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The Warka Vase

The carved vase is called the Warka Vase and was found in Uruk. Uruk was located in Ancient Sumeria and believed to be from the time period 3500-3000 B.C.E. The Warka Vase is gray and made out of alabaster. The vase is 105 cm tall, 40 cm wide and weighs 600 pounds. It was used to illustrate the role of the ruler and his place in society. The Warka Vase was found in the Temple of Inanna. Inanna was the goddess of love, fertility, and war. She was the main goddess in the city of Uruk.

The vessel has four tiers or layers on it. In the bottom layer there is barley and reeds, the two most significant crops at the time. This is where the Tigris and Euphrates River's merging delta. On the third layer animals such as sheep and goats are depicted. They appear to be herded. Both the crops and the animals show what Uruk's economy thrived off of. In the second layer there is a band of men who appear top be servants and slaves. They are carrying “fruits, grains, wine, and mead” according to smarthistory. Lastly, the top tier shows a man and a woman, who is thought to be the goddess Inanna. She has reids behind her, a symbol of her fertility. She is being offered a bowl of fruit and grain by a smaller man who’s giving thanks to her. Next to Inanna is a man who, based off of his clothing, is thought to be either a priest or a king.

The Warka vase shows how they gave sacrificial items to their worshipped gods. The society was polytheistic because they had a god for love, war, and fertility. The vase is a form of narrative art for the society of that live in Uruk. It shows us that the society valued crops and animals because they helped the economy thrive.