The archeological site called Warka, Iraq—the ruins of ancient Erech (aka Uruk) / Once located on the Euphrates River, it is now an ancient, now-dried channel of the river in Muthanna Governorate, Iraq

What is…
Erech

also known as: Erek, Uruk, Orech (Septuagint), Orchoe (Greeks and Romans)

Hebrew: אֶרֶךְ —transliteration: Erek —meaning: length, long-suffering, patience

This is the name of one of the cities of Nimrod’s kingdom in the plain of Shinar (Genesis 10:10).

The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. —Genesis 10:10

It was probably the city of the Archevites, who were transplanted to Samaria by Asnapper (Ezra 4:9).

It lay on the east bank of the Euphrates River, about 120 miles southeast of Babylon, and is now represented by the mounds and ruins of Warka, Iraq.

Archaeologist William Kennett Loftus visited the site in 1849, identifying it as Erech, known as the second city founded by Nimrod in Shinar, and led the first excavations from 1850 to 1854.

It appears to have been the necropolis of the Assyrian kings, as the whole region is strewn with bricks and the remains of coffins.

“Standing on the summit of the principal edifice, called the Buwarizza, a tower 200 feet square in the center of the ruins, the beholder is struck with astonishment at the enormous accumulation of mounds and ancient relics at his feet. An irregular circle, nearly 6 miles in circumference, is defined by the traces of an earthen rampart, in some places 40 feet high.”

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Article Version: August 17, 2025