phase of Level IVa’, thus making our understanding of the processes of the Late Uruk
period in the city of Uruk itself rather problematic.
The archaic or proto-cuneiform texts were divided into two groups, based on
palaeographic distinction of the sign forms and comparisons to the slightly later site
of Jamdat Nasr in southern Mesopotamia, Uruk IV and Uruk III, where Uruk III
(c. 3100 – 2900 ) is also referred to as Jamdat Nasr period.
The ‘proto-cuneiform’ texts suggest that a complex and detailed administration of
economic goods was maintained, dealing with, among other things, foods, such as fish,
domesticated animals, grains, as well as labour, with some indications that slave labour
may have been involved (Englund 1998 : 176 – 183 ). Late Uruk society was probably
organised hierarchically with a male figure as political leader. This is indicated by both
visual representations of the so-called man in the net skirt, who is interpreted by some
as depicting the concept of leadership rather than an individual leader (Pollock 1999 :
184 ). In one monument, the man in the net skirt is depicted as hunting lions, a motif
used to represent political leadership until the first millennium BC. Similarly, evidence
from the word list of titles and professions (Englund 1998 : 103 – 106 with further
references) has led some scholars to argue that the list was sorted according to rank and
that the first title, NAMESˇDA, describes the highest ranked individual, later equated
with the Akkadian word ˇarrus ‘king’ (Nissen 2004 : 13 – 14 ). Whether Late Uruk society
was headed by a ‘priest-king’, whose claim to power was derived from religion, as some
scholars have suggested (e.g. Van De Mieroop 2007 : 27 ), is unclear (see the doubts
raised by Nissen 2004 : 14 ).
–– History and chronology ––Table 6. 1 Chronological framework for southern Mesopotamia
Date BC Southern Mesopotamia Uruk (Eanna) ‘Late Chalcolithic’
3000 IVA
Late Uruk Eanna LC 5
IVB–V
Late
Eanna
VI
3400 Late Middle Uruk Eanna LC 4
VII
3600 Early Middle Eanna IX– LC 3
Uruk VIII
3800
Eanna XI– Late
X
Early Uruk LC 2
4000 Eanna XII
Early
4200
LC 1
Ubaid transitional Eanna
Ubaid 4? XVI–XIV
Source:after Rothman 2001 : 7.