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Place Wiki

The Walls of Uruk — real places & people

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The Epic of Gilgamesh · companion · A photo wiki for travellers and curious readers. Uruk is archaeology now; the Flood Tablet is clay you can still stand in front of. The poem the scribes baked happened — if the king happened — on this ground. Read online · All place wikis

Places of awe — Uruk and the southern plain

Uruk (Warka) — brick still rising from the plain.

Uruk (Warka) archaeological mound, Iraq.
Uruk (Warka) archaeological mound, Iraq.

Jan Jerszyński, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-01.

Cedars of Lebanon — the forest Gilgamesh and Enkidu sought.

Lebanon cedar forest, Bsharri.
Lebanon cedar forest, Bsharri.

Xtcrider, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-03.

Things of wonder (made by hand)

The Flood Tablet — Gilgamesh XI, from Nineveh.

The Flood Tablet (Gilgamesh XI), British Museum K.3375.
The Flood Tablet (Gilgamesh XI), British Museum K.3375.

BabelStone, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Object K.3375, Library of Ashurbanipal. Plate P-11.

Gilgamesh cuneiform — clay that still carries the epic.

Gilgamesh epic clay tablet, Hittite copy from Hattusa.
Gilgamesh epic clay tablet, Hittite copy from Hattusa.

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Neues Museum VAT 12890. Plate P-07.

Cylinder seal — hero combat in miniature.

Akkadian cylinder seal, hero contest scene.
Akkadian cylinder seal, hero contest scene.

Daderot, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Morgan Library & Museum. Plate P-04.

Humbaba (Huwawa) — the demon of the Cedar Forest.

Terracotta mask of Humbaba.
Terracotta mask of Humbaba.

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Ancient Orient Museum, Istanbul. Plate P-05.

Gilgamesh and the Lion — Neo-Assyrian relief (hero type).

Hero mastering a lion, Neo-Assyrian relief from Khorsabad.
Hero mastering a lion, Neo-Assyrian relief from Khorsabad.

Jastrow, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Louvre AO 19862 — the “Gilgamesh” hero type of Assyrian palace relief. Plate P-02.

Burney Relief — Queen of the Night (Ishtar / Ereshkigal type).

Burney Relief, British Museum.
Burney Relief, British Museum.

BabelStone, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. British Museum 2003,0718.1. Plate P-06.

Ishtar Gate — glazed brick, rebuilt in Berlin.

Ishtar Gate reconstruction, Pergamon Museum, Berlin.
Ishtar Gate reconstruction, Pergamon Museum, Berlin.

Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-15.

The journey — road, waters, underworld

Scorpion-man (girtablullû) — guardian of the sun’s path.

Cylinder seal with scorpion-man.
Cylinder seal with scorpion-man.

Walters Art Museum, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-09.

Tablet of Shamash — the sun god enthroned.

Tablet of Shamash relief, British Museum.
Tablet of Shamash relief, British Museum.

Prioryman, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. From Sippar. Plate P-16.

Siduri’s shore — a boat on the Tigris.

Guffa (round boat) on the Tigris, Baghdad, 1932.
Guffa (round boat) on the Tigris, Baghdad, 1932.

Matson Collection, Library of Congress, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-10.

Pazuzu — underworld demon in bronze.

Pazuzu bronze figurine, Oriental Institute Museum.
Pazuzu bronze figurine, Oriental Institute Museum.

Daderot, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-12.

Lament — mortal grief in Assyrian stone.

Dying lion, Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal, British Museum.
Dying lion, Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal, British Museum.

Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Approximation for Gilgamesh’s lament. Plate P-08.

Places of awe — Nineveh and the library

Kuyunjik — where Ashurbanipal’s tablets waited under ash.

Kuyunjik mound, Nineveh.
Kuyunjik mound, Nineveh.

Fredarch, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Plate P-13.

Library of Ashurbanipal — a tablet from the royal shelves.

Cuneiform tablet from the Library of Ashurbanipal, British Museum K.3401.
Cuneiform tablet from the Library of Ashurbanipal, British Museum K.3401.

Jastrow, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons. Birth legend of Sargon; Nineveh excavation. Plate P-14.

All photographs are freely licensed (public domain / CC) via Wikimedia Commons. See each caption for author and licence. Local plate files and full credits: books/history-before-time/companions/the-walls-of-uruk/design/plates/PLATES.md. Museum object IDs should be checked against current placards before travel writing hardens.

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