English subtitles for clip: File:Uruk, erste Metropole der Weltgeschichte (CC BY 4.0).webm

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One of the oldest known high cultures
is Uruk in Mesopotamia,

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today's Iraq.

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It was there 4000 BC

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that the first major city 
in world history was built.

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Temples and palaces, artisan quarters,
Market places and barracks

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spread over an area of five
and a half square kilometers.

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Up to 50,000 people
are thought to have lived there.

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Uruk probably made the first attempt
at creating an urban lifestyle.

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Literature came into being in the megacity
with the epic of King Gilgamesh.

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Here cuneiform developed 
from pictograms and symbols.

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A sophisticated economic
and administrative system

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brought wealth and power to the city.

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With magnificent buildings
and luxury goods

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their elite increasingly separated
from the majority of residents.

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Inequality in society experienced 
a new form in Uruk.

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As a political center, 
economic power and sacred place

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as the birthplace of bureaucracy,
large architecture and writing,

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as a center of art and literature,
set Uruk new standards.