Vanished Cities. Part 3

Ancient Cities

Petra, Jordan

The history of this unique city began in the 4th-3rd millennium BC, when the Nabataeans, representatives of a Semitic people leading a nomadic lifestyle, decided to settle here. They chose the location for their settlement with great care: accustomed to constant battles and the struggle for survival, they decided to build their capital in a hard-to-reach mountainous area. They did not think long about what to name the city – it was called Sela (stone), and the modern name "Petra" was given to the settlement later when the ancient Greeks translated the word into their language.

Due to the rocky location of the city, the inhabitants of ancient Petra in Jordan had to devise ways to construct residential and other buildings. These ancient craftsmen could build them directly into the rock, while not yielding in decoration and architecture to the great Greek and Roman architects. An earthquake in 363 AD severely damaged Petra, the inhabitants abandoned the city, and only nomads became its residents.

Persepolis in Iran

Cyrus the Great began to prepare Persepolis as a new capital around 560 BC. King Darius I moved the capital here after 520 BC, initiating massive construction. The city was occupied by Alexander the Great in 330 BC with a lightning strike from the mountains, and a few months later, Alexander allowed his troops to plunder the city. The eastern palace of Xerxes was set on fire (by drunken Alexander), and the fire spread throughout the city. It is also believed that this action was taken as revenge for the burning of the Acropolis during the Greco-Persian Wars. Precious copies of the Avesta, written on cow hides with golden ink, were destroyed. In 318 BC, Persepolis was the capital of Persia as a province of the Macedonian Empire.

However, the city lost its power. This led to its decline and desolation.

Today, the remaining ruins of palaces, huge columns, magnificent bas-reliefs, and statues reflect its ancient power. Most of the valuable exhibits from Persepolis are kept in many museums around the world.

Chichen Itza, Mexico

In the north of the Mexican Yucatan once lay the largest center of the Maya people – Chichen Itza. The city, which translates to approximately "Mouth of the Well of the Itza Tribe," was founded in the 7th century AD. In the 10th century, the Toltec army captured this city-state and established their capital here. In 1178, the armies of three city-states – Mayapan, Uxmal, and Itzmal – defeated the Toltec capital, and from 1194 it fell into complete desolation. No one can say what caused the departure of the inhabitants. By the time of the Spanish conquest (mid-16th century), Chichen Itza was a vanished city lying in ruins.

The sacred well, where living people were thrown as messengers to the gods, the temples of Chichen Itza, the observatory, colonnades, stadiums for the sacred and bloody ball game, as well as statues and reliefs – this is the preserved heritage of one of the ancient capitals of the world.

The City of Ephesus in Turkey

The history of the city of Ephesus spans several centuries. In 560 BC, it was conquered by Lydia, and in 546 BC – by Persia. After the Greco-Persian Wars (500 – 449 BC), the city freed itself from Persian rule, but after 386 BC it was conquered by them again. In 334 BC, Ephesus was captured by Alexander the Great (356 – 323 BC).

After Alexander, the city was ruled by his successors. In the 3rd century BC, Ephesus came under the control of the Seleucids, from 190 BC – Pergamon.

The reason for the disappearance of this great city was silt. It was carried by rivers in huge quantities, and the once beautiful city turned into a swamp. People gradually began to move to neighboring cities and settlements. Soon the sea receded by 50 meters and moved far away from the city. By the 15th century, the city was completely deserted. Today, only the remnants of Roman ruins remind us of the former glory of the city.

Vijayanagara in India

The great Hindu Vijayanagara Empire (1336 – after 1565) occupied the entire south of the Indian subcontinent "from sea to sea."

This largest medieval Hindu state of the Deccan (Southern India) existed during the dominance of Muslim monarchies over a significant part of the Indian subcontinent. In the history of India, the empire occupies a place similar to that of Kievan Rus among the Eastern Slavs, remaining in the shadow of world (European) history.

The capital of the brilliant Vijayanagara Empire had a population of half a million and was under its control almost all of Southern India. The capital of the empire (City of Victory) was richer than ancient Rome and had a population 10 to 20 times greater than medieval London. Its markets traded in diamonds and silks by weight, palaces were adorned with gold, lavish ceremonies were held in temples, and rulers hosted grand receptions.

In 1565, the Empire fell, and the capital was destroyed and plundered by Islamic invaders over six months. Within a few years, the last resident left the city, and the once brilliant capital became a habitat for tigers and hordes of monkeys.

Tenochtitlan, Mexico

The ancient Aztecs, who founded Tenochtitlan in 1325, did not think long about its name – they called it "the place of prickly cacti." Over two hundred years of existence, the altepetl, or city-state, transformed into one of the most magnificent cities of the Western Hemisphere of that era: it had stone pyramids, temples, causeways, and even a stone aqueduct.

However, the Spanish conquistadors did not set out to preserve the wealth of the Aztecs for future generations, and in 1521 Tenochtitlan was destroyed by an army led by Hernán Cortés.

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis, the first capital of united Egypt, gave the modern name to the country itself.

It was inhabited from the 3rd millennium BC to the 7th century AD.

Located at the mouth of the Nile delta, Memphis thrived for centuries and was a center of trade, commerce, and religion.

The decline of Memphis began with the construction of a new Egyptian capital – Alexandria. The city, however, survived both the Ptolemies and the Arab conquest, enduring until the rise of the Mamluks, when its ancient buildings began to be openly dismantled for stone to build mosques. The dams that held back the Nile's floods were also dismantled, the population fled, after which the city virtually disappeared from the face of the earth.

To be continued...
Beginning:Lost Cities. Part 2