In The Epic of Gilgamesh, by Sinlequeunninni, the ancient Mesopotamians valued their cities. The first cities were built by the Mesopotamians, in the land between the two rivers and were centered around the temple. The first city, Uruk, began as a religious center. This description of Uruk reveals the Mesopotamian attitude toward cities, "Go up on the wall of Uruk and walk around, examine its foundation, inspect its brickwork One league city, one league palm gardens, one league lowlands, the open area of the Ishtar Temple" (Tablet 1 L 16-20). The ancient people of Uruk trusted in their city. It provided a strong defense, an economy, beautiful gardens, food, and religion. Four thousand five hundred years ago that was all anyone needed. People in the Iraq region always have pondered the meaning of life. This is why they believe so strongly in religion. Utanapishtim was speaking to Gilgamesh about the city of Shuruppak. He said, "that city was very old, and there were gods inside it" (Tablet 6 L 13). The most important reason the Mesopotamians greatly valued their cities were because they were the home of their gods. The people must have loved their gods and did not want to displease them. Everyone most likely acted with fear of doing the bad thing, because of the everyday closeness they felt of their gods. Everyone was nice and loving and did the right thing, therefore, they held pride in their cities. .
