1. Aleppo
   Megiddo
2. Nineveh
   Damascus

Assyria was a regional empire whose power was displaced by that of Babylon. It features strongly in the Bible.

1. Temple of Artemis
   Statue of Zeus
2. Great Lighthouse
   Hanging Gardens

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.

1. Aden
   Sana'a
2. Jeddah
   Amman

Sana'a is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Yemen was once very prosperous, but sadly now it is the site of an intractable war.

1. Alexandria
   Rhodes
2. Byblos
   Megara

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.

1. Jericho
   Damascus
2. Aleppo
   Sidon

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.

1. Megiddo
   Acre
2. 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.

1. Jenne
   Timbuktu
2. Gao
   Taghaza

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.

1. Verulanium
   Caesaromagus
2. 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.

1. Tipasa
   Rusicade
2. Carthage
   Phoenicia

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.

1. Aleppo
   Sidon
2. Mosul
   Baghdad

Aleppo is a very ancient city but sadly has recently suffered from a war in which a great many parts of it were bombed.

1. Athens
   Sparta
2. Argos
   Delphi

Athens is the home of one of the great Greek city-states and has been inhabited for 7,000 years.

1. Sparta
   Argos
2. Corinth
   Chalcis

Argos is where the famous Argonauts come from, and in a display of multiculturalism, is also the site of Greek pyramids.

1. Varna
   Plovdiv
2. Sofia
   Vidin

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.

1. Thebes
   Argos
2. Delphi
   Byblos

Byblos is in Lebanon on the Mediterranean coast, and you can still visit it.

1. Iskenderun
   Kandahar
2. Merv
   Alexandra Bucephela

Bucephalus was the beloved steed of Alexander, and a city was founded to honor him when he died.

1. Assyrian
   Babylonian
2. Egypt
   Persian

Sidon belonged to Assyria, Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome and Ottoman Empires.

1. Ray
   Isfahan
2. Shiraz
   Urmia

Ray has been inhabited for 8,000 years and is in modern day Iran.

1. Mesa Verde
   Kayenta
2. San Juan
   Chaco

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.

1. Tenochtitlan
   Texcoco
2. Tlacopan
   Tepanec

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.

1. Xi'an
   Luoyang
2. Beijing
   Nanjing

It sits on the great central plain of China where the Luo and Yi rivers meet.

1. Ayodhya
   Varanasi
2. Haridwar
   Dwarka

Varanasi is on the banks of the holy River Ganges and is sacred in Hinduism.

1. Jerusalem
   Megiddo
2. Damascus
   Beirut

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.

1. Sittwe
   Bagan
2. Pyay
   Lashio

Bagan is insanely beautiful, with about 2,000 Buddhist temples dating back millennia.

1. Aden
   Dubai
2. Riyadh
   Jeddah

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.

1. Shanghai
   Shenzhen
2. Hong Jong
   Beijing

The capital of China today has been its capital on and off, as well as also being the capital preferred by Kublai Khan, the Mongol conqueror.

1. Borazjan
   Shushtar
2. Sardis
   Persepolis

Persepolis is sadly no longer around but it is near Shiraz in Iran and you can visit the ruins.

1. Abomey
   Accra
2. Bohicon
   Djougou

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.

1. Quito
   Cuenca
2. Otavalo
   Salinas

Quito is the second-highest capital city in the world after La Paz.

1. Nippur
   Larak
2. Murad
   Uruk

The Sumerians built the first civilization of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq and surrounds) and Uruk was one of their cities.

1. Kirkuk
   Palmyra
2. Mosul
   Baghdad

Palmyra's beautiful ruins were blown up by ISIS, who plan to destroy all pre-Islamic architecture. The arch has been recreated in the UK.

1. Tehran
   Susa
2. Isfahan
   Dorud

Susa is mentioned in the Biblical books of Esther, Nehemiah and Daniel. It is where King Ahasueros, the husband of Esther, reigned.

1. Faiyum
   Alexandria
2. Cairo
   Giza

Faiyum, formerly Shedet, was where the sacred crocodile Petsuchos was worshiped, hence the Greek nickname.

1. Kerala
   Madurai
2. Mumbai
   Pune

Madurai was part of the Mauryan Empire which once ruled most of India.

1. Chinese
   Mongol
2. Russian
   Uighur

Karakorum is a city that was once heart of the Mongol Empire and is at high elevation on the steppe.

1. Hanging Gardens
   Pyramids
2. Colossus
   Great Wall

The statue Colossus stood over the harbor like a mighty guardian, but sadly it was destroyed.