The City of Ur

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The City of Ur

The dessert is a terrifically uninhabitable place. There is little or no water, there is no vegetation, there is little wildlife, and the wildlife available is not particularly appetizing. There is no useful wood or stone as building materials, and so to live in the desert is completely dependant on the importation of all good from far away lands. Why then are cities built in desserts. In my mind these were cities build by people exiled to the desert with no other possible place to go. However recently I read about a city in the desert named Ur which dates back to the 900bc making it one of the first cities in the world. The paradox of a city built in the desert as one of the first cities in the world is at face value fairly perplexing, however the deeper I looked into this city the more fascinated I became with its rich history and incredibly advanced structures.

The desert has very few natural resources and in many ways is not conducive for human life. It is extremely hot during the day with little or no cover from the sun, it is very cold at night, it does not lend itself to agriculture nor game animals for the most part it is a miserable place to be. Why then does one of the first cities in the world develop there? UR was located in a fairly unique region of the desert in a land know as Mesopotamia. This region is located between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. What made this position unique was that these rivers would cause massive flooding in this area, which carried with it tremendously rich soil perfect for sustaining agriculture for many thousands of people. This constant stream of fresh rich soil allowed continued replanting suitable for large stationary population, what was necessary was t...

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... to make such considerations. By the time they had realized these problems there was no course of corrective action available. It was not until much later in history that these issues were addressed.

Though the city of Ur had many flaws and inherent errors, it was unquestionably an impressive accomplishment for mankind. What is perhaps understated is the unbelievably high standard of living in Ur. It was earlier established that the majority of the homes in Ur were of two stories. What was not explained was that many of these homes were owned by middle class citizens, farmers, merchants, and shop-keepers. This all combines to illustrate just how special a place Ur was. Not only did the people of Ur successfully build one of the first cities in the world, they pulled it off in the dessert. This was perhaps the least likely place for civilization to bloom.

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