Ancient Cities One thing I am beginning to see many times reminds me how temporary everything is. We think a big city like New York City will be around forever but I bet that is what some people thought in ancient times who also lived in big cities for the time. Lately, using new technology we are finding more of these big ancient abandoned cities. In some cases, we don’t even know the reason for their abandonment. It seems humans are truly herd animals and like to be together with other humans, and in ancient times it was probably also for better protection. While it may not have been classified as a large city, it was a large settlement which was found in Peru. People of all different races lived together. The settlement lasted longer than some countries. It was active from the 13th century to the 7th century B.C. We are talking about it lasting about 700 years. That is about how long the United States has been around since Columbus discovered North America. We look at the marvels such as the sky scraper buildings, the reservoirs, and transportation, but we probably never realize some of these ancient South American and Central American ancient cities had the same thing. I don’t mean they had sky scrapers, but they did have giant pyramids, sturdy buildings, and a supply of water and obviously food. As far as transportation went many of them had roads connecting to other cities. Some of their water projects are still amazing people today. Mohenjo-daro was one of the oldest ancient cities and was built in what is today Pakistan. It was built around 2,500 B.C. and was one of the largest cities of its time. It lasted until 1,900 B.C. and became abandoned. It seems to have been a trading center for different goods. The Harappan civilization abandoned the city. When this city was built it was on the banks of a river, but over time the river moved. One theory states the river got too far for convenient use and that could have been the reason for the abandonment. It was said to have had a population of about 40,000 people, which was quite large for the time. One of the most famous lost cities, just about everyone has heard of. The problem was it was thought to be fantasy. It was believed for thousands of years when Homer wrote about the Trojan war, it was fiction. It has been estimated Homer was writing about 1,300 B.C. Troy. The ruins of Troy were found in Turkey. Many experts believe the population of Troy was about 10,000 people. In 1871 the ruins of Troy were found to the shock of many who never believed it was real. An amateur archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann discovered it. We all know Egypt is the home of many ancient structures, but it is also the home of lost cities. One of these cities is Saqqara. It had grown over the years. Some believe the abandoned city of Saqqara contains the oldest pyramid in the world. I don’t agree. They are referring to the pyramid of Djoser. It is believed the site lasted more than 3,000 years, but a tomb dated at 4,000 was found near it. There is an ancient city in Peru that astonishes everyone who sees it. It is not nearly the oldest so that is not the reason. The reason is it was built atop a mountain and every large stone had to somehow be brought to the top for the construction. The city is Machu Picchu and is also in Peru. There is another mystery about the city and it is how huge stone blocks were fused together to build walls. Some of the buildings were built to the alignments of objects in the heavens. It was built in the 15th century and abandoned in the 16th century during the Spanish conquest. It was always amazing to me how a couple of hundred Spaniards armed with guns could have defeated a couple of hundred thousand people or more, even ones without metal. The city of Vijayanagara existed in India. It was founded on the ruins of three other cities. By the 1,500s it became the second largest city in the world. It was destroyed in 1565 by a group of Muslim Sultanates. The population was about 500,000 people. If we go back to ancient Rome, we find they reached a population of over 1,000,000 people and was the biggest city at that time. Another interesting lost city in India was Hanumangarh, Rajasthan. It was built in 3,700 B.C. and lasted for almost 2,000 years until it was abandoned in 1,750 B.C. It went undiscovered for over 3,000 years until 1919. One of the reasons it is considered a very important find is the fact it has the earliest plowed field ever found to date. Some abandoned ancient cities are no longer on land and it makes one wonder how many cities in the past have been swallowed up by the ocean in prior years. One of these, if it ever existed, could be Atlantis. People have been searching for it ever since Plato mentioned it. Lord Krishna is a submerged city which was found. Again, it is an Indian city under the waves, off the coast of the Arabian Sea. So far it looks like it was built around 1,500 B.C. and was abandoned about 1,443 B.C. That is a pretty short life span for a city. There are ancient legends which say not only was the city sunk but its inhabitants were still there. Research has shown the sea level in that area has risen and sank many times over the years, but I don’t believe there is any proof stating the population went down with the city. When we talk about ancient lost cities, many of us forget we have an abandoned city today which some day may become lost, however I doubt it because we have so many records I think everything we have today will always have some record available proving it was there. As far as the abandoned city I am talking about it is Chernobyl in Ukraine. When the nuclear reactor melted it contaminated everything in the area and Chernobyl may never be able to recover. The last city which I want to mention is a little different. The city is Baiae. It was formerly the sin city of the Romans and today is part of Bacoli in Italy. It wasn’t abandoned but was partially sunk. It became so famous for its sinful ways ancient glass flasks had scenes of it etched into them. Caesar had a villa there and so did Nero. A socialite named Clodia who lived there was said to be a harlot during a trial. The city made Los Vegas look tame by comparison.
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