The Ancient City

Definition

In the study of the ancient world a City is generally defined as a large populated urban center of commerce and administration with a system of laws and, usually, regulated means of sanitation. This is only one definition, however, and the designation `City' can be based on such factors as the:

More about: The Ancient City

Timeline

  • 6500 BCE
    Jericho is the first major walled city, with a population of about 2,500.
  • 4500 BCE
    First walled cities. Uruk in Mesopotamia first city.
  • 4100 BCE - 2900 BCE
    Uruk Period in Mesopotamia. First cities.
  • c. 4000 BCE
    First settlement of Ur.
  • 3400 BCE
    Priests become the rulers of Mesopotamian cities.
  • c. 3000 BCE
    First Bronze Age settlement in Jerusalem.
  • c. 3000 BCE - c. 2900 BCE
    Mari, the earliest known planned city, is built near the eastern bank of the Euphrates.
  • 1750 BCE - 1300 BCE
    Troy VI - probable Troy of Homer's Iliad. City at its zenith.
  • 753 BCE
    The legendary founding date of Rome.
  • c. 1100 CE
    The Inca, led by Manco Capac, migrate to the Cuzco Valley and establish their capital at Cuzco.
  • 1345 CE
    Traditional date for the founding of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan on Lake Texcoco.
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