no archeological evidence to support that. But it was a place of gathering for trade and possible worship. that is older that any other human made place that is found. as speculated, they made it, used it. buried it and moved north as the icecaps. Maybe it were the Neanderthals.... :)

How about "Darmok on the ocean. Shaka when the walls fell."? If you remember the source of this, I bow to your greatness LOL

great times

@@alexdill9667 Darmok and Tenagra...when the walls fell

From Extra Mythology ?

Pepperidge farm remembers

Good one, sir.

*slow clap*

Too much red tape

It did it to itself.

They had to hide that evil from the world

Ah yes, when the walls fell

I learned about him from Fate Stay Night.

Tamba, his arms wide! (For me, ST:TnG is the best series ever)

@@Mecha82 same

HIS EYES UNCOVERED!!

Dogoland?

Imagine how advanced civilization was before the ice age wiped it out and they had to rebuild.

The "last ice age " hasn't ended. Civilization did not cause global warming, global warming caused civilization. The Earth is currently in an ice age called the Quarternary. This ice age began 2.5 million years ago. During this ice age there have been several warm periods, called interglacials. The Earth is in one now, called the Holocene. There are indications that this interglacial period is coming to an end, and that the Earth is about to get colder. Modern man first appeared 300,000 years ago. For 290,000 years we wandered the Earth as hunter-gatherers. All of human existence has occurred during an ice age. A little less than 12,000 years ago, the Holocene began, and the Earth began to warm. The seas rose 400 feet, and then stopped. There has been virtually no more rise in sea levels for 2,500 years. Around this time, man discovered agriculture. Agriculture led to surplus. Surplus led to specialization. Specialization led to cities. Cities led to civilization. Civilization led to history. This all happened around 5,000 years ago. All of human existence has been within an ice age. All of human history and civilization has been within an interglacial of that ice age. We literally know of nothing else.

@@gahrie you say we literally know nothing but you talk like only you know the real story.. so are you a god or a mere mortal?

@@guaporeturns9472 no... I know history. You should too

ZASSHU

ONORE!

They are indeed mongrels.

"I am the one true king. All others are mere pretenders. As all the world belongs to me, so do all its treasures both known and to be discovered."

@I'm illiterate nice

Darmok on the ocean, Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra, Darmok and Jalad on the ocean!

Yes I personally can't wait until they release the Snyder Cut of the Epic of Gilgamesh.

It's extremely impressive if for no other reason than its age, that the historical tone almost reads as if Biblical... I personally read this, when it was first introduced to me many MANY years ago, with a reverence that came close to my initial childhood perusal of the Bible (it has since become something different for me as a Christian, but my initial HISTORIC impression of the two writings was very similar. Both of my first readings were quite magical and left a lasting impression on my soul.

Local king finds a plant for inmortality but fails delivering it back to Uruk because he got dabbed by a snake.

@@QuantumRift Sokath, his eyes uncovered!

I imagine that was exciting. What important history.

Amazing! I'm full of envy at your opportunity!

I’ve been all over the world and one place on my bucket list is Iraq. So much history from the most ancient, to medieval Golden ages, to modern triumph and tragedy. Though I’ve traveled through some places in the Middle East, Central America and East Asia, Iraq has always scared me as much as interested me. So I am truly envious of you. To stand in the presence of Uruk, Eridu, Ur or Mari..not to mention Babylon would be absolutely profound.

@@trybeanpole1873 you’d be more than welcome. It’s a lot safer than the media makes it out to be and the people love tourists. Now they made the visa very easy to get!!

Is the area open to tourists ?

I'm of an Iraqi origin as well my friend and feel the same sadness. Probably the coolest civilization on earth unfortunately neglected for sectarian interminable conflicts

Praying for Iraq every day.

@@supernecessary9058My friend, I've lived my entire life in Iraq and it really hurts to see all the wonderful history and the great resources and capabilities of this country laid to waste like this but I'm still hoping that one day Mesopotamia will rise again

@@eurodelano Greetings to your nobel soul and thank you for your thoughts and prayers

Well, patience may be called for; it's been waiting for millennia, another decade or two isn't a big deal. It *would* help for various groups to be organized and plan for the re-start of serious work, though. I'm pretty sure there's enough there to keep 4 or 5 different groups busy for years!

Source?

@@jpgduff Well common sense indicates that this theory is fairly sound.

@@marys1534 Common sense does not equal evidence, and you would be surprised how commonly "common sense" is completely and utterly wrong. As ancient man no doubt said many time "The sun goes round the Earth... it's common sense".

If scientists are to be believed, the Earth is still exiting the last ice age, which is a very slow process by human standards.

@@another3997 The Earth and Sun are moving relative to one another. If you take the Earth as your frame of reference then the other objects are moving while the Earth remains at the same coordinates. That is why the plane is still and the air is moving when engineers perform wind tunnel tests. Nobody has ever Said what the galaxy is going around because it makes absolutely no sense to talk in those terms when everything is in motion relative to everything else.

Gilgamesh and Enkidu at Iraq is an interesting way to see it.

@@alklazaris3741 Gilgamesh, when the walls fell.

Thats such a cool fact! I love they kept the nod to history

@@mrsanity Enkidu, his eyes opened

Hello friend, I hope your doing well. Iraqi history is amazing, the fertile crescent and Mesopotamia to the ubaid to sumerian, akkadian, assyrian, Babylonians, all the king wars, and then Persian empire to the ottomans. All the power struggles and treasures and tributes and inventions from that region boggles the mind. And that's not even going into the religous importance of the area. It's so fascinating, I saw king tiglath-piliser treasure on RU-vid and the quality of craftsmanship is lost art, the details are unbelievable and rivaling Egyptian tomb treasures, it goes to show how powerful and successful these kings were and how many ppl were subjugated at the time, blows the mind to see how much change throughout history has occurred

God is a Turk

@@bondye5929 Lol, Turkey certainly have some rather interesting early settlements but Jericho is not in Turkey. There is also the question if most of the early settlements in other areas just have been destroyed the last 10 000 years ago or if the Levant is unique for some reason. Almost all of the ones we found have been in remote places with little human occupation since. Turkey is also relatively peaceful so archaeologists can actually find these sites. There is for instance the question if the rivers during the green Sahara had settlements but most of the area is so worn torn no one really dare to go there and find out. It could be either way, there could have been many similar settlements in places with more occupation that have been destroyed or something unique could have been going on in this place, both are equally likely, we just don't know. But that does not make these sites less interesting and it will be exciting to see what more the archaeologists will find there. Only Jericho have really been fully excavated and even there new excavations with modern methods could find a lot new information.

@@loke6664 no seriously god is a Turk

@@bondye5929 I dunno, a bit too many earthquakes to be sure about that. You also have the mysterious fall of the probably greatest civilization in Turkey: The Hittites. They were one of the greatest ancient civilizations and they more or less mysteriously disappeared in a few short years during the Bronze age collapse. People usually blame the Sea people for that but since many of the cities were far from the sea that explanation seems doubtful at best. There is also Troy, who probably fell more times then most cities, it is in Turkey. So if God is a Turk, he is a bit of a jerk, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, barbaric hordes and I don't know what. But Turkey is certainly one of the most interesting places of the world when we are talking pre history and rather interesting in the historical era as well. The Hittites, the Byzantins and and the Ottomans all came from that area as well as a bunch of smaller civilizations and it is possible agriculture was invented there too (that isn't 100% clear though, the oldest known place to cultivate some kind of crops are a 22 500 year old site in modern Israel and the earliest domesticated animal besides the dog was a bird on Java but those are the ones we know about, Turkey is also a good contender on the "who invented agriculture" first). As for the worlds oldest city, people usually count Ur since they had an administration but there are arguments for Çatalhöyük, it all depends how you define a city. Boncuklu Tarla and Karahan Tepe in Turkey also seems to have the worlds oldest known temples, if you don't count a weird Neanderthal cave construction from 120 000 years ago which could be a temple. Writing on the other hand is out, it was either invented in Iraqi or possibly Egypt (Iraqi is leading by a 100 year so far but that is so close that it is possible the Egyptians were first).

With Uruk came a slave/worker class, and Jericho was still an early human society. With modern society, enter rulers and slaves. First, control the food supply, then create debt and indebt the population.

...meh.

Eh, meh ... whatever ...

Meh? Genuinely interested

- Chapter 6 - $$$ Profit $$$

Thanks.

Too bad alot of this is just wrong according to anthropologists. Like Uruk is not the "first" city at all çatalhöyűk and 2 others are contenders. Çatalhöyűk predates Uruk by 4,000 years

@@jameskosusnik1102 my mom predates YOU by 4000 years 😛

@@greenkoopa cringe kid

While not 100% accurate, it’s pretty much akin to living in the western world or Soviet Union anytime between the Industrial Revolution and like the 1960’s… so you can sort imagine it more easily that way.

Til:Fertile crescent

🤣🤣🤣

There's the Fate fan... I knew we were here somewhere. Its a shame you chose to quote the NP of the trash version of Gilgamesh... Enuma Elish all the way!

Complete with mid lesson adverts and plugs! How very modern!

Ehh - rather the man with the beard, host for hire, ready to read out any text any production firm emails him, in front of a camera. Mr Whistler has not the least part in the writing of his shows. And for example visualpolitic is simply a transcription of the spanish show of the same name, completely done by a chinelan media firm. He is a talking head for hire.

This comment brought to you by Beard Blaze. Allegedly.

@@bvagasky83 I see you too are a man of culture 😉

@@nilesbutler8638 he literally owns and runs all his own youtube channels.

'Abrahamic history' denies conceals and destroys the truth. Uruk is a dumphole same as it always was

bad campa says who? You’re welcome to back up your statement via link.

@@williamthompson5504 just look at that quality stonework lol the ancient submerged ruins in southern India (as mentioned by SW in an 'ancient mysteries' video) must have built when the sea was much lower, which then validates Ancient Vedic literature like Surya Siddhantha and Hinduism in general

@@badcampa2641 you didn’t provide a link for William

@@bellamckinnon8655 i gave evidence which provide several links, Surya Siddhantha dates 16'000 bc, the submerged stone ruins are contemporary, ancient Vedic literature is validated, the Abrahamic predator has no clothes, even Jesus C was a Buddhist returned from Kashmir

I am glad you were able to experience that but it is deeply disappointing & embarrassing that our troops should behave so disrespectfully to such an ancient site. 😢

you cannot keep me away as easy as that

geographers vs geologists is the funniest fewd in science to me

What hosting job does he NOT do? It’s like there’s no specialty or actual involvement needed. All you need to be is a host and you can host anything.

@@genghisgalahad8465 Yeah, but that voice tho. I could listen to him read the back of a cereal box.

Enuma was a misguided soul.

Always gives me goosebumps. The wording is just so damn epic

@@seekingtruthnotfindingany7301 ... What?

@@rikospostmodernlife It's the nobel phantasm of Gilgamesh, EA. It's attack is named Enuma Elish.

@@YoSora1313 wh... what? It's some kind of sentai?

You forgot the useless goddess and the best goddess

Also forgot the Old Man of the Mountain and Tiamat

@@ginbei711 aka lewd Rin and wholesome Rin

The fgo players have appeared

Dont forget a random japanese heroes do pop up here

Ah yes unfortunately ended by a troublesome gang of fellows

Gilgamesh doesn't have friends. He has followers.

Whoah there... we can't make that joke here. Simons far too formal here to admit he doesn't get that one.

In an interpersonal struggle for the "Meh". I would watch.

their trouble started with their destruction of the nearby forest

Don't see why they would ever do that. They'd surely lose money. Why are you worried about this?

Ad revenue go brrrrrr

Isn't the flood event in the Epic of Gilgamesh greatly similar to the biblical tale of Noah? Some say the biblical tale is plagiarized from the Epic of Gilgamesh.

@@bpalpha The flood of the bible is an absolute rip-off of the Gilgamesh tale. Gilgamesh was first recorded, as far as we know at the moment, circa 2100 BCE, the flood in the Hebrew Torahs, later the Christian Bible, was recorded somewher between 1200 BCE and 100 CE. It's likely adopted from when the Black Sea filled in as the land between that basin and the Mediterranean gave way. Survivors of that event, roughly 7600 BCE, handed down the story to later generations and it was shared far & wide becoming legend, first written in Gilgamesh. Cheers

See: Joseph Campbell

Rivaled by the majestic shiny head

So exquisite

Thank goodness he makes the oil Beard Blaze ™️

Matched only by Sargon of Akkad Himself.

Cool it man. He’s married. Have some respect

The world was recovering from the ice age, the cradle of humanity would have been like Southern France in those times

He completely lost me when he seemed oblivious to the climate being different at that time. Also he doesn’t seem to know the difference between “the first” and “the first that we know of”. Lots of very definite statements about things are that just theories. I couldn’t get halfway thru before stopping.

what you telling me his sweet fake accent wasnt enough to keep you watching LOL@@grannyweatherwax8005

Then you missed out ​@@grannyweatherwax8005

My sources? *ALIENS*

@@greenkoopa Silence, Zasshu!

I believe Quetzalcoatl is Mayan?

@@planetdisco4821 It's a game and anime reference mate. Look up FGO Babylonia XD And for the record, in FGO Quetz isn't exactly a Mayan. She's an alien XD

@@greenkoopa nah mate, even Ancient Aliens cannot make this kind of lore

I wouldn’t say this is my favorite period. But it’s not my least favorite. It’s “meh”.

@@GrndAdmiralThrawn thanks for that

Meh

The flood-survivor has various names depending on the version of the story. Atrahasis & Utnapishtim are just the two most common.

I see, similar to how Merlin is sometimes referred too as Tim the Enchanter. ;)

Atrahasis is the name of the flood survivor in the older Sumerian version of the Epic while Utnapishtim is his name in the later Babylonian version

@@ihabalwash5829 So it's a Ulysses/Odysseus issue?

Shamhat is even more impressive, sleeping with Enkidu for six days and seven nights, and the fact she was a mere human.

@Kong King Babylon yes, but we know from Greek sources that the cities of the Assyrian Empire lay in ruins before Alexander the Great ended the Persian Empire and people already had forgotten who build them.

Give it 25 years and hopefully they will have much more for you to see!

@@wingerding I would love to see what they unearth.

Fellow Fate fans unite!

What’s Fate

@@uydagcusdgfughfgsfggsifg753 an anime based franchise with important figures of history and myth, that has the tendency to make said figures into anime girls XD

Likely true, but if you know of an older one...

Is your belief based on anything or just speculation?

I believe Eridu is older

@@qr8440 Yeah, and it is even reflected in Sumerian myths, as mentioned in this video when innana stole the mes from Enki, and thereby relocated the center of civilization from Eridu to Uruk. Apparently the myth represents that transfer, and applies the reason for it to the divine. It also looks like Jericho, at least as a walled community dwelling, if not exactly a city, is older still. And who knows what else might be out there waiting to be unburied/rediscovered.

It is not even the 'oldest' city ever found. Off the coasts of India and Egypt there are pretty vast big ruins of former cities, now un​derwater. Is it worthwhile to mention that sea levels were 400+ feet lower during the last Ice Age, AND that humans will live preferably along coastal areas? There are likely 100s if not 1000s of those former cities under the sea, but, marine archeologists just looooove their irrelevant shipwrecks. Why bother rewriting history if it will end your academic career?

I play against Gilgamesh in Civ 6 pretty often if that helps.

Oh another Fate fan. Nice

Caster Gil is best Gil.

The Christian religion had to adopt loads of cultural habits to keep the people engaged. Basically adopting the Roman system of incorporating foreign deities and festivities in their own religion.

"Today scholars still debate whether the split between New York and New Jersey really started with the breakdown of relations between their rulers after the rise of Johnny Sack to the throne of New York or only after his death by cancer. Records do show that the Jersey ruler Tony Soprano deeply mourned the passing of his former friend."

Yeah, I was thinking that about Gobekli Tepe, too. He's going on about the oldest city, and I'm in the timeframe of 9,000-10,000 BC - and then at the three and a half minute mark, he's bringing up the dates around 5,000 BC. Even a lot of the comments on the video are about how old this Uruk is, but no mention of the _even older_ cities we know about. And this video is a bit older, but it's not _that_ old; GT was known about before this video posted. It's just a little confusing.

​@@garyballard179Gobekli Tepi wasn't a city. There's no obvious signs of large scale habitation. Instead, it appears to have been a ritual site.

@@andrewness Gobleki Tepi isn't the only thing in the immediate area. Notre Dame isn't a city, either. It's _inside a city._

@@andrewness Specifically, the eleven sites surrounding Gobleki Tepi are all habitations, covering 23 sq miles (Roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). Individually, they might be considered large villages - but they were all connected to each other and to Gobleki Tepi. So, they're more like the districts of one planned city. Given the size, it could easily have accommodated 5,000 people, or more.

Fate Zero is the only one I've seen so far, & it kicks ass. Gilgamesh is the true King of Kings.

WE HAVE BEEN SUMMON

You rang?

Me too . I got into a argument with a dude some time ago about this belief that Pre Pottery Neolithic sites like Jericho and Damascus are cities . This isn’t true as they aren’t really true cities , they’re really just large Towns .

That's the thing. It all depends on how you define a city. If it is a place with walls than many number of settlements can be a city. But the most important key features are public institutions and buildings, class structure and clearly defined ruler. These things are not present in Jericho.

Jericho tends to be called the oldest continuously inhabited city

Agriculture. Population. Trade. Money. Written Language. These are parts of what makes a City. Everything else is just a village or a meeting place for hunter gatherers.

@@yetigriff And to be fair, it very likely is. Multiple cities can be called older, but the site that modern day Jericho sits on has been inhabited by humans longer than basically anywhere else on the planet that we know of.

Indeed we were.

You mongrols

Yorokobe shonen!

Hi Turtle

Here i just watch the Bablyonia one not all of the fate series😆

It is always great to see the source material elaborated.

I'm genuinely surprised Simon didn't mention that King Leonidas, Medusa, and Merlin the Magician were prominent members of Uruk society.

Sunken cities in India were last above water before the last ice age...

@@harrychance8973 BS!

Not BS, Right 💯 on