Human civilization is about 10,000-15,000 years old, from the first day that a hunter-gatherer society decided that they'd had enough hunting and gathering but never being able to store anything against lean times, and decided to put up a permanent stone dwelling. This led to the development of farming, which led to the invention of wealth. While the downside of this was that inequality of gender was invented this way - women in previous times did most of the hunting and weren't considered property, as studies of such societies have shown - one of the upsides was that enough surplus was generated to allow for two key developments: leisure and specialization. If you were one of the lucky people afforded that leisure and the education necessary to specialize, this meant that you could set about building cities - and so people did.
Contrary to bad teaching that too many of us receive, civilization appeared in parallel all over the world, with magnificent cities on every continent trading ideas and inventions back and forth. Some of these are still with us. Others fell, but new ones rose on the same sites. Still others disappeared and left only traces. How well do you know them? It's time to find out!
What is the capital of Assyria?
Aleppo
Megiddo
Nineveh
Assyria was a regional empire whose power was displaced by that of Babylon. It features strongly in the Bible.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the great wonders of antiquity and would have been dazzling even by today's standards. Sadly, Babylon was destroyed when Cyrus the Great of Persia took over.
Which ancient city was the home of a library that may very well have contained instructions for a steam engine?
Alexandria
The Great Library was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and probably contained instructions for proto-computers and proto-steam engines. Alexandria was also home to the Great Lighthouse.
Which modern city is the longest continuously inhabited city in the world?
Jericho
Damascus
Damascus, capital of Syria, has been a city since before cities were a thing: It is at least 10,000 years old, and possibly older. That means it is pretty much the same age as civilization.
Which city in the Holy Land was the site of a battle fought by Joshua and Caleb against its residents?
Megiddo
Acre
Jerusalem
Jericho
Jericho was where Joshua and Caleb, lieutenants of Moses, fought a battle so the Hebrews could enter the Holy Land and finally stop wandering in the desert.
Which ancient city was part of the Songhai and Mali Empires, and later of Morocco?
Jenne
Timbuktu
The Songhai and Mali Empires were each enormously powerful and important West African civilizations, whose history is sadly very poorly taught in the West, despite the fact that they were as advanced as their more northerly counterparts.
Which ancient British city was founded on seven hills around AD43?
Verulanium
Caesaromagus
Durnovaria
Londinium
Londinium is now known as London, and it is very old. There were seven villages there before the Romans showed up and they melded together to become the city.
Which ancient city was founded by Dido, also known as Elissa?
Tipasa
Rusicade
Carthage
Carthage was founded by Dido, who came up with a clever trick to claim the maximum amount of land. Sadly the city was later destroyed, but the ruins have been identified. It was one of many great North African civilizations.
Which ancient Thracian city is now the second largest in Bulgaria?
Varna
Plovdiv
Plovdiv is many thousands of years old and was once home to the Roman theater of Philippopolis, which seated a remarkable 6,000 people, in a testament to Roman acoustic engineering.
Which city in Montezuma County, Colorado, contains some of the finest Ancestral Puebloan architecture?
Mesa Verde
Mesa Verde is a beautiful example of pre-colonial Native American building and proves definitively that the historical notion of America as an empty space to be settled or a primitive pack of tribes to be conquered is revisionism at its worst.
Tenochtitlan was the capital of the Aztec Empire which predated the European arrival in Central America. The Aztecs were an advanced civilization built around the alliance of three city-states: Tenochtitlan, Tlacopan, and Texcoco. Modern Mexico City stands where Tenochtitlan did, and all sorts of ruins may be found there.
Which city that has been the centers of one war or another for about 5,000 years is sacred to all three Abrahamic faiths?
Jerusalem
Jerusalem has basically been at war since the dawn of civilization, sadly, but it's a beautiful and historic city well worth a visit. Most of the time, most of it is peaceful.
Which crucial Arab port city has a harbor that lies in the crater of a dormant volcano and is home to the famous Cisterns of Tawila?
Aden
Aden has switched hands many times. It is one of the most important ports in the Arabian peninsula and benefits from overlooking the most important trade route in the world, through Suez.
Which city in modern day Benin was the capital of the Kingdom of Dahomey?
Abomey
Dahomey is modern day Benin. People from further inland were sadly often kidnaped by Dahomey's soldiers, who sold them as slaves to Arab and European powers.
Human civilization is about 10,000-15,000 years old, from the first day that a hunter-gatherer society decided that they'd had enough hunting and gathering but never being able to store anything against lean times, and decided to put up a permanent stone dwelling. This led to the development of farming, which led to the invention of wealth. While the downside of this was that inequality of gender was invented this way - women in previous times did most of the hunting and weren't considered property, as studies of such societies have shown - one of the upsides was that enough surplus was generated to allow for two key developments: leisure and specialization. If you were one of the lucky people afforded that leisure and the education necessary to specialize, this meant that you could set about building cities - and so people did.
Contrary to bad teaching that too many of us receive, civilization appeared in parallel all over the world, with magnificent cities on every continent trading ideas and inventions back and forth. Some of these are still with us. Others fell, but new ones rose on the same sites. Still others disappeared and left only traces. How well do you know them? It's time to find out!
