Ancient cities

🇧🇿 Belize · Ancient city

Cerros

Cerros is an Eastern Lowland Maya archaeological site in northern Belize that functioned from the Late Preclassic to the Postclassic period.

🇨🇴 Colombia · Buried city

Sierra Nevada — Pueblito Chengue–Buritaca Second Sector (Tayrona)

Late Intermediate to Contact (c.700 – 1603 CE) · Tayrona (Tairona)

Tayrona Buritaca ridge 380 m — 120 stone terraces with canals and causeway to Chengue fishery port, 700–1600 CE, coast-sierra twin to Teyuna.

🇦🇿 Azerbaijan · Ancient city

Govurqala is a name shared by four archaeological sites in Azerbaijan, located in Agdam. Govurqala is within the Boyahmadly village and represents a 3rd–10th-century-related town and cemetery with an…

🇪🇬 Egypt · Buried city

Euhemeria — Qasr el-Banat Buried Town at Fayum North-Central (Kasr Banat) — v2

Ptolemaic to Late Roman (305 BCE – 350 CE) · Greco-Roman Fayum

North-central Fayum grain port Euhemeria 1–2 m buried at Qasr el-Banat — double Harpocrates temple at –1 m and harbour basin 100×80 m.

🇰🇪 Kenya · Ancient city

Gede Ruins (Gedi)

Swahili (Middle to Late Swahili 1200–1650 CE) · Swahili (Arab-African Bantu + Shirazi myth; Mijikenda fringe)

Abandoned 3 km-walled Swahili coral city in coastal forest with Great Mosque, 45-room Palace with Ming porcelain insets and planned grid.

🇮🇳 India · Ancient city

Tripuri

Chalcolithic → NBPW 600 BCE → Gupta 350–550 CE → Kalachuri 850–1300 CE · Kalachuri-Chedi

Narmada capital Tripuri at Tewar — 16 m Chalcolithic to Kalachuri–Chedi temple city (Haihayas, 1042 inscr.).

🇸🇻 El Salvador · Ancient city

Cihuatán

Cihuatán is a major pre-Columbian archaeological site in central El Salvador. It was a very large city located in the extreme south of the Mesoamerican cultural area, and has been dated to the Early…

🇪🇬 Egypt · Buried city

Bakchias — Kom el-Atl Buried Settlement at Fayum Central (Umm el-Atl) — v2

Ptolemaic to Late Roman (270 BCE – 300 CE) · Greco-Roman Fayum

Central Fayum vineyard port Bakchias 1–2 m buried at Kom el-Atl — Soknobkonneus temple at –1 m and wine press.

🇨🇳 China · Ancient city

Shijiahe

Qujialing → Shijiahe 2600–2300 BCE (Jianghan Late Neolithic) → Meishan · Shijiahe culture (Middle Yangzi walled city)

Jianghan Plain walled mega-town (c.3000–2300 BCE, Shijiahe culture 2600–2300 BCE climax) northwest of Tianmen — 120 ha walled enclosure (1.2 km wall of rammed earth, moat) with inner palace 7 ha,…

🇷🇺 Russia · Submerged site

Kepoi — Southern Ashlar Quay in Taman Gulf

Archaic to Medieval (580 BCE – 400 CE) · Milesian Greek / Bosporan

Southern ashlar harbour of Kepoi — 40 m ashlar quay at 2–4 m in Taman Gulf with warehouse behind.

🇬🇪 Georgia · Submerged site

Dioscurias–Sebastopolis – Milesian Twin Harbour under Sukhumi Bay

Archaic Greek to Byzantine (6th c. BCE – 6th c. CE) · Milesian Greek / Colchian / Roman

Milesian colony 6th c. BCE now –5 to –9 m under Sukhumi Bay — 400-m Hellenistic mole and Roman fortress half under sea promenade.

🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city

Darband Cave

Darband Cave is a Lower Paleolithic site in the Gilan Province in northern Iran, located on the north side of a deep tributary canyon of the Siahrud River, a tributary of the Sefīd-Rūd River that…

🇲🇽 Mexico · Temple complex

San Gervasio Cozumel

Postclassic (c.1200–1521 CE) Late Postclassic Cozumel–Mayapan league · Maya (East Coast – Cozumel)

San Gervasio (Tantún Cuzamil) is Cozumel island's paramount Late Postclassic pilgrimage capital at 15 m interior, 7 km west of San Miguel, Quintana Roo.

🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city

Shahr-e Sukhteh Workshop Quarter East Annex — Northern Annex

Early Bronze Age (3200-1800 BCE) · Helmand Culture

Shahr-e Sukhteh Workshop Quarter East Annex — Northern Annex in Sistan, Zabul, Iran is a Early Bronze Age (3200-1800 BCE) ancient city attributed to Helmand Culture.

🇸🇩 Sudan · Ancient city

Buhen Fortress

Middle Kingdom to New Kingdom (1950–1070 BCE; fort peak 1860 BCE) · Ancient Egyptian occupier of Nubia (Wawat)

Second Cataract fortress Buhen — Sesostris III's 5-m bastioned walls now 40 m under Nasser.

🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city

Banbhore

Scytho-Parthian to Islamic (200 BCE–1300 CE) · Scytho-Parthian to Hindu–Buddhist to Umayyad Islamic

India's oldest port tell—47 ha, 13 centuries (200 BCE–1300 CE): Scytho-Parthian to India's earliest mosque (727 CE).

🇹🇳 Tunisia · Submerged site

Leptiminus (Lemta) – Submerged Harbour of Byzacena

Phoenician to Early Islamic (8th c. BCE – 698 CE) · Punic / Roman African

Punic-Roman Olive-capital port whose factory quays and baths lie –1 to –3 m along Lamta beach with visible bollard stones.

🇸🇾 Syria · Ancient city

Mari Palace Western Annex Drain

Early Bronze Age (2900-1750 BCE) · Mari Culture

Mari Palace Western Annex Drain in Deir ez-Zor, Tell Hariri, Syria is a Early Bronze Age (2900-1750 BCE) ancient city attributed to Mari Culture.

🇹🇳 Tunisia · Ancient city

Althiburos

Numidian to Byzantine (7th c BCE–7th c CE; peak 2nd c) · Numidian / Punic / Roman / Early Christian

12-ha Dorsale hilltop city with Hadrian arch, forum, and 500+ dolmen necropolis showing Numidian continuity.

🇿🇼 Zimbabwe · Ancient city

Khami Ruins

Zimbabwe Culture Period IV (Late Iron Age; Khami Phase 1450–1683) · Kalanga (Torwa/Karanga) / Rozvi

Post-Great Zimbabwe Torwa capital 1450–1683 with 6 m checkerboard terrace walls on hilltop and Ming porcelain imports.

🇲🇷 Mauritania · Ancient city

Oualata Painted House Courtyard 3

Bronze Age (3000–1200 BCE) · Bronze Age

Oualata Painted House Courtyard 3 in Hodh Ech Chargui, Oualata, Mauritania is a Bronze Age (3000–1200 BCE) ancient city attributed to Bronze Age.

🇬🇷 Greece · Ancient city

Knossos Caravanserai South Annex — Western Terrace

Neopalatial (1700-1450 BCE) · Minoan

Knossos Caravanserai South Annex — Western Terrace in Crete, Heraklion, Greece is a Neopalatial (1700-1450 BCE) ancient city attributed to Minoan.

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Ancient city

Najran Al-Ukhdood Northern Enclosure

Classical (500 BCE-500 CE) · South Arabian

Najran Al-Ukhdood Northern Enclosure in Najran, Najran, Saudi Arabia is a Classical (500 BCE-500 CE) ancient city attributed to South Arabian.