Search places, or jump to a section
CategoriesAncient cities
Capitals, ports and metropolises that rose, fell and were found again.
🇸🇾 Syria · Tell
EB IV to Iron I (c.2400–1000 BCE) · Eblaite → Amorite → Mitanni → Hittite/Emar → Aramaean
Euphrates terrace tell now peninsula in Tabqa Lake, excavated by Rudolph Dornemann; Emar texts identify it as Azu on the...
🇸🇩 Sudan · Ancient city
Napatan (750–600 BCE) and Meroitic later · Kushite Napatan trade centre
Sanam excavated by Griffith 1923, Napatan treasury town opposite Barkal sacred mountain.
🇹🇳 Tunisia · Ancient city
Roman to Hafsid (2nd c. BCE–15th c. CE) · Numidian / Roman / Byzantine / Islamic
Hilltop municipium with amphitheatre reused as Borj fortress.
🇮🇱 Israel · Tell
Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age (2000–600 BCE) · Canaanite / Philistine
Tel Gerisa — Yarkon Gardens in Yarkon, Israel is a Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age (2000–600 BCE) tell attributed to Canaanite / Philistine.
🇸🇾 Syria · Tell
EB IV to MB II (c.2500–1700 BCE) · Eblaite → Amorite → Old Babylonian
28 ha Ebla-period town on the Matakh plain south of Aleppo, Italian excavations by Francesca Baffi. EB IV–MB II (c.2500–...
🇮🇱 Israel · Tell
Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age (2000–600 BCE) · Canaanite / Israelite
Tel Hefer — Sharon Inland in Sharon Plain, Israel is a Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age (2000–600 BCE) tell attributed to Canaanite / Israelite.
🇮🇱 Israel · Ancient city
Middle to Upper Palaeolithic (c.55000–16000 BCE) · Late Mousterian → Aurignacian → Kebaran/Geometric Kebaran
Active Levantine cave site (55 ka–16 ka) in the Galilee karst, excavated by Ofer Marder and Omry Barzilai. Mousterian th...
🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Phoenician / Numidian / Roman · Mauretanian / Roman
Splendid royal capital of Juba II and Cleopatra Selene (25 BCE) then capital of Mauretania Caesariensis, with harbour, great theatre, amphitheatre and museums of Greek copies.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Koguryo · Koguryo
Complex of Koguryo Tombs (Jian) in Jilin Province / DPRK, China is a Koguryo ancient city attributed to Koguryo culture. Inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site (ID 1135).
GR · Ancient city
Archaic to Byzantine (c.600 BCE – 14th c. CE harbour) · Corinthian / Classical / Hellenistic / Roman
Corinth Gulf western harbour — 600 m Canopus-style canal + Long Walls, now 2–3 m subsided northwest of Corinth.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Bejucal is a Maya archaeological site in the Petén Department of Guatemala. It is located 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) northeast of El Zotz and was subservient to that city.
🇳🇪 Niger · Ancient city
Late Medieval / Tuareg / Songhai · Tuareg (Kel Air) / Songhai tributary
Paired Saharan stations: Agadez (c.1400 Tuareg sultanate capital with 27 m mudbrick minaret) and medieval Takedda copper industrial estate (14th c, Ibn Battuta 1353: 'copper mine of Takadda') 150 km…
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Greek to Islamic (5th c. BCE–7th c. CE) · Greek / Roman / Byzantine / Islamic
Pentapolis metropolis at Derna with harbour moles and layered cathedral-mosque.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Terminal Classic Puuc 800–1050 CE · Maya (Puuc)
Huntichmul East Complex north of Puuc Route: 70 m long vaulted palace with Puuc junquillo columns, sacbe linking to Sayil Group 2 km west. Mapped by Pollock 1980; 8 mounds remain unexcavated.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Ancient city
Late Period / Graeco-Roman / Byzantine · Egyptian / Graeco-Roman
Mudbrick gateway fortress guarding Pelusiac Nile branch, scene of Cambyses 525 BCE, Antiochus battles, Pelusium lions legend and Baldwin I death 1118.
🇭🇳 Honduras · Ancient city
Classic to Postclassic (500–1500 CE, peak 1000–1400) · Unknown Mosquitia culture (possibly Pech/Cahut) linked to Mesoamerican sphere
Recently confirmed pre-Columbian urban complex in Mosquitia rainforest, revealed 2012 LiDAR, excavated 2015 with plazas, earthworks, ballcourt, caches of jaguar effigy vessels (500+ sculptures) dated…
🇰🇪 Kenya · Ancient city
Swahili (14th–18th c CE) · Swahili
Mambrui — Malindi North in Kilifi County, Kenya is a Swahili (14th–18th c CE) ancient-city attributed to Swahili. Swahili creek town north of Malindi with Friday mosque and tombs.
🇸🇾 Syria · Tell
Ubaid to Ninevite 5 (c.5000–2800 BCE) · Ubaid → Late Chalcolithic Uruk-related → Ninevite 5
Ubaid–Late Chalcolithic tell on the Wadi Khanzir, Russian-Syrian excavations by Rauf Munchaev. Spectacular Ubaid painted...
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Greek to Byzantine (6th c. BCE–7th c. CE) · Greek / Roman (Cyrenaica)
Red-soil harbour with bath-kiln and Mid Roman amphora production.
🇸🇾 Syria · Tell
Jemdet Nasr to EB III (c.3100–2300 BCE) · Uruk-derived → EBA Euphrates → Akkadian sphere
Major Early Bronze I–III town (14 ha, 12 m high) on the Euphrates Tabqa bend, excavated by Mauritz van Loon. EB I–II pro...
🇪🇬 Egypt · Ancient city
Hypselis or Hypsela (Ancient Greek: Ύψηλή; Coptic: ϣⲱⲧⲡ), known to the ancient Egyptians as Shashotep, is an ancient Egyptian city and Roman bishopric, which was located near the modern town of Shutb…
🇬🇷 Greece · Submerged site
Early Helladic to Late Minoan · Minoan-influenced / Mycenaean
World's oldest known submerged town (c.3500–2800 BCE, occupation to 1000 BCE), submerged by earthquakes c.1000 BCE, with intact streets, two-storey houses, tombs, garden terraces off islet; never…
