Middle East
Continuous habitation since the Chalcolithic (or Copper Age) is vaguely possible but highly problematic to prove archaeologically for several Levantine cities (Jericho, Byblos, Damascus, Sidon and Beirut).
Cities became more common outside the Fertile Crescent with the Early Iron Age from about 1100 BC. The foundation of Rome in 753 BC is conventionally taken as one of the dates initiating Classical Antiquity.
| Name | Historical region | Location | Continuously inhabited since | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Damascus | Levant | Syria | -3000 ! Chalcolithic | Damascus is often claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, and evidence exists of a settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC. However, within the area of Damascus, there is no evidence for large-scale settlement until the 2nd millennium BC. |
| Byblos (Jubayl) | Levant | Lebanon | -5000 ! Chalcolithic (5000 BC or earlier) | Settled from the Neolithic (carbon-dating tests have set the age of earliest settlement around 7000), a city since the 3rd millennium BC. Byblos had a reputation as the "oldest city in the world" in Antiquity (according to Philo of Byblos). |
| Sidon | Levant | Lebanon | -4000 ! 4000 BC | There is evidence that Sidon was inhabited from as long ago as 4000 BC, and perhaps, as early as Neolithic times (6000 – 4000 BC). |
| Medinat Al-Fayoum (as Crocodilopolis or Arsinoe, ancient Egyptian: Shediet) | Lower Egypt | EgyptFaiyum Governorate, Egypt | -4000 ! c. 4000 BC | |
| Gaziantep | Anatolia | TurkeySoutheastern Anatolia, Turkey | -3650 ! c. 3650 BC | Although most modern scholars place the Classical Antiochia ad Taurum at Gaziantep, some maintain that it was located at Aleppo. Furthermore, that the two cities occupy the same site is far from established fact. Assuming this to be the case, the founding date of the present site would be about 1000 BC. |
| Jericho | Levant | Palestine | -3000 ! Chalcolithic (3000 BC or earlier) | Traces of habitation from 9000 BC. Fortifications date to 6800 BC (or earlier), making Jericho the earliest known walled city.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the city was destroyed and abandoned several times (sometimes remaining uninhabited for hundreds of years at a time), with later rebuilding and expansion. |
| Rey | Media | Iran | -3000 ! 3000 BC | A settlement at the site goes back to the 3rd millennium BC. Rey (also Ray or Rayy) is mentioned in the Avesta (an important text of prayers in Zoroastrianism, as a sacred place, and it is also featured in the book of Tobit. |
| Beirut | Levant | Lebanon | -3000 ! 3000 BC | |
| Jerusalem | Levant | Israel/Palestine | -2800 ! 2800 BC | |
| Tyre | Levant | Lebanon | -2750 ! 2750 BC | |
| Jenin | Levant | Palestine | -2450 ! c. 2450 BC | Jenin's history goes back to 2450 BC, when it was built by the Canaanites. After 1244, Jenin flourished economically because of its location on the trade route, until a major earthquake completely destroyed the city. |
| Arbil | Mesopotamia | IraqKurdistan Autonomous Region, Iraq | -2300 ! 2300 BC or earlier | |
| Kirkuk (as Arrapha) | Mesopotamia | IraqKirkuk Governorate, Iraq | -2200 ! 3000–2200 BC | |
| Jaffa | Levant | Israel | -2000 ! c. 2000 BC | Archaeological evidence shows habitation from 7500 BC. |
| Aleppo | Levant | Syria | -2000 ! c. 2000 BC | Evidence of occupation since about 5000 BC. |
| Hebron | Levant | Palestine | -1500 ! c. 1500 BC | "Hebron is considered one of the oldest cities and has been continuously inhabited for nearly 3500 years." |
| Gaza City | Levant | Palestine | -1000 ! c. 1000 BC | While evidence of habitation dates back at least 5,000 years, it is said to be continuously inhabited for a little more than 3,000 years. |
| Hamadan (as Ecbatana) | Median Empire | Iran | -800 ! c. 800 BC | |
| Nablus (as Shechem) | Levant | Palestine | -100 ! c. 100 | Nablus is a Canaanite city. It was inhabited since the fourth millennium BC. In 724 BC it has been ruined by Assyria and after revival in the 3rd and 2nd centuries, it has been finally destroyed by the Hasmonean Hyrcanus in 128 BC. 200 years later the new Roman city was founded next to the ruined settlement. |
| Amman (as Rabbath-Ammon) |
Levant | Jordan | 1878 ! c. 1878 | Amman has been inhabited by several civilizations. The first civilization on record is during the Neolithic period, around 7500 BC, when archaeological discoveries in 'Ain Ghazal. It was then destroyed by several earthquakes and natural disasters in the Middle Ages, and remained a small village and a pile of ruins for about 500 years, until the Circassian settlement in 1878. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Cities By Time Of Continuous Habitation
Famous quotes related to middle east:
“There’s no telling what might have happened to our defense budget if Saddam Hussein hadn’t invaded Kuwait that August and set everyone gearing up for World War II½. Can we count on Saddam Hussein to come along every year and resolve our defense-policy debates? Given the history of the Middle East, it’s possible.”
—P.J. (Patrick Jake)