The city was founded as Gebal by the Phoenicians, and its current name was given to the city by the Greeks. The English word Bible is derived from Byblos, as the city was an important port where papyrus was exported from. This ancient city is considered the oldest of Phoenicia and is believed to have been continuously inhabited for at least 5,000 years, although signs of occupation date back even longer. Despite legends suggesting the city dates back more than 5,000 years, evidence of habitation goes back around 3,000 years.Īccording to Hindu mythology, Varanasi was founded by the god Shiva.īyblos-From where the English word ‘Bible’ is derived fromīyblos is considered by many authors cradle of many civilizations. According to Hindu Legend, the ancient city of Varanasi is at least 5,000 years old and is considered one of the first cities to appear on Earth. Rightfully, India holds one of the most incredible histories in the world. India is the birthplace of many incredible things. Varanasi India-an ancient city founded by a God The city is believed to have been founded in 5400 BC. In Sumerian mythology, Eridu was said to be one of the five cities built before the Deluge occurred. The ancient city of Eridu was considered the birthplace of humanity.Īccording to the Sumerian King List Eridu was the first city in the World. Then Eridu fell and the kingship was taken to Bad-tibira.” It is mentioned in the Sumerian King List: “In Eridu, Alulim became king he ruled for 28800 years. Alalngar ruled for 36000 years. Experts argue that Eridu could mean either mighty place of guidance place. This city was long considered the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia and is still today argued as being the oldest city in the world. We start off with Eridu, located in modern-day Iraq. The city is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities on Earth, and the first people settled there as early as 9,000 BC.Įridu-the oldest city on Earth, according to the Sumerian King List? Jericho, nearly as old as Damascus The ruins of the city of JerichoĪccording to reports, archaeologists have successfully excavated the ruins of as many as twenty successive settlements in Jericho, dating back more than 11,000 years. The ancient city of Damascus was recognized as a significant cultural, commercial and administrative center for thousands of years.
Damascus has an extensive history and according to scholars, the early stages of the city date back to around 10,000 BC. Smith of Arizona State University writes in The Sage Encyclopedia of Urban Studies: The demographic definition, based on the concepts of Louis Wirth, identifies cities as large, dense settlements with social heterogeneity”.īased on the above definitions, I’ve gathered a list of 11 of the oldest cities erected on Earth.ĭamascus is arguably the oldest of them allĭamascus is now the capital of the Syrian Arab Republic and is considered the countries largest city. In ancient times, a city was mostly described as an urban center of dense population, featuring a specific pattern of buildings. If we take a look what textbooks have to say, a city is usually defined as being a large populated urban center of commerce and administration, ruled by a system of laws, while regulated with means of sanitation.Īnd while this may be a really basic definition of a city, other factors such as population, number of buildings, level of government, the presence of walls and fortification, and the density of buildings/population. Depending on the definition of a city, we can discuss a number of ancient settlements that could rightfully compete for the title of the oldest city on Earth.