The World's First City

Video Description

Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUYK0BJZF3yNb2fw1EdAXUQ/join The Rest Is History merch store is available here: goalhanger.shop/collection/the-rest-is-history/ In as early as 5000 BC the vast and spectacular city of Uruk - replete with towering walls, glistening temples and complex irrigation systems - lay sprawled across the face of Southern Mesopotamia. Not only is Uruk the oldest city in the world, but it is arguably one of the most consequential, having facilitated one of the great turning points of human civilisation. Here, in this mysterious metropolis lay the origins of urbanisation, making Uruk the predecessor and antecedent of every modern city today. It was the cradle of formidable trading networks, sophisticated craftsmanship, agricultural prosperity, the earliest examples of writing, and even home to the very first person in human history to be named. Yet, by 700 AD this once great wonder of the ancient world had been abandoned, leaving nothing behind but haunting ruins and two burning questions: firstly, how did this marvel of urbanisation come to exist, and secondly, what led to its ruin? Was it colonisation, climate change, or conquest…? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Uruk, the first city in the whole of world history and the mother of modern urbanisation, revealing the remarkable tale of its discovery, its mysterious origins, and equally enigmatic decline. 00:00 Origins of Warka 04:49 What you would see approaching Warka in 3000 BC 08:10 Mesopotamia - how and why it invented cities 21:32 The emergence of the priest-kings 24:40 The largest structures in the world 30:52 Akad 38:42 Two key innovations 48:00 Uruk under threat Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Video Editor: Jack Meek Social Producer: Harry Balden Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor