Uruk

American

[oo-rook] / ˈu rʊk /

noun

an ancient Sumerian city in S Iraq, near the Euphrates, important before 2000 b.c.: exclusive archaeological excavations, notably of a ziggurat and of tablets with very early Sumerian script.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Gilgamesh returns to his kingdom of Uruk not as a conqueror but as a witness: to loss, to limitation, to the fragile beauty of what cannot last.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026

The region's city-states -- Ur, Uruk, and Lagash among them -- developed complex political and religious systems that became the blueprint for later societies.

From Science Daily • Oct. 27, 2025

The most famous lugal in all Sumer in this early period was Gilgamesh of Uruk, whose legendary exploits were recounted later in fantastical form in the Epic of Gilgamesh.

From Textbooks • Apr. 19, 2023

Salt is also causing damage at the ruins of Uruk, the first city where writing is known to have been practiced.

From Reuters • Oct. 28, 2022

I returned home to Uruk and told my scribes the snake had stolen it.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023