It is very difficult, if not virtually impossible, to determine which are the oldest in the city were born on our planet. Many settlements should be considered only then abandoned, others do not have the characteristics of real cities, and still others are of uncertain date and have different layers are not always defined as "the city." We followed the latest published studies and we have selected 10 ancient cities whose origins are lost in the mists of time.
Top 10 Ancient Cities of the World
Fayyum (Egypt)
Fayyum is located 130 km southwest of Cairo and occupies part of the ancient city Crocodilopolis, pharaonic period was devoted to the cult of Sobek, the Crocodile God.There is also the term Culture Fayyum which means two periods called A and b. During "culture Fayyum to" millenary evolution took place (5,000 – 4,000 BC) of ancient peoples residing in the region. It came to pass also the shift from food gathering phase to that of agricultural cultivation. The ancient Crocodilopolis and its temples and palaces remained not much, just some heaps of ruins with carved blocks on the north side of el Fayyum.
Uruk (modern Warka, Mesopotamia)
Uruk (Sumerian Unug, the biblical Erech, Greek Orchoë and modern Warka) is an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonians, located in southern Mesopotamia. In the 4th millennium BC, the small settlement became a real city, the first for which it is possible to use this term; This is because it was the first to have two fundamental characters for a city: the social stratification and specialization of labor. Uruk was the city of the historical King Gilgameš, hero of the famous epic.
Ur (Mesopotamia)
Located close to the original mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Persian Gulf, due to the accumulation of debris, today its ruins are located inland, in present-day Iraq, 15 kilometres west of the current course of the Euphrates River near the town of Nassiria (Dhi Qar governorate), South of Baghdad. Today it is called Tell el-Mukayyar. In the archaeological site of Ur are the ruins of a massive ziggurat 21 metres high.
Çatalhöyük (Turkey)
The site, built along a stratigraphic sequence of 18 levels ranging from 7400 to 5700 BC, covers an area of 13.5 hectares, of which only 5% has been investigated with archaeological excavations. The village was built in a completely different logic than modern: houses were single celled and leaning against one another; Since then different heights, we moved from one roof to another and for many homes the entry on the latter was the only opening.
Susa (Iran)
Susa Shush today, was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Elam and later period, after being devastated by the Assyrian king Assurbanipal in 646 BC, became the imperial residence of the Achaemenid Persians.Already in 1175 b.c. Susa was the capital of the Elamite Kingdom and was inside the ruler Shutruk-Nakhunte took the spoils taken to the ancient city of Babylon, including the famous diorite stone on which was engraved the code of Hammurabi, today in the Louvre.
Inleppo (southern Syria)
In the 2nd millennium BC appeared as capital of amorite Kingdom of yamhad. The population is diverse and includes Arabs, Armenians, Kurds, Circassians and Turks. In addition, with 300,000 Christians of ten different denominations, is the third largest Christian city in the Arab world, after Beirut and Cairo. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986. In the year 2006, Aleppo was the first city to boast the title of "cultural capital of the Islamic world".
Matera (Italy)
Note with the designations of "Città dei Sassi" and "underground city", is known to historians Sassi, which constitute one of the oldest households in the world. The stones were recognized in 1993 UNESCO, first site of southern Italy to receive such recognition. Matera is a very ancient city, whose territory witnesses seamless settlements since the Paleolithic age. In fact in the caves scattered along the Ravines were materane different objects dating back to that time, testifying the presence of groups of hunters. In the Neolithic period settlements became more stable, and there are traces of several entrenched villages, in particular on the Murgia Timone.
Byblos (Lebanon)
Now called, in Arabic, Jbeil, is an ancient Phoenician city on the coast of Lebanon to about 37 km north of Beirut. The oldest archaeological Phoenician area returns originate from this city, a city that in the 3rd millennium BC is the scene of a large "urban revolution", sanctuaries, public buildings, houses, to which can be attributed the title of city. Byblos in 3rd millennium became a highly developed urban settlement. It has been declared by UNESCO a world heritage site.
Jericho (West Bank)
At least three distinct settlements have existed near the present location for more than 11,000 years. It is a convenient location for both the availability of water, both for its location on East-West route that passes north of the dead sea. Is the lowest site permanently inhabited Earth, and accomplished datings by scholars on the ruins are found that Jericho, along with Damascus, the oldest city in the world, it is not clear when Jericho was founded, but are there any discoveries that would trace the birth of this city to 8000 years before the birth of Christ.
Damascus (Syria)
Damascus is the capital of Syria. Historic city, born in the same period of Mesopotamian civilization, its population consisted of people of Eastern Semitic race, later known as Aramaeans. Is considered by many scholars, like Jericho, the oldest city in the world among those live in continuously because archaeologists believe initial reports of houses in Damascus dates back to 11,000 years ago. The capital of this State may be the world's oldest city still exists. Excavations have revealed traces of settlements of the epipaleolithic period (between 18,000 and 12,500 BCE); have been found artifacts belonging to the natufian culture (between 12,000 and 10,500 BC) and artifacts of the pre-pottery Neolithic period (between 8000 BC and 7,200 BC)
Top 10 Ancient Cities of the World
Fayyum (Egypt)
Fayyum is located 130 km southwest of Cairo and occupies part of the ancient city Crocodilopolis, pharaonic period was devoted to the cult of Sobek, the Crocodile God.There is also the term Culture Fayyum which means two periods called A and b. During "culture Fayyum to" millenary evolution took place (5,000 – 4,000 BC) of ancient peoples residing in the region. It came to pass also the shift from food gathering phase to that of agricultural cultivation. The ancient Crocodilopolis and its temples and palaces remained not much, just some heaps of ruins with carved blocks on the north side of el Fayyum.
Uruk (modern Warka, Mesopotamia)
Uruk (Sumerian Unug, the biblical Erech, Greek Orchoë and modern Warka) is an ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonians, located in southern Mesopotamia. In the 4th millennium BC, the small settlement became a real city, the first for which it is possible to use this term; This is because it was the first to have two fundamental characters for a city: the social stratification and specialization of labor. Uruk was the city of the historical King Gilgameš, hero of the famous epic.
Ur (Mesopotamia)
Located close to the original mouth of the Tigris and the Euphrates, the Persian Gulf, due to the accumulation of debris, today its ruins are located inland, in present-day Iraq, 15 kilometres west of the current course of the Euphrates River near the town of Nassiria (Dhi Qar governorate), South of Baghdad. Today it is called Tell el-Mukayyar. In the archaeological site of Ur are the ruins of a massive ziggurat 21 metres high.
Çatalhöyük (Turkey)
The site, built along a stratigraphic sequence of 18 levels ranging from 7400 to 5700 BC, covers an area of 13.5 hectares, of which only 5% has been investigated with archaeological excavations. The village was built in a completely different logic than modern: houses were single celled and leaning against one another; Since then different heights, we moved from one roof to another and for many homes the entry on the latter was the only opening.
Susa (Iran)
Susa Shush today, was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Elam and later period, after being devastated by the Assyrian king Assurbanipal in 646 BC, became the imperial residence of the Achaemenid Persians.Already in 1175 b.c. Susa was the capital of the Elamite Kingdom and was inside the ruler Shutruk-Nakhunte took the spoils taken to the ancient city of Babylon, including the famous diorite stone on which was engraved the code of Hammurabi, today in the Louvre.
Inleppo (southern Syria)
In the 2nd millennium BC appeared as capital of amorite Kingdom of yamhad. The population is diverse and includes Arabs, Armenians, Kurds, Circassians and Turks. In addition, with 300,000 Christians of ten different denominations, is the third largest Christian city in the Arab world, after Beirut and Cairo. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1986. In the year 2006, Aleppo was the first city to boast the title of "cultural capital of the Islamic world".
Matera (Italy)
Note with the designations of "Città dei Sassi" and "underground city", is known to historians Sassi, which constitute one of the oldest households in the world. The stones were recognized in 1993 UNESCO, first site of southern Italy to receive such recognition. Matera is a very ancient city, whose territory witnesses seamless settlements since the Paleolithic age. In fact in the caves scattered along the Ravines were materane different objects dating back to that time, testifying the presence of groups of hunters. In the Neolithic period settlements became more stable, and there are traces of several entrenched villages, in particular on the Murgia Timone.
Byblos (Lebanon)
Now called, in Arabic, Jbeil, is an ancient Phoenician city on the coast of Lebanon to about 37 km north of Beirut. The oldest archaeological Phoenician area returns originate from this city, a city that in the 3rd millennium BC is the scene of a large "urban revolution", sanctuaries, public buildings, houses, to which can be attributed the title of city. Byblos in 3rd millennium became a highly developed urban settlement. It has been declared by UNESCO a world heritage site.
Jericho (West Bank)
At least three distinct settlements have existed near the present location for more than 11,000 years. It is a convenient location for both the availability of water, both for its location on East-West route that passes north of the dead sea. Is the lowest site permanently inhabited Earth, and accomplished datings by scholars on the ruins are found that Jericho, along with Damascus, the oldest city in the world, it is not clear when Jericho was founded, but are there any discoveries that would trace the birth of this city to 8000 years before the birth of Christ.
Damascus (Syria)
Damascus is the capital of Syria. Historic city, born in the same period of Mesopotamian civilization, its population consisted of people of Eastern Semitic race, later known as Aramaeans. Is considered by many scholars, like Jericho, the oldest city in the world among those live in continuously because archaeologists believe initial reports of houses in Damascus dates back to 11,000 years ago. The capital of this State may be the world's oldest city still exists. Excavations have revealed traces of settlements of the epipaleolithic period (between 18,000 and 12,500 BCE); have been found artifacts belonging to the natufian culture (between 12,000 and 10,500 BC) and artifacts of the pre-pottery Neolithic period (between 8000 BC and 7,200 BC)