🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Teos Theatre Terrace — Dionysus Sanctuary Overlook
Hellenistic to Roman (300 BCE – 300 CE) · Ionian Teian with Hellenistic king patronage
Upper terrace of Technitai Dionysus sanctuary above theatre and harbour.
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CategoriesAncient cities
Capitals, ports and metropolises that rose, fell and were found again.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Ancient city
Old Kingdom to Ptolemaic · Egyptian
Lion-god Mahes capital with huge enclosure 1000×800 m and red granite naos of Osorkon II; claimed rival Onias temple at Leontopolis. Dense Late Period lion cemetery with animal catacombs.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Hellenistic to Roman (300 BCE – 300 CE) · Ionian Teian with Hellenistic king patronage
Upper terrace of Technitai Dionysus sanctuary above theatre and harbour.
🇵🇪 Peru · Ancient city
Archaic to Wari (8000 BCE–800 CE) · Hunter-gatherer to Wari imperial
Quispisisa Obsidian Source and Quarry in Ayacucho Region, Peru is a Archaic to Wari (8000 BCE–800 CE) ancient-city attributed to Hunter-gatherer to Wari imperial.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Late Postclassic 1350–1530 CE · Purépecha (Tarascan)
Five yácatas on 425 m platform, Tarascan capital 1350–1530 CE.
🇮🇱 Israel · Ancient city
Yarmukian to Ghassulian (c.6400–3500 BCE) · Yarmukian → Wadi Raba → Ghassulian Chalcolithic
Stratified Neolithic–Chalcolithic mound (5 m high) in the central Jordan Valley, excavated by Jean Perrot. Yarmukian Pot...
🇺🇸 United States · Ancient city
Contact myth 1540–1605 · Wichita / Spanish Entrada
Northernmost of Coronado's Seven Cities expedition – Turk told Coronado of Quivira rich in gold east beyond Pueblo; Coro...
🇪🇬 Egypt · Tell
Hyksos to Saite-Persian (1700–343 BCE) · Hyksos / Egyptian (Leontopolite nome)
Hyksos-to-Saite suburb 600m south of Leontopolis with lion statues.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Old Kingdom to Late Antique (2700 BCE–7th c. CE) · Egyptian (nome capital)
Nome capital Tjebu with Ptolemy IV temple 18-column pronaos on high tell.
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan · Tell
Late Bronze to Early Iron (c.1500–500 BCE; Yaz I–III Iron 1200–500, Achaemenid Yaz III) · Margiana (BMAC) → Yaz I (Early Iron handmade) → Yaz II–III (Median–Achaemenid)
Yaz Depe in Murghab delta is type-site of Yaz I–III Iron culture (c.1200–500 BCE) — Early Iron fortified village with handmade painted Yaz ware, successor to BM...
🇵🇪 Peru · Ancient city
Chimú (1200–1470) before Inca 1470 remodel Inca-Chimú style palace hybrid · Chimú → Inca hybrid 1470 Inca administrative refacing
Farfan Mackey & Klymyshyn 1970s Chimu north palaces with Inca hybrid.
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Hellenistic (Ptolemy III 246 BCE) → Roman, Palace of Columns 1st c. CE · Hellenistic Ptolemaic port palace and Roman later
Ptolemais Kraeling 1960s, Palace Columns 165 m peristyle.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Lydian Archaic to Roman (550 BCE – 400 CE) · Lydian to Hellenistic to Roman Sardian
100 m Lydian–Hellenistic Artemis temple on Pactolus gold terrace.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Terminal Classic Puuc 800–1000 CE · Maya (Puuc)
Free-access Puuc site at Km Xlapak 20.17N -89.60W between Sayil (4 km west) and Labná (3 km east) within Puuc Hills valley.
🇬🇷 Greece · Ancient city
Archaic–Hellenistic (664 BCE) · Syracusan Greek
Akrai — Colony of Syracuse in Sicily, Greece is a Archaic–Hellenistic (664 BCE) ancient-city attributed to Syracusan Greek.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Early Horizon · Andean
Norte Chico pyramids at Caral (3000–1800 BCE) 6 monumental platforms 18–28 m high, Pirámide Mayor 153×109 m, oldest city in Americas UNESCO.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Middle Preclassic 900 BCE–300 BCE to Late Preclassic 300 BCE–250 CE · Maya (Holmul region Preclassic)
Early Holmul River city 40 km E of Tikal: North Acropolis Triadic Group I with colossal stucco masks (200 BCE) and 335 m E-Group, extensively excavated by Estrada-Belli Vanderbilt-BU.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Eblaite to Ottoman; University 8th–12th c. CE · Umayyad / Abbasid (Harran School)
Plain city excavated by Lloyd & Brice 1951–56 and recent Harran University, birthplace of al-Battani, Sabian moon temple underlying.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Indo-Greek–Kushan (180 BCE–200 CE) · Indo-Greek (Demetrius) then Kushan
Sirkap — Taxila Greek Street South Extension in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan is a Indo-Greek–Kushan (180 BCE–200 CE) ancient-city attributed to Indo-Greek (Demetrius) then Kushan.
🇸🇾 Syria · Ancient city
Early Bronze IV (2400–2000 BCE) · Inner Syria EBA
Al-Rawda — Steppe Kite Walled Town in Hama Governorate, Syrian desert steppe, Syria is a Early Bronze IV (2400–2000 BCE) ancient city attributed to Inner Syria EBA culture.
🇸🇾 Syria · Tell
Ubaid–Early Jezirah III (c.5000–2300 BCE) · Ubaid → Ninevite-5
Trilogy Kashkashok I–III on Jaghjagh mid-reach: Ubaid hut with Samarra pre-contact, Late Chalcolithic double-temple mound, and ED II dense granaries with Halaf-to-Ninevite transition; Matsutani &…
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Ancient city
Kushan–Khorezm (1st–3rd c. CE) · Khorezmian (Artav)
Toprak-Kala — Khorezm Palace of Artaxerxes in Karakalpakstan, Uzbekistan is a Kushan–Khorezm (1st–3rd c. CE) ancient-city attributed to Khorezmian (Artav).
🇵🇪 Peru · Ancient city
Early Intermediate to Wari (200 BCE–800 CE) · Moche V to Wari
El Brujo — Cao Viejo Extension in La Libertad Region, Peru is a Early Intermediate to Wari (200 BCE–800 CE) ancient-city attributed to Moche V to Wari.
🇯🇴 Jordan · Ancient city
Hellenistic to Ottoman (300 BCE–1600 CE) · Hellenistic / Roman Decapolis (Menippos poet)
Gadara — Umm Qais in Yarmuk Gorge, Jordan is a Hellenistic to Ottoman (300 BCE–1600 CE) ancient-city attributed to Hellenistic / Roman Decapolis (Menippos poet).
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Roman to Byzantine (2nd–7th c. CE) · Roman (Cyrenaica)
Dune suburb of Hadrianopolis with fish vats and submerged mole.