12 oldest continuously inhabited cities | MNN - Mother Nature Network 12 oldest continuously inhabited cities These ancient cities have seen human civilization evolve. 876 Matera, Italy, has been settled in one way or another since the Paleolithic era. (Photo: canadastock/Shutterstock) Cities that have stood the test of time have more than just the scars of history; they show the influence — positive and negative — of human civilization. The oldest cities in the world boast beautiful architecture and amazing stories, yet remarkably few ancient cities stand today. There is some disagreement about the historical record, so we've added a few cities to this list because of the area's religious or cultural significance. Here's our list of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. 1. Damascus, Syria The Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, Syria, is one of the largest and oldest mosques in the world. (Photo: milosk50/Shutterstock) Damascus is widely believed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, with evidence of habitation dating back at least 11,000 years. Its location and persistence have made the city a nexus for civilizations come and gone.

Today its metropolitan area is home to about 2.5 million people, and in 2008 it was named the Arab Capital of Culture. 2. Jericho, West Bank A gondola lift travels over Jericho, West Bank. (Photo: Tamarah /Wikimedia Commons) Fortifications unearthed in Jericho dating back to 6800 B.C. confirm that it is the earliest known walled city, and evidence of other habitation in the area dates back about 11,000 years, which means it's a serious contender to be the world's oldest city. Incredibly, Jericho has remained inhabited — and dry — throughout history, despite its location well below sea level. This fact also makes the city the lowest permanently inhabited site on Earth. Today 20,000 people call Jericho home. 3. Aleppo, Syria Aleppo, shown here in 2010, may just be the oldest known human settlement in the world.

(Photo: seyr-ü zafer /Wikimedia Commons) Evidence of habitation at the current site of Aleppo dates to about 8,000 years ago, but excavations at a site just 15.5 miles north of the city show the area was inhabited about 13,000 years ago. That means Aleppo and its surrounding region comprise the oldest known human settlement in the world. The city is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets from roughly 5,000 years ago, where it's cited for its commercial and military proficiency. Because of its location between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia — it was also the end of the Silk Road that passed through central Asia and Mesopotamia — Aleppo was at the center of the ancient world. Today it remains the largest city in Syria. But the city has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2016, when the devastation of a four-year battle reached a climax. The fighting between government and rebel forces has killed thousands and forced thousands more to flee. The battle — one of the longest sieges in modern times — has caused catastrophic destruction to the Old City of Aleppo, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. 4.

Athens, Greece A view of the Acropolis at sunset in Athens. (Photo: S.Borisov/Shutterstock) The ancient home of philosophy and the birthplace of Western civilization, Athens boasts a history of habitation that goes back long before the days of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. The city has been continuously inhabited for at least 7,000 years. The oldest known human presence in Athens has been dated to between the 11th and 7th millennium B.C. Today it remains a sprawling metropolis, and its Acropolis still stands, overlooking the landscape. 5. Argos, Greece Argos is in competition with fellow Greek city Athens to be the considered the oldest city in Europe. (Photo: Karin Helene Pagter Duparc /Wikimedia Commons) An urban settlement for about the last 7,000 years, Argos is in competition with Athens to be the oldest city in Europe. The city has long been powerful — its commanding position in the fertile plain of Argolis has earned it a powerful position, though it has a history of neutrality. For instance, the city refused to fight or send supplies during the Greco-Persian Wars.

Perhaps that's part of the reason the city has withstood the test of time. 6. Plovdiv, Bulgaria Plovdiv in Bulgaria has a rich history that dates back 6,000 years. (Photo: Klearchos Kapoutsis /flickr) Plovdiv was originally a Thracian settlement known as Philippopolis to the Greeks, and was a major city for the Romans. It was also ruled by the Ottomans for a time. The beautiful city has a rich history dating back millennia , according to the Telegraph. Evidence of habitation dates back 6,000 years. Today it remains the second largest city in Bulgaria, and an important economic, cultural and educational center. 7. Byblos, Lebanon A house stands near an archaeological site in Byblos. (Photo: Darya Jukova /flickr) Though there's evidence of settlement as far back as 7,000 years ago, Byblos has been a continuous city for about 5,000 years. According to the ancient writer Philo of Byblos, the city had a reputation in antiquity of being the oldest city in the world.

Interestingly, the English word for "Bible" is derived from "Byblos," because it was through Byblos that papyrus was imported to Greece. 8. Sidon, Lebanon Sidon's location on the coast of Lebanon has been key to the city's history. (Photo: eutrophication&hypoxia /flickr) Inhabited for at least the last 6,000 years, Sidon was one of the most important Phoenician cities because of its location as a crucial port on the Mediterranean. This locale also led to the city being conquered by a revolving door of the world's great empires, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and Ottomans. Today about 200,000 people call Sidon home. 9. Rayy, Iran Rayy has a wealth of historical monuments, including the Cheshmeh-Ali hill. (Photo: Ensie & Matthias /flickr) Located within the Greater Tehran metropolitan area, Rayy (or Rey), Iran, has evidence of habitation dating back 8,000 years, though it has likely been continuously occupied for about 5,000 or 6,000 years.

The city retains a wealth of historical monuments, such as the 5,000-year-old Cheshmeh Ali hill and the 3,000-year-old Gebri castle. It was a deeply sacred city to the Zoroastrians. 10. Jerusalem Jerusalem is home to a number of spiritual and religious sites. (Photo: Renata Sedmakova/Shutterstock) Jerusalem is one of several cities to have sprung up between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago in the thriving Levant region, but it holds a unique place in history as the nexus of several of the world's great religions. For that reason, it is home to a wealth of spiritual and religious sites. Unfortunately, Jerusalem's Old City has also been added to the list of World Heritage Sites in danger due to modern-day urban development, tourism and cultural turmoil. 11. Luoyang, China Luoyang is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Asia. (Photo: pavel dudek/Shutterstock) A number of ancient cities were first being built around 4,000 years ago in the Mideast and Europe, but Luoyang stands out from that time period as the oldest continuously inhabited city in Asia.

Located on China's central plain, Luoyang is the oldest city in the country and one of the Seven Great Ancient Capitals of China. It has been in habitation since Neolithic times, with a continuous habitation for at least 4,000 years. Located at the intersection of the Luo and Yi rivers, the city was considered to be the geographical center of ancient China. 12. Varanasi, India Varanasi is the oldest city in India and is the holiest city in the world for Hindus. (Photo: Ken Wieland /Wikimedia Commons) According to Hindu legend, Varanasi is more than 5,000 years old and is considered the oldest city in the world, though evidence of habitation only goes back about 3,000 years , according to the BBC. This more modest date indicates Varanasi is among many ancient cities to appear around the first millennium B.C., and it is still the oldest city in India and is considered the holiest city in the world to Hindus. Its location on the banks of the sacred Ganges River also contributes to its prestige as an important site of pilgrimage.

This story was first published in 2014 and has been updated with more recent information. Related on MNN: Senior City-zens: World’s 10 Oldest Still-Inhabited Cities | Urbanist Senior City-zens: World’s 10 Oldest Still-Inhabited Cities Article by Steve , filed under Destinations & Sights in the Travel category Urban society may seem a modern phenomenon but cities have been around for a lot longer than one might think. Indeed, once nomadic tribes began to settle in one location, they saw that it was good, became fruitful, and multiplied. Decades, centuries and millennia passed while war, climate change and human migration all took their toll. Relatively few ancient cities have managed to survive the test of time. Here are 10 that have not only survived, but continue to thrive. Damascus, Syria (images via: Frederick Highland , Man In Demand and Historic Cities ) Damascus, the current capital of Syria, has a long and colorful history that stretches back nearly 12,000 years. Located in a fertile region well-watered by the Barada river, Damascus was a prime target of numerous kings and conquerors – and often wound up on the losing side.

(image via: EuroMesco ) Over 4 million people live in metropolitan Damascus today and, partly due to a skilfully constructed network of canals built nearly 3,500 years ago, boasts a multitude of parks and green spaces. Since 1979 Damascus has been UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jericho, West Bank (images via: Wikipedia and Bible Archaeology ) The ancient city of Jericho is the world’s oldest walled city, with evidence of stone fortifications dating back nearly 9,000 years; long before the “walls came tumblin’ down” events depicted in the Bible. Archaeological digs have turned up traces of habitation that are even older: up to 11,000 years ago! (image via: SBF ) Not only has Jericho been continually inhabited for over one hundred centuries, scientists have uncovered a virtual layer cake of settlements – 20 in fact, built one on top of the other down to the present day. Now that’s something worth blowing your horn about… oh, wait.

Susa, Iran (images via: Iran Facts ) Dating back to approximately 8000 BC, the ancient Iranian city of Susa rose to prominence again and again under Elamite, Babylonian, Achaemenian, Greek, Parthian, Sasanian and Persian civilizations. (image via: CAIS News ) Today Susa is known as “Shush” though things have rarely been quiet there over its very long life. Susa is where the sole representation of the Code of Hammurabi was found. The 7-foot tall basalt stele was taken back to Susa in the 12th century BC and rediscovered in 1901. It now resides in Paris’ Louvre Museum. Plovdiv, Bulgaria (images via: Cultural Tourism and Virtual Tourist ) One way of measuring a city’s age is to note the number of names it has had. In the case of Plovdiv, the list begins with Eumolpias, changing to Philippoupolis when it was conquered by Philip II of Macedon (Alexander the Great’s father) in 342 BC.

Centuries passed and Philippoupolis became Trimontium, then Philippoupolis again, then Paldin, Filibe and finally Plovdiv . (image via: Discover Bulgaria ) Presently home to around 380,000 (580,000 in the metro area), Plovdiv is Bulgaria’s second-largest city and one of Europe’s oldest – signs of urban activity there go back nearly 9,000 years. Jerusalem (images via: Hamline University and Pierre Tristam ) Holy to a number of the world’s leading religions, 5,000-year-old Jerusalem was already settled centuries before any of them had their tenets put to paper, papyrus or pre-fired clay. According to the entry on Jerusalem in Wikipedia, “In the course of its history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.” (image via: Trip Advisor ) Sadly, those numbers are likely not the final score for this exceptional city 747,600 people call Jerusalem, Yerushalayim, Al-Quds and… home.

Tyre, Lebanon (image via: Skyscraper City ) Source of prized Tyrian Purple dye and home base of those legendary master traders, the Phoenicians, Tyre was truly a wonder of the ancient world. The city was located on a walled island just off the coast of Lebanon and managed to thwart every siege until Alexander the Great built a causeway so his soldiers could march up to the city walls. The causeway changed the flow of the sea currents and caused the island to become permanently joined to the mainland. Today Tyre is Lebanon’s fourth-largest city and can proudly trace its history back nearly 6,000 years. Athens, Greece (images via: Erasmus Student Network , Destination 360 and BiblePlaces ) The capital of Greece is home to over 4 million today and is the 5th-most populous capital city in the EU. With its soaring Acropolis and majestic Parthenon symbolizing the golden age of Classical Greece and the foundation of Western civilization, Athens has been lived in for approximately 3,400 years.

(image via: Theodora ) The city has not always enjoyed prominence, however – by the early 19th century it had deteriorated to a backwater town with only a few thousand citizens. That all changed when Athens was named capital of Greece in 1834, with the city truly coming of age due to the many infrastructure improvements completed in time for the 2004 Olympic Games. Lisbon, Portugal (images via: Galen Fry Singer and Lgougo ) Due to its exceptional harbor situated where the Tagus river empties into the Atlantic Ocean, Lisbon has always been an ideal military and commercial location – incidentally attracting settlers to serve the soldiers and traders. Archaeologists have uncovered Phoenician objects at Lisbon dating back to 1200 BC; remnants of what was likely a Phoenician supply base for ships voyaging to and from the British Isles, an ancient source of tin. Lisbon quickly bounced back from the disaster to regain her rank as one of Europe’s leading cities, a distinction she still holds today.

Varanasi, India (image via: Sacred Destinations ) The city of Varanasi, formerly known to English-speakers as Benares, has been a religious and cultural center for at least 3,000 years. Over one million pilgrims from across the Hindu world visit Varanasi each year to participate in ceremonies and swim in the sacred Ganges river. (image via: Without Borders ) Varanasi is as close to being a true “living city” as one could imagine. Every bit of space is utilized, every disused building is re-worked into a new purpose and over centuries of conflict and conquest, the city heals itself through the power of human conviction and devotion to a greater glory. Cholula, Mexico (images via: Webshots Travel and Cultura ) Arguably the oldest continually inhabited city in the western hemisphere, Choloula was a contemporary of more famous Teotihuacan yet never suffered the crisis that saw it’s neighbor abandoned in the 6th century AD. By the late Aztec period more than 100,000 people lived in Cholula, and the city near Puebla is home to over 90,000 today.

(image via: Rahuno ) Cholula rose to prominence in the 2nd century BC but settlement on a more modest scale goes back a further thousand years. The partially excavated monumental buildings at Cholula are among the largest in the world, with the Great Pyramid of Cholula being the largest man-made monument ever made! Its base covers approximately 25 acres and the pyramid’s total volume is estimated at 4.3 million cubic yards. What’s it take to make a long-lived city? The same thing any realtor will tell you: location, location, location! Prime real estate does tend to attract the wrong crowd – conquerors have a way of ruining anyone’s backyard barbeque – but once all the fuss has died down people do what they’ve always done; keep on coming back for more. What are the Oldest Cities in the World? (with pictures) What are the Oldest Cities in the World?

Images By: n/a, n/a, n/a, Dimitris Karkanis, Pius Lee, V_Blinov, Www.doglikehorse.com, Kokhanchikov, Tupungato Last Modified Date: 19 December 2016 Copyright Protected: Adorable animal families that will make you "aww" Answering which settlements are the oldest cities in the world is fraught with debate, and guesswork. For example, how does one define city? If city is defined by population, must it be continuously inhabited in order to qualify as one of the oldest cities in the world? Must the cityin the still exist today? One way of answering the question about which are the oldest cities in the world is to define city as a largely populous area, and further define that only cities that have been continuously populated count. However, listings are still subject to debate even when these two areas are defined. Ad In spite of controversy, all of these cities are extremely old: Byblos in present-day Lebanon may date back as far as 5000 BCE and is considered by many to be the oldest continuously populated city. Damascus in Syria has existed at least since 3000 BCE.

Varansi in India also dates back further than 3000 BCE. Medinat Al-Fayoum in Egypt is possibly dated at 4000 BCE. Gaziantep in Turkey dates back to 3650 BCE. Delhi, in India, dates to about 3500 BCE. Hebron in the West Bank is dated at 3500 BCE. Athens in Greece dates to about 3000 BCE. Luoyang, in China, dates to about 2070 BCE. Arbil and Kirkuk in Iraq have dates of 2300 and earlier than 3000 BCE respectively. Adana in Turkey and Jerusalem in Israel were established around 2000 BCE. Hama in Syria was established before 2000 BCE. Luxor/Thebes in Egypt also dates to 2000 BCE. Jaffa, Israel, and Aleppo, Syria are both about 3800 years old. Some dispute exists about excluding Jericho from the list. In its present day location, it is about 3400 years old.

However, Jericho is often indicated as one of the oldest civilizations, with settlements dating back as far as 11,000 BCE. So many call Jericho one of the oldest cities in the world because some settlement has been established in or around Jericho since the shift to domestication of plants and animals. Another possible candidate for the oldest city in the world is Catal Huyuk, a site in Turkey. It also dates approximately to the time when Jericho would have been founded, or 3000 years later, depending upon different accounts. It is near the current city of Konya, so it has not been continuously inhabited. Ad anon325381 Post 103 The second oldest city is supposed to be Caral en Peru. It is more than 5,000 years old! anon287998 Post 100 Currently, the earliest area of settled habitation definable as a city, is Çatalhöyük in Anatolia, with the earliest dates at circa 7500 BC. That doesn't mean that Çatalhöyük was the first city, just the oldest discovered so far.

Of all those listed belowm some have signs of habitation at the level of farms and camps, but were not cities at their earliest dated findings (most notably Jericho with 11000 BC finds). The next oldest are all in the Mesopotamia region being in order: Eridu, Ur and Uruk. Nothing discovered to date, prior to that, is more than a camp or village. The claims of tens of thousands to millions of years are fantasy, fiction or fable. anon284847 No one mentions Erivan (Armenia) - the oldest city with documented date of its foundation - 782BC! suni Post 97 And don't forget Cadiz, Spain, first built by the Phoenicians about 2500bce and continuously inhabited as a city since then. anon273425 Post 96 I worked with huge numbers of ethnic groups over a 46 year period and heard so many claims about ancient cities and villages. I realize now that most history is written by whoever won the most recent war, and numbers can be widely manipulated to suit any purpose imaginable.

I traveled much of China and do believe many of their claims of 7,000 - 10,000 year old cities and villages. Their magnificent museums have a lot of elaborate documentation, with many artifacts, clothing, tools, pottery, etc. Friends of mine from Indochina say 7,000 years in some of their cities. Middle Eastern people often stick with 7,000 - 10,000 years and I have heard Jericho mentioned many times as one of the most ancient cities anywhere in the world. Maybe we will never know for sure? anon258594 Post 95 We have to consider the fact mentioned above about the bridge made as early as 1,750,000 BC., between India and Sri Lanka. It was noticed by a NASA satellite. anon252459 Post 94 Has anybody looked at Adam's bridge photo taken by NASA? This is dated at about 175,000 years. So definitely there was a city there where people built it. It is between India and Sri Lanka.

anon251007 Post 93 Ur (in Iraq) is the oldest city in the world. This is not known to anyone but the coming days will prove it. anon231553 Post 91 Gwader in Balochistan, or in ancient times it was the city of Gedrosia where I was born, and where Alexander the great passed away. anon220440 Post 90 and what about Matera, Italy? It is believed to be continuously inhabited since the Middle Paleolithic! anon183612 Post 89 OK let us not forget asia. To those who are obsessed with egypt the mid-east and greece as i know many of us are. It is, after all, something we all are often educated about. The asiatic areas were doing everything along with everyone else and were, i believe, just a nose ahead really, until about rome. This is just my broadened averaging out of all of it. But that's how i pretty much sum it up. There are some areas we have not even officially touched yet like energy/energy fields (one example, chakras) and the medical science that goes along with it.

So please, i beg you, stop obsessing about other cultures long enough to look east and dig into that for a bit. And for those who may think it matters; no i am not of asian decent myself. Just had a mom who put me in check and told me about china when i started to think myself that the egyptian culture was solely the genesis of everything awesome. And let's not forget the old time seafarers. The polynesians are considered to be an asian culture also. Have fun with all that, kids. anon157911 Post 88 Nobody knows. Excavations in the Dwarka, submerged city off the coast of India, has revealed artifacts 30000 years old. Our history (i mean on earth) as per ancient Indian scriptures is more than 200 thousand years old. Ancient texts mention cities on the Arctic circle, Latin America, Iran, Sumeria China, Indonesia, and many many others. If we excavate deep into the land and water, will find human history is thousand and thousands and thousands years old. Our governments and historians lie to us, just so they can control us.

anon157795 Post 87 Thanks for the information you provided. Perhaps there is a room for improvement. I have noticed the city named Array, which is one of the most historical cities with continuous habitation in Iran, was not mentioned here. A settlement at the site goes back to the 3rd millennium BC. Rayyis mentioned in the Avesta (an important text of prayers in Zoroastrianism, as a sacred place, and it is also featured in the book of Tobit.[12] --My best regards. anon156487 burned city in sistan, iran. anon156040 Post 85 Arbil (Erbil, or Irbil), Urban life at Arbil can be dated back to at least 6000 BC. anon146396 Post 84 Beijing/Peking/Dadu/Cambuluc/Zhongdu The earliest remnants of human habitation in the Beijing municipality are found in the caves of Dragon Bone Hill near the village of Zhoukoudian in Fangshan District, where the Peking Man lived.

Homo erectus fossils from the caves date to 230,000 to 250,000 years ago. Paleolithic homo sapiens also lived there about 27,000 years ago. There were "cities" in the vicinities of Beijing by the 1st millennium BC. anon143403 Post 82 I live in the city that's 2610 years old.That´s called Kerch (Ukraine), and the previous ancient greek name was Pantikapei. So is this. And in the list of the most ancient cities it wasn't even mentioned. anon143391 Post 81 If we will try to focus on the city only. I think we will base from the civilization took place first. European countries have this category. But if we will based it on the biblical records I think the first place mentioned in the old testaments. anon142329 Post 80 The oldest cities in the world are Located in Canaan: Lebanon, Syria, Palestine.

Lebanon Byblos and Tyre and Sidon and Beirut are some of the oldest, also the Syrian city Damascus, and also Jerusalem in Palestine. anon135454 Post 78 Hamadan is believed to be among the oldest Iranian cities and one of the oldest in the world. Also, it is first capital in the world. anon134277 If you want to know how old London is, it's 2000 - 2200 years old. anon129365 Post 76 The oldest city on planet Earth so far discovered is Pumapunku in present day Bolivia. the age of the city is so ancient that no date can be even given. The technology used in its building is so advanced that today we do not have the same technology capable of cutting the stone in a meticulous and precise manner, not to mention the size and weight of the block stones themselves. anon127656 My guess is that we have yet to find it. anon127205 Post 72 #40: You are naive to believe history doesn't matter.

Most of the laws of many countries are made based on the ideas which come from religious writings. If those writings are incorrect, we should look for a new paradigm. anon122618 Post 71 it's hard to tell and it depends on the meaning of city, plus if it's still there in our times or not. i say South iraq "Land of the Sumerians" built the first cities in the old world. The city of Ur, city of Lagash, and city of Kish were the oldest cities in the meaning of city (populated land with settlement) and this was around 7000B.C mean 9000 years ago according to a couple of sources. But I see numbers like 17,000 years ago. Well we can't call those people civilized. Those were mostly hunters and they didn't know the meaning of true architecture building. Their main materials were animal skin and so they build tents and later , more developed people used reeds, wood, and mud to build their houses. The main civilization appears in mesopotamia and it started after the last ice age ended in 8000 B.C.

other places on the earth were impossible to live in with -90 C degrees. Only the middle east and what we know now as Egypt. In that place the only people were living and it all started from there, around rivers and good places for your farms. Some archaeologists stated that the oldest city in the world was the beginning of recorded human history in the Old World to the Early Middle Ages in Europe. The span of recorded history is roughly 6,500 years, with Cuneiform script, and the oldest discovered form of writing was in south Iraq, Uruk or Ur. From another point of view, the meaning of a city still populated is Jèriko as the oldest city and the second oldest city with very close ranking Erbil or Howler in Kurd land north of Iraq nowadays, and in the 3rd place Damascus. Those are the oldest still standing cities in the world. I hope I managed to give you a view with all respect to indio and southern asia and Inca cities which had also a very long history but nevertheless not the oldest ever made. Regards. Master Student at Harvard Uni, Department of Human History.

anon117377 Post 70 Makomati is the oldest known, though I am sure there were plenty more before that we will never find. For instance. 50 million years ago is buried under earth, rock and soil. then again, if you're looking for old cities, don't rule out mars and our moon. anon114861 Post 69 The oldest cities in the world, must with no doubt be somewhere in Mesopotamia, present day Iraq, South Eastern Turkey, West Iran and North East Syria. Most scholars agree with this. They invented almost everything. Great civilizations like the Romans, Greeks and Egyptians all got their technology from the Mesopotamians. They've also found smaller versions of the Sphinx and pyramids which predates the bigger ones in Egypt with at least 5,000 years, I think it was 6,000 years. Mesopotamia is definitely the cradle of civilization. anon111195 Post 68 I have traveled all over the world for 35years and i have seen over 168 countries and over 50 ancient cities!

From what i have seen/read/studied/discovered Damascus 12700 years of age; Jericho (10000 years); Byblos (8800 years); Sidon'Saida (7600 years); Gaziantep (6000 years); Plovdiv (5500 years); Gaza Egypt (5100 years); Crocodilopolis (egypt); (4500 years); Plovdiv (4000 years); Gaziantep (3700); Rayy (3400 years); Beirut (3000 years); Jerusalem (2700 years); Tyre (2300 years); Jaffa and Aleppo (2000 years); Chania Greece (1500 years); Athens (1400 years); Varanasi India (1200 years); Ujjain India (1000 years); Samarkand (700 years); Delhi India (500 years).

anon111178 oldest town is Bhimavaram, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh, India - Krupa dason V anon109783 All wrong! The oldest city in the world is the earth itself! anon104380 Post 64 I love Kashi or Varanasi in India by the Ganges river. I travel to Varanasi once when I was a teenager in 1971 and I fell in love with the city, with Hindus, the temples and the holy river, where I took ablutions and watched the burning ghats. Al from Mexico City. anon103858 Post 63 The holy city Kashi in India is oldest city in entire earth.It is situated in state Uttar Pradesh of India. A A description of Kashi is found in world's oldest holy book: Rugved. Rugved is so old that nobody knows who has written about it. Look up the word Rigveda. Krunal P. anon102904 Pumapunku near lake Titicaca is over 17,000 years old.

anon99987 Post 60 Mehrgarh is one of the oldest cities in the Indus valley and has scientific proves of more than 7000 BC. anon99898 Post 59 Hebron and east jerusalem are occupied cities by Israel according to the International law. So you cannot say that they are israeli cities. They are actually like Jericho located in Palestine. anon94103 Jericho in palestine is the oldest city of the world. anon92279 Plovdiv in Bulgaria is the oldest city. anon89800 Everyone is wrong. The oldest city in earth is Thoothukudi (in south india). anon85266 I think describing time lines as 'bce' just causes confusion. Moderator's reply: This is in common usage. Please see the wiseGEEK article anon83687 Post 52 Wrong, wrong! The oldest city is Jericho situated in palestinean territories, is about 430,000 years old!

anon82726 Post 51 Madurai in Southern India is one of the oldest cities of the world.Most importantly it is continuously inhabited up till now. They have traded with Rome and Greece as early as 550 BCE. It is widely believed an ancient civilization called Lemuria existed in Southern pacific and was subsequently destroyed by a tsunami. It is also believed the olden days Madurai was part of the old Lemuria continent.It is also believed to escape from natural disasters nomad groups started traveling eastwards 35,000,000 million years ago.Some of them reached a land called Lemuria.Madurai was part of the old Lemuria. Lemuria now lies submerged beneath the pacific ocean. anon82253 Amedi is the oldest city! anon79817 Post 49 Worlds oldest city is Gaziantep (Antep) witch is a Turkish city, and not a kurdish. Get your facts right. 3650 B.C. anon78863 Erbil (or Arbil, Irbil, Hawler) in Kurdistan is the oldest city in the world.

anon76683 Post 46 Not one mention of Makomati known to be at least 65,000 years old with its 20,000 stone buildings and the oldest known man made structure Adams Calendar built for telling the planting seasons. anon75441 Damascus is oldest city in the world since 8000 bc. anon73282 Post 43 varanasi, mathura and prayag are the oldest cities of world because our civilization is oldest. When many points of time as ramayana and mahabharata we used the most developed techenology. we knew about the airplane (pushpak), missiles,atom bombs (brahmastra), pashupatastra (hydrogen bomb), narayanastra (which has not been developed till now). that time rest of the world was living in caves. anon72830 Post 42 Not only was the Indian society the oldest civilisation, but even the Indian religion and philosophy have moved east and west from India, I believe. The Egyptian God or Tum seems to be from the ancient Sanskrit word Atma.

The other earthly creatures, called Jev seems to be from Jeev in sanskrit. There are numerous words from sanskrit which are used in European languages. I shall quote just a few- Good/ cow, pita/ pita, Mata/ mother, muter, dwaar/ door, do/ duo, tri/ three, chaturtha/ quatro, panch/ penta, sasti/ sexa, sapta/ septa, asatha/ octa, nava/ nova, danta/ danta, danta-shastra/ dentistry etc. The last word is not surprising at all because there is evidence now that in Indus Valley towns like Mehrgarh root canal treatments were being done around 7000BCE. So I propose an advanced race migrated from India all over the world right after the ice-age around 9000BCE and that's how the Indo-European languages were born. The skin tone of Indians became fair due to the climate in a few thousand years, just like the Polish and Russian Jews are white compared to original Israeli Jews!

anon72428 Post 41 The ancient Peruvian city of Huaricanga (3500 BCE), Uruk in Mesopotamia (4000 BCE), Caral in Peru (2600 BCE). ukindian Post 39 is absolutely right! Mehrgarh of the Indus Valley civilisation (present day Baluchistan, Pakistan) could be the oldest permanent human settlement on Earth from 7000 BCE. The discovery of this city ( by a team lead by French archaeologists) has also rubbished the archaic theory by European historians (William Jones, Max Mueller etc) of the nineteenth and early twentieth century that the Vedic civilisations of India were brought by European settlers who were the aryans. On the contrary the Indo- European languages may have actually spread around the world from the Indus-Gangetic plains. Mehrgarh, one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BC to c. 2500 BC) sites in archaeology, lies on what is now the "Kachi plain" of today's Balochistan, Pakistan.

It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia. In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh made the discovery that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of proto-dentistry. anon58051 Post 34 Arbil,kirkuk and Gaziniap are kurdish cities, right? when you go there its only kurds. Old kurdistan media anon57901 The oldest city is Tangamandapio Michoacan in Mexico anon57765 According to the history channel a city in Bolivia is over 17,000 years old. anon52556 Post 31 In terms of community continuously inhabited, some of these suggestions may be right. In terms of peoples using tools and creating art, the earliest people living as related, cooperative groups have to be in Australia.

It is relatively easy to look up time lines that relate to a time before Australia was even a continent, where people were using tools and creating art in cooperative groups with religious ceremonies and division of labor. anon52277 Post 30 I believe that Larnaca, in Cyprus is one of the oldest cities. Its history goes back 10,000 years. anon51715 Post 29 Mehrgarh, (Urdu: م‍ﮩ‍رگڑھ ) one of the most important Neolithic (7000 BC to c. 2500 BC) sites in archaeology, lies on what is now the "Kachi plain" of today's Balochistan, Pakistan. It is one of the earliest sites with evidence of farming (wheat and barley) and herding (cattle, sheep and goats) in South Asia.

For the first time in the Indo-Pakistani subcontinent, a continuous sequence of dwelling-sites has been established from 7000 BCE to 500 BCE, (as a result of the) explorations in Pirak from 1968 to 1974; in Mehrgarh from 1975 to 1985; and of Naushahro from 1985 to 1996.[5] In 2001, archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh made the discovery that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization, from the early Harappan periods, had knowledge of proto-dentistry. anon51570 All wrong. It is Milton Keynes in the UK! anon48431 Post 27 The oldest city in the world is Chalchuapa, the big master Guru Saint Hamad Al Marero, founded it in 15,000 before Christ, but the yankee imperialists came back from the future and destroyed all evidence of its existence.

I was able to hide in their time machine when they returned to the present, and in this way I am able to convey to you the only evidence of the existence of this ancient city. anon46947 Post 26 The oldest evidence of a city, if you define that as a permanent place of trade would be somewhere in or near the "fertile crescent". Many of the oldest continuously inhabited cities lie in or near the crescent, and new excavations often push back time lines in them all, digs in Jericho and Damascus put them as top candidates. As for previously inhabited "cities" that are even older, it must make sense that we look for evidence near the most fertile areas. I would place a river delta in that category. I would select the delta/marsh area in Southern Modern Day Iraq as being a very early stable fertile place. The evidence nearby of very old Ziggurat (temple) bases is a good indication. I would say the Ziggurat bases around Ur would be a good choice for the site of the oldest city or somewhere around there. As power moved further north so did the cities and irrigation developed further upstream starving the southern cities of water/fertility/influence leading to their demise.

The mouth of the Euphrates is often talked about in many ancient texts and mythologies point to the oldest kings coming from the area. As the site is now in a US occupied war zone it maybe some time before further excavation takes place. anon45792 Post 25 The seaport city of Ashkelon in the South District of Israel is also likely a contender for one of the oldest. anon45592 the oldest city is damascus. anon44438 Post 23 It is said that Heliopolis in ancient Egypt was around in 10,500 BC, supposedly when the Sphinx was built. Who knows, but it's interesting. anon42720 Post 22 Damascus, Syria is the oldest city of all time. Dates back to 12,000 years ago. Many kings tried to take over this land and failed. anon40979 Sialkot in Pakistan is 5000 years old also verified in wikipedia. Multan in Pakistan is one of the oldest cities in entire subcontinent. Also in Indus Valley of Pakistan has been found some very early human inhabitants traces. Pre-historic men.

anon38761 what about the city of Arbil(heweler) that's dated back to 2300 BC or earlier anon36383 Jericho in Palestine Traces of habitation from 9000 BC Fortifications date to 6800 BC (or earlier), making Jericho the earliest known walled city. Evidence indicates that the city was abandoned several times, and later expanded and rebuilt several times. anon36311 how about hamedan in west of iran. it has been from 2500 bc anon35272 hey what about the city of Kathmandu? anon35185 Post 15 The oldest continuously inhabited city in the West is Cadiz, Spain (2000 BC). That makes it 3,000 years old, more ancient than anything else in Western Europe. anon17580 Post 14 I am an Indian. Top of your list Varanasi is shown. Our history education mentioned it otherwise. We knew Indus Valley Civilization is the old known in South Asia. The city of Mohenjodaro and Harappa are some 5000 years old.

These cities are now in Pakistan. The editor's point of submerged city on the Gulf of Kutch (Cambay) is also correct. I was given an impression that Chinese civilization are equally old. May be Mongolian city of Ulan Bator. May be some more research. Regards what about tiahuanaco, scholars deem it the oldest. anon9056 Post 12 The oldest cities in the world are all on mountain tops. Discoveries have been made of cities on top of the Zagros Mountains. Nineveh is hailed as the oldest city in Assyria. What is not known is that Nineveh is the oldest city in the entire Mesopotamia. All other cities established after Nineveh were established in a downward progression from the highlands. This is because all ancient civilizations developed in high mountains. The sea level was much higher back then. As the seas receded civilizations followed downward. See Google and youtube "The Mysterious Receding Seas" See also New York Times article "June 5th 1981 entitled or September 26 2007 entitled" Jersey Rights to Shore prove costly to Casinos" The article explains why civilizations started in high mountains.

anon9054 Post 11 I've been told India has cities over 1,000,000 years old. Moderator's reply: well, that seems a bit far-fetched! however, some say that a submerged settlement recently discovered in the Gulf of Cambay in India may be the oldest, inhabited somewhere around 7500 BC. anon9053 what about Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, that reputes to have the grave site of Eve. anon8882 How about Plovdiv, Bulgaria-about 6 000 BC. anon7639 Post 8 Here's another! Susa, located in modern day Iran, is also one of the oldest cities in the world. It is said to date back to about 4200 BCE and possibly even 7000 BCE. olivia Post 7 it's great to hear readers' contributions to the list of what the oldest cities in the world are. since there are so many factors that determine what a "city" is for the purpose of researching this article, some cities may not have made it onto this list. despite this, they're still old, and still noteworthy!

keep 'em coming! anon7616 mesopotamia wasn't a city, it was a region of land anon7614 I noticed that there were no references to cities (communities) in China. A few years ago I was at a site in Shenyang, China that was shown to be populated over 7000 years ago. anon7613 Post 4 China claims to have many cities (villages) more than 10000 years old and their records of the inhabitants are extensive. What about northern India and northern Thailand? protogere I notice you avoided listing Skara Brae, inhabited as early as 3200 BCE. anon7602 how about mesopotamia ... between iran and iraq ?? it's been there since 20,000 bc anon7600 The Ancient City - Ancient History Encyclopedia The Ancient City by Joshua J. Mark published on 05 April 2014 In the study of the ancient world a City is generally defined as a large populated urban center of commerce and administration with a system of laws and, usually, regulated means of sanitation.

This is only one definition, however, and the designation `City' can be based on such factors as the: population of the settlement presence of some kind of sewer system level of administrative government presence of walls and/or fortifications geographical area of the settlement or whether a `settlement' was called a `city' in antiquity and fits at least one of the above qualifications. In the ancient world, very often a `city' describes an urban center of dense population and a certain pattern of buildings spreading out from a central religious complex such as a temple (though, frustratingly, this could sometimes apply equally well to a `village' or `settlement'). The word `city’ derives from the Latin civitas although urban development pre-dates Rome by many centuries. Professor M. E. Smith of Arizona State University writes in The Sage Encyclopedia of Urban Studies, that, "The demographic definition, based on the concepts of Louis Wirth, identifies cities as large, dense settlements with social heterogeneity" (26), meaning that they are defined as large communities of people who have decided to live together for a common purpose under laws observed by all. This definition, however, could apply equally well to large villages as to cities.

Remove Ads Advertisement Professor George Modelski, of the University of Washington, encourages a definition based on the work of the historian Tertius Chandler (in his book Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth) which defines a city, as distinct from a village, based upon population. Modelski writes: Two elements go into a population estimate: the archaeologists’ site assessment (be it the area of urban settlement in general, or an estimate, or actual count, of houses), and a population density factor, be it `macro’ for the entire urban site, or `micro’, per house ratio…The micro-estimate requires a reliable house count, and that is not really available for most of the sites. On the other hand, a macro-factor is liable to error, such as ignoring local conditions (3). Despite the problems inherent in these estimates, Modelski claims, they are still the best way in which to differentiate a large settlement from an actual city because population density is considered the most reliable factor in making such a determination. Adopting Chandler’s means of definition, then, settlements such as Tell Brak in modern-day Syria (first founded in c. 6000 BCE) cannot be considered cities.

Professor Smith writes: The concept of the `urban revolution’, first identified by V. Gordon Childe (1892-1957 CE), describes a series of social changes that brought about the development of the earliest cities and states… These changes (such as the origin of social classes and the production of an agricultural surplus) provided the social context for the earliest cities. Once class-structured state societies took hold in a region, individual cities rose and fell in response to a variety of forces (26). The city of Uruk , today considered the oldest in the world, was first settled in c. 4500 BCE. The First City The first cities which fit both Chandler’s and Wirth’s definitions of a `city’ (and, also the early work of the archaeologist Childe) developed in the region known as Mesopotamia between 4500 and 3100 BCE. The city of Uruk, today considered the oldest in the world, was first settled in c. 4500 BCE and walled cities, for defence, were common by 2900 BCE throughout the region.

The city of Eridu , close to Uruk, was considered the first city in the world by the Sumerians while other cities which lay claim to the title of `first city' are Byblos , Jericho, Damascus, Aleppo, Jerusalem , Sidon , Luoyang, Athens , Argos , and Varasani. All of these cities are certainly ancient and are located in regions which have been populated from a very early date. Uruk, however, is the only contender for the title of `oldest city’ which has physical evidence and written documentation, in the form of cuneiform texts, dating the activities of the community from the earliest period. Sites such as Jericho, Sidon, and even Eridu, which were no doubt settled before Uruk, lack the same sort of documentation. Their age and continuity of habitation has been gauged based upon the foundations of buildings unearthed in archaeological excavations rather than primary documents found on site. Advertisement Population in Ancient Cities The population of ancient cities, depending upon which definition of `city’ one uses, differed sharply from what one might consider proper for a city in the modern day.

Professor Smith claims, “Many ancient cities had only modest populations, often under 5,000 persons” (26) while other scholars, such as Modelski, cite higher population possibilities in the range of 10,000 to 80,000 depending upon the period under consideration. Modelski, for example, cites the population of Uruk at 14,000 in the year 3700 BCE but 80,000 by the year 2800 BCE (12). By comparison, the population of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland was 495,360 in 2011 CE, the population of London, England 8.174 million in 2011 CE, and the population of New York City in the United States of America was 8.337 million in 2012 CE. The historian Lewis Mumford, however, notes that, “Probably no city in antiquity had a population of much more than a million inhabitants, not even Rome; and, except for China , there were no later `Romes’ until the nineteenth century” (6).

Mumford’s point highlights the problem of using population as a means of defining an ancient city as it has been proven that urban centers designated `settlements’ (such as Tell Brak) had larger populations than many modern cities in the present day. The gathering of the populace of a region into an urban center became more and more common following the rise of the cities in Mesopotamia and, once enclosed within the walls of a city, population increased or, at least, such an increase became more measurable. Population increase led to suburbanization and the spread of the settlement beyond the original boundaries. Modern scholars are then faced with the further problem in defining a city in that some claim suburban expanse should not be considered while others insist that it must be. This problem is most clearly seen, as are so many others regarding the definition of a city, in the example of Tell Brak. While the original settlement may have been smaller than Uruk, the size had grown by the 2nd millennium BCE to over 320 acres (130 hectares) and, since it was founded earlier, argues for its claim as the oldest city in the world.

Its population would have been considerably larger than that of modern-day Edinburgh, to choose one example, and so it should be designated a city based on population; the fact that it is not considered a city by so many experts in the field exemplifies the modern scholarly debate on defining ancient urban centers as `cities’ or `settlements’. This debate also includes whether a settlement needs to have had a wall around it in order to truly be called a `city’. The Walled City Walled cities were common throughout Mesopotamia. The most famous and, today, probably the most controversial, city in the ancient world was Babylon . It remains controversial for the same reason as its fame in that the city is featured prominently – and negatively – in so many of the biblical narratives. Far from being a 'city of evil’, however, Babylon was a great and prosperous cultural and intellectual centre, being the first, among other achievements, to perfect the art of glass making c. 1500 BCE as well as further developing the arts and sciences known today as astronomy, astrology, early physics, mathematics, law, literature , architecture, and sculpture.

The great king Hammurabi first encircled Babylon with walls in 1792 BCE and built the first sacred temple complex to the god Marduk (the Esagila) including the ziggurat, a high stepped tower (which may have given rise to the famous biblical account of the Tower of Babel ) all centered around the river Euphrates. Babylon reached its height, however, under the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (who lived 634-562 BCE, reigning from 605-562 BCE) who ringed the city three times around with walls 40 feet high and so thick that chariot races were held atop them. The walls of Babylon, and especially the great Ishtar Gate , appeared on some writer’s lists among the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and were considered a marvel, encircling the city for ten miles.

Question: Which is the oldest inhabited walled city in the world?
Answer: JERICHO