From Jerusalem to Aleppo. The oldest populated cities of the world from all the cradles of humanity

Therefore, those of the very ancient cities that have come to our time are more or less intact, are incredibly special, because they have overcome the crazy difficulties during the strange and cruel history of mankind. The date of establishing most of these ancient monuments is still controversial, and their great age depends on how you determine the city or settlement.

Some people distinguish the date of official foundation of the city and the date when people first started living in the territory in small groups. In many other cases, local buildings hide archaeological sites that can potentially help set more accurate dates. Other cities often were trapped in conflict areas, and were only studied approximately. Finally, dating disputes are often colored by religion, politics and the desire of glory.

However, all these cities have an incredibly long and well -documented history and deserve to be recognized as a vital part of humanity's heritage, Grunge writes. In focus, technology appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe to not miss the most info and interesting news from the world of science! Loyan in Chinese province of Henan is a strong candidate for the title of the oldest city in the Far East.

However, his long -standing status remains the subject of controversy, since it is considered that it is associated with the mysterious first dynasty of China - a dynasty, which rules part of China before the emergence of writing. The small one we know about this dynasty comes from legends, and some believe that it did not exist at all.

However, in 1959, archaeologists dug thousands of skillfully made products in Erlitou in louan, dating from 1600 BC - about the time when, as it is expected, the Rules of the First Dynasty. Among the finds were precious bronze objects and luxurious jade jewelry, indicating a highly organized ancient civilization. Regardless of whether the legendary is from louan or not, the findings prove that the city is one of China's oldest and most important cultural objects.

In later history, Lyan gained great glory, becoming the capital of China several times, in particular, during the Eastern Dynasties of Zhou, Han and Sui. In the early medieval period, the city also reached great heights as a refined multicultural center, filled with Buddhist monasteries and Muslim mosques, as well as majestic public buildings and gardens.

Unfortunately, Lyan has been terrible destruction at the end of the Tang period and has never been the same as before, though it has survived to this day. Varanasi (Banaras) is probably the oldest populated city in India, and of course one of the most holy. It is located on the Ganges River, the pink-red city attracts visitors from all over India, who gather on the banks of the river to spend the last way of their dead.

The dates of the first settlements in Varanas are very interested in Hindus all over the world, because the history of the city is closely linked to a number of religious stories. It is even mentioned in Magabhara. In 2014, a number of ceramics finds confirmed that people have lived in this territory at least from 1800 BC. It is difficult to separate the fact from fiction, talking about Varanasi, but Buddhists believe that the Buddha preached near the city.

The Hindus, on the other hand, believe that the settlement founded Shiva, and Jainists believe that one of their most holy figures was born here. The most important thing is that those who die in Varanas are considered blessed because they are given the opportunity to get out of the endless cycle of death and revival.

All year long, Varanasi is filled with funeral fires, processions of sorrow and spiritual seekers who come to immerse themselves in the holy atmosphere of the city, as people have done for many centuries. The city of SUR (TIR) ​​in Lebanon was once one of the richest cities on Earth, and today is one of the oldest. At least 4,000 years ago, it was already a large city in 2000 BC, when it operated as a profitable Phoenician Trade Port.

There are various interesting ancient myths about the alleged divine origin of the city, which was once considered a charming freely floating island until it was attached to the shore due to the construction of the Holy Temple on the shore. The city is also often mentioned in the Bible, both in the Old and New Testaments, as a place of great glory.

Although the Phoenicians built many large cities throughout the Mediterranean, Tir was one of the most important because of their famous coloring industry. Purple dye is very difficult to make, as it is one of the rare colors in nature, but Tira residents have found that they can paint the fabric in purple, using crushed marine snails. Tyrian Purpur became incredibly valuable because of its rareness, and Tyrian fabric was used by royal faces.

It was so appreciated that, according to BBC, "Phoenicia" literally means "purple land. " The Tirians continued to make their expensive dye until the Middle Ages, when other purple dyes were invented. In the later centuries, Sura became more associated with the less glamorous fishing industry, but its ancient shine has never disappeared, and it still attracts hordes of tourists today.

Argos is one of the oldest cities in Greece, and the Hill Elijah in Argos was first settled by people of stone age in 3500 BC. A little later (around 2000 BC), the city was officially settled by Phoenician and Egyptian migrants who mixed with the local Greeks. Argos became a large city during the Mycena Bronze Age.

Long before Greece was decorated with classic temples and ancient theaters, Mycenaean Greeks lived more primitive, politically organized groups around a number of small palace complexes in places such as Argos. The life of these ancient Greeks is enveloped by ancient legends, and Argos, in particular, is mentioned many times in the "Iliad" Homer, the ancient era of the Trojan War.

In the poem, Homer claims that the Argosi ​​were committed to the goddess Hera and that they fought with many other Greek cities-states to liberate the beautiful Elena from her rocky Trinans. In the era of classicism, Argos, like many other Greek cities-states, experimented with democracy, produced live sculptures and was involved in endless small wars with other Greeks.

Like other states-states, it eventually lost its ancient independence through the arrival of the Romans who turned it into another provincial deaf. The city of Jerusalem was inhabited by at least 3500 years BC. Many of its ancient places were carefully examined due to their importance for the three major world religions. However, there are still differences.

For example, recently, in 2005, a controversy over a place broke out in the academic circles, which, according to some, was once the palace of Tsar David, while others claim that it is a much older Early Bronze Age Canaan structure. At the very beginning of his history, Jerusalem won King David, probably about 1000 BC. What was the early Jewish kingdom and how many years he was - like many other aspects of Israeli history - he was struck in political and religious disputes.

The history of Jerusalem has always been quite stormy; The first and second Jewish temples were destroyed by the Babylonians and the Romans. With the advent of Christianity and Islam, Jerusalem also became the Holy City for many other peoples, which means that he has moved many times from hand to hand between different religions - sometimes a violent way, as during Christian Crusades.

Ancient Plovdiv, located on the Maritz River in Bulgaria, is considered to be the oldest permanently populated city in Europe. Built on seven hills, like much younger Rome, Plovdiv has a centuries -old history, because at different stages of his history he was occupied by the Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines and Ottomans. Today, the incredible Plovdiva Museum keeps an amazing collection of at least 100,000 artifacts from several millennia of saturated history.

Although the history of Plovdiva reaches its roots at the copper age, the city became known for the first time as part of ancient Thrace. Thracians were the hardy neighbors of the ancient Greeks, and they are often mentioned in ancient Greek sources. Unfortunately, the works of ancient Thrace should be treated with a certain amount of skepticism, as they are written through the Greek prism. Let it be there, the independence of the Thracian Plovdiva was short.

Philip II Macedon (Alexander Macedon's father) won him in the fourth century, for a long time, Grecified and launched a multi -stage occupation of the city by different imperial states. Ray is one of Iran's oldest cities. The findings from the mound of Ceshmeh-Ali in the heart of Ray indicate that pottery was made in 5500 BC. And this for its part indicates that people settled here in the Neolithic.

Although Ray has witnessed many important events, including the raids of the Mongol hordes and the rise of Islam, the greatest legend is his connection with the prophet Zarathushtra. According to at least one tradition, the Zoroastrian Prophet, who founded the Great Persian religion, once lived in Rai (Raga) thousands of years ago. Ray, which is still a sacred city today, is mentioned in the Zoroastrian Holy Book of Aesti.

Later, the city became the capital of the Parfyan Empire for a short time - one of the deadly enemies of Ancient Rome. Its strategic location also made it an important military outpost shortly after the Arab conquests and during the reign of the Seljukov Turks. However, in the high Middle Ages, the city finally lost its importance in favor of Tehran, after he was brutally looted by Mongols. Faium-"Lake Country"-Oasis City on the Nile River, first inhabited about 7200 BC. And at least until 5200 BC.

was an important agricultural community. In ancient times, the Faium actually consisted of several cities that merged together for many centuries. The most famous and powerful of them was the city of Sedet - "Crocodilopolis" for the Greeks. The real hiding place for wildlife, including wandering crocodiles, was a home for the cult of the dog - a terrible crocodile god, who was revered by the ancient Egyptians.

Sobka's deity is as ancient as the city itself, one of the first gods to appear in the ancient Egyptian pantheon. God was responsible for the fertile waters of the Nile, and when the masterpiece for a short time became the administrative capital of Egypt during the 12th dynasty, he became a symbol of royal power.

Another main reason for the celebrity Faiuma comes from the time of his stay under Roman control, when the merger of Roman and Egyptian cultures has led to the emergence of famous Fai portraits of mummies. These spooky drawings are one of the best preserved works of art of the ancient world, and used to decorate mummies in a distinct Roman style.

Iraq was one of the cradles of human civilization, a place where many of the first cities of humanity emerged on the fertile banks of the Tiger Rivers and Euphrates. However, many of the most famous ancient cities - Ur, Babylon and Ninevi - are no longer existed today. You may have not heard about Herbil (Heller for Locals and Arbela for the Ancients), but this is an incredibly ancient city grew up with the big ones and survived them.

It is crowned with one of the oldest and most spectacular citadels in the Middle East, Herbil, like many cities in the Middle East, is associated with a certain deity. Ishtar, the queen of the sky, was a kind of militant Aphrodite and once the patron saint of Erbil. The sacred temple of Ishtar, like the rest of the ancient city, is unfortunately buried under several millennia of human activity.

During his heyday, he had a powerful reputation of the site of worship and may have even been gilded with bright layers of silver and gold. Erbil Citadel can be dated 7,000 BC, which allows him to feel comfortable among the oldest cities in the world. Beautiful Jebayl is a very ancient city in Lebanon, which was famous for the brilliant naviga-Finicans. However, the ancient origins of the city last long before the Phoenicians became known.

There is evidence that people lived in this territory in the Neolithic era, between 4000 and 8000 BC. Jebayl reached the most heyday to the arrival of Alexander the Great, when the inhabitants of the city turned it into a large shopping center and got rich in the sale of cedar wood from which ancient ships were made. Today, Cedar is still depicted on Lebanon's national flag. The ancient residents of the city actually called it "Habal", but the Greeks called it Bibl, which in Greek means "book".

It is no accident, and in general, the smart Greeks were in a major cultural debt to the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians gave the Greeks their alphabet, and the city of Bibl sold the papyrus to the Greeks they needed for philosophical scriptures. Although Jebayl later drawn into the Christian Crusades and there are some incredible medieval fortifications, he never had political importance again. The besieged Damascus, who has experienced so much in the last decade, is not used to trouble.

The city has experienced many cruel attacks for its incredibly long history. The innumerable empires passed through him, a brilliant prize for any conqueror, who was famous for his luxury and fairy-tale gardens. Damascus is sometimes called the oldest city in the world, although it has a fierce competition with neighboring Aleppo. However, he is certainly one of the top three, since he is inhabited by ancient people between 8000 and 10,000 BC.

The city has grown from the oasis of Hut, a lush fertile terrain, attractive to both farmers and for lovers of the beautiful. In later times, it became famous for its Damascus silk and fragrant jasmine. It was the perfect place for traveling pilgrims and trading caravans, where they could relax and spend their money. Damascus's golden age fell into the Middle Ages when he became the capital of the Muslim Omeyad Caliphate.

During the heyday, innumerable travelers sang the city, and it appeared in one of the world's greatest mosques in the world, which still shines with gold and green mosaics today. This holy place is located on a true mountain of history, because there were both the Roman Church, the temple of Jupiter, and the Ramman-Khadada temple-the ancient deity from ancient times of antiquity.

People live in Aleppo from about 11,000 BC, which makes him a strong candidate for the title of the oldest city in the world. In 2007, Reuters reported that archaeologists found one of the oldest stone -age drawings (over 11,000 years), as well as a number of tools and flint arrowheads to the north of the city. Like his neighboring Damascus, many people passed through Aleppo, traveling on the ancient Silk Road that brought exotic goods from China to Europe.

But Aleppo was something more than just a travelers' stop. He once was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Yamhad, a little-known ancient state, which eventually destroyed aggressive hits. However, most of its history, the fate of Aleppo was restless. Although the city has briefly gained great glory as the medieval capital of the Hamdanid dynasty, it also suffered from numerous wars and invasions.