Uruk archeological site, Iraq

southern Iraq was the first metropolis of Mesopotamia, flourishing around 3000 BC and enduring for nearly five millennia. Monumental architecture emerged during the fourth millennium BC at sites such as the Anu Ziggurat and White Temple. At the centre of the Anu District lies Bit Resh, the main sanctuary of the sky god Anu, where later Hellenistic or Parthian layers include fragments of blue glazed bricks, recalling but distinct from the famous glazed bricks of Babylon.