You’d think we’d have this figured out by now. We can map the human genome and land rovers on Mars, but ask a room full of archaeologists to name the oldest city on earth, and you’re basically asking for a polite, academic bar fight. It’s a mess of broken pottery, radiocarbon dating, and deep-seated national pride.
Is it Jericho? Damascus? Aleppo? Honestly, it depends on how you define a "city." If you’re looking for the place where humans first decided to stop wandering and start building permanent walls, the answer is one thing. If you mean a place where people have lived every single day without a break for ten thousand years, it's a different story.
The Jericho Debate: 11,000 Years of Moving Parts
Most people, if they’ve heard anything at all, will point to Jericho. It’s the classic answer. Located in the West Bank, Jericho (specifically the site known as Tell es-Sultan) has evidence of habitation stretching back to roughly 9,000 BCE. That is an absurdly long time ago. We’re talking about the transition from the last Ice Age to the world as we know it.
Archaeologists like Kathleen Kenyon, who did massive excavations there in the 1950s, found more than 20 successive layers of settlement. They found a massive stone tower that’s over 8,000 years old. It’s got a staircase inside. Imagine that—someone built a 28-foot tower with a stone staircase before humans had even figured out how to make a decent pot.
But here’s the kicker. Was it continuously inhabited?
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There are gaps. Big ones. At various points, the spring that fed the city—the Ein es-Sultan—might have dried up, or an earthquake might have leveled the place, leading people to leave for centuries at a time. If a city sits empty for 500 years, is it still the same city? Most scholars say no. Yet, Jericho still holds the title in many record books because it’s the earliest example of "urban-style" living we’ve got.
Damascus and the Continuity Crown
Then you have Damascus, the capital of Syria. If you walk through the Old City today, you are walking on layers of history that are literally miles deep. While Jericho has the "earliest" dates, Damascus makes a very strong play for the "longest continuous" title.
UNESCO and many historians note that Damascus was definitely a functioning urban center by the 3rd millennium BCE. However, excavations at Tell Ramad, just on the outskirts of the city, show people were living there as far back as 8,000 or 10,000 BCE.
Syrians will tell you it’s the oldest. They’re proud of it, and for good reason. Unlike Jericho, which feels like an archaeological site with a modern town next to it, Damascus feels like a living, breathing organism that never stopped. It survived the Romans, the Byzantines, the Umayyads, and the Mongols. It’s still here.
The Underdogs: Byblos, Aleppo, and Plovdiv
We can't talk about the oldest city on earth without mentioning Lebanon. Byblos (modern-day Jbeil) is a heavy hitter. It was the Phoenician powerhouse that basically gave us the alphabet. People have been living there since at least 5,000 BCE. It’s stunning, it’s coastal, and it has been a trade hub for almost the entire span of recorded human history.
Then there's Aleppo. Before the tragic conflict in Syria began in 2011, Aleppo was the jewel of the Silk Road. Archaeological evidence suggests it’s been inhabited since the 6th millennium BCE. The problem with Aleppo—and this is a recurring theme—is that because people still live there, we can’t just dig a giant hole in the middle of the city to see what’s at the bottom. The "new" buildings are sitting right on top of the "old" ones.
And don't sleep on Europe. Plovdiv, in Bulgaria, is often cited as the oldest city in Europe. It dates back to around 6,000 BCE. It’s older than Rome. It’s older than Athens. It’s got a Roman theater that they still use for concerts today.
What Actually Counts as a "City"?
This is where things get nerdy. To an archaeologist, a "city" isn't just a bunch of people living together. You need:
- Specialization: Not everyone is a farmer; you have priests, soldiers, and potters.
- Administration: Someone has to decide where the trash goes and who pays for the walls.
- Infrastructure: Walls, granaries, and public spaces.
Take Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. It’s nearly 12,000 years old. It has massive stone pillars with intricate carvings. It’s older than Jericho. But was it a city? Most experts think it was a temple or a ritual site where people met, but didn't necessarily live year-round. No houses have been found there. So, it’s the "oldest temple," but not the "oldest city."
The "Hidden" Megacities of Iraq
In 2025 and 2026, new research into the marshes of southern Iraq has started to flip the script again. Using satellite imagery and LiDAR (light detection and ranging), researchers are finding "megacities" buried in the silt that might pre-date the Sumerian cities we already knew about, like Uruk or Eridu.
These sites show massive canal systems and agricultural plots that suggest a level of organization we thought was impossible 7,000 years ago. It turns out, ancient humans were way more sophisticated than we give them credit for.
Why You Should Care
Does it really matter if a city is 9,000 years old or 11,000? Kinda. It tells us about our resilience. These places—Jericho, Damascus, Aleppo—have survived plagues, climate shifts, and every war imaginable. They are proof that once humans find a good spot with a reliable water source, we aren't leaving.
If you’re planning to visit any of these places, keep in mind that "oldest" often means "complicated." Many of these cities are in regions that have seen significant turmoil. Jericho is accessible but requires careful travel planning. Damascus and Aleppo are slowly trying to welcome back researchers, but the infrastructure is still recovering from years of war.
How to Experience Ancient Urban Life
If you want to see the oldest city on earth (or at least the top contenders) for yourself, here is how you actually do it:
- Visit Plovdiv, Bulgaria: This is the "easy" entry. It’s safe, it’s beautiful, and you can see 6,000-year-old history while sipping a modern latte in the Kapana district.
- The Museum of Civilizations in Erbil: Located in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, the Erbil Citadel is another contender for continuous habitation. The museum there is world-class and explains the "tell" system—how cities literally grow taller as they get older.
- Jericho’s Hisham’s Palace: If you go to Jericho, don't just look at the old mound of dirt. Go to Hisham’s Palace to see some of the largest and best-preserved floor mosaics in the world. It’s a bridge between the deep ancient past and the Islamic Golden Age.
- Check UNESCO Updates: The list of "Oldest Cities" changes as new digs happen. Follow the UNESCO World Heritage Centre's latest inscriptions to see which sites are getting new recognition for their age.
The search for the oldest city isn't just about a date on a timeline. It’s about finding the first place where someone decided to call a patch of earth "home" and actually meant it for the next ten thousand years.
Your next move for exploring ancient history:
- Research the "Tell es-Sultan" UNESCO documentation to see the specific 2023 findings that solidified Jericho’s status.
- Look into the current travel advisories for the Levant region if you're planning a physical trip; many areas are best visited with a specialized historical tour group.
- Explore the British Museum’s online archives for the "Jericho Skulls"—these are the actual plastered human faces found by Kathleen Kenyon that offer a haunting look at the people who lived in the world's first "city."