12 Of The Most Important Cities In History - And Why They Fell From The Top
12 Of The Most Important Cities In History - And Why They Fell From The Top
In ancient times, the most powerful and influential cities in the world were located primarily in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Places like Alexandria, Jericho, and Carthage once were thought to be as influential or powerful as cities like London, Tokyo, or Washington, DC, are today. By the 21st century, the majority of cities that were military, economic, and religious powers hundreds or thousands of years ago no longer have that kind of influence. Although some of the powerful ancient cities like Alexandria and Baghdad do still exist, many more of them have been forgotten or left in ruins.
Be sure to subscribe to the Weird History Newsletter: https://www.ranker.com/newsletters/we…
#ancient #cities #weirdhistory
Content
0 -> According to a famous
quote frequently attributed
2.79 -> to Pericles of Athens, all
good things on this Earth
6.33 -> flow into the city.
8.039 -> Ancient cities were not just
big places where lots of people
10.95 -> lived, but vital hubs for
commerce, ideas, trends,
14.55 -> culture, and scholarship.
16.62 -> And some of them grew so large
and influential that we still
19.53 -> know their names
centuries later.
21.69 -> Of course, the only
thing more memorable
24.12 -> than the heights reached
by these legendary cities
26.85 -> is how it all came
crashing down.
29.61 -> Today, on Weird
History, we're looking
31.8 -> at some of the most impressive
and important cities in world
34.83 -> history and how they
fell from the top.
37.59 -> But before we get
into all that, make
39.69 -> sure to subscribe to the
Weird History channel.
42.09 -> And while you're at
it, leave us a comment
44.19 -> about what other wonders
of the ancient world you
46.53 -> would like to hear about.
48.12 -> OK, we built this city.
50.04 -> We built this city
on Weird History.
52.86 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
56.4 -> Located in the modern-day
Palestinian territory known
59.4 -> as the West Bank,
Jericho is most
61.65 -> famous as the site of a
great biblical battle,
64.08 -> and for sounding
like Cherry Coke,
65.88 -> if you're texting in the
middle of your history lecture.
68.25 -> As recounted in
the Book of Joshua,
70.29 -> the Israelites faced off
against the Canaanites
72.69 -> there, ultimately bringing
down the mighty walls
75.15 -> circling Jericho through the
power of their horn-playing
78.06 -> and with an assist
from the Man Upstairs.
80.7 -> Historically,
Jericho is believed
82.62 -> to rank among the
world's oldest cities.
85.23 -> And it definitely did
have a big dang wall.
87.93 -> Archeologists have
actually unearthed
89.73 -> evidence of dozens of
successive settlements
92.01 -> in and around
Jericho, dating back
94.17 -> over 10,000 years, all the
way to around the close
97.08 -> of the last Ice Age.
98.52 -> By 8,000 BCE, Jericho's stone
wall was already constructed.
102.9 -> And it's believed that it
may have been originally
105 -> built to protect the
city from flooding,
106.77 -> rather than sieges
by invading armies.
109.29 -> Although, if you think
of water as an army,
111.25 -> it's basically the same thing.
113.04 -> The city ranked among the
world's largest and most
115.71 -> significant by 1700s BCE, in
part due to its close proximity
119.88 -> to the relatively wealthy
and urbanized Mitanni Empire
123.12 -> of modern-day Syria and Turkey.
125.01 -> Primary sources from
this era indicate
126.93 -> Jericho was surrounded by
large but relatively unstable
129.9 -> walls composed of mud brick.
132.19 -> These walls, along
with much of the city,
134.01 -> appear to have been destroyed by
a major earthquake around 1573
137.91 -> BCE.
138.96 -> And the area remained
largely unoccupied
141.15 -> for the next several
hundred years.
143.11 -> However, the Israelites'
biblical invasion of Canaan
146.04 -> and the ensuing
destruction of Jericho
148.23 -> is typically dated
to around 1,400 BCE,
151.32 -> after the earthquake
when the town had already
153.39 -> been depopulated.
154.65 -> This has led most
historians to conclude
156.75 -> that the Bible's account
of the Battle of Jericho
158.94 -> is probably allegorical and
not rooted in an actual event.
162.78 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
165.486 ->
166.39 -> Another ancient city
famed for its large walls
169.12 -> was Babylon, located on the
banks of the Euphrates River
172.36 -> in present-day Iraq.
173.83 -> Babylon was founded
around 2,300 BCE
177.04 -> and became an important
military center
178.87 -> during the reign of King
Hammurabi in the 1700s BCE.
182.59 -> Though the wider Babylonian
Empire started to fray
185.17 -> after Hammurabi's
death, the city
186.88 -> itself remained an
important center
188.38 -> for commerce and culture.
189.7 -> Under the reign of
Nebuchadnezzar II
192.1 -> around 600 BCE,
Babylon once more
194.77 -> was widely considered
the center of the world.
197.62 -> Its influence was so
great that it even
199.75 -> became an inescapable pop
song in the early aughts.
203.08 -> And now it's stuck in your head.
206.21 -> You're welcome.
207.43 -> King Nebuchadnezzar
II constructed
210.04 -> Babylon's famed 40-foot walls
in three rings around the city,
213.4 -> wide enough for chariots to
race around on top of them,
216.7 -> presumably with some room left
over to install box seats.
219.88 -> Nebuchadnezzar was an enemy
of the Israelites and famously
223.69 -> destroyed the
Temple of Jerusalem
225.4 -> in a siege in 587 BCE.
227.92 -> So it's not exactly
surprising that he's
229.96 -> depicted as a villain
in the Hebrew Bible,
232.09 -> and his city of
Babylon portrayed
233.71 -> as a den of sin and evil.
235.93 -> Though the Old Testament's
depiction largely
238.21 -> stuck, just as it did with
Jericho's walls tumbling down,
241.66 -> it may not have been
entirely accurate.
244.21 -> Other primary texts
from the ancient world
246.25 -> suggest that Babylon was an
enlightened center for arts,
249.07 -> culture, and
scholarship, as well
250.9 -> as a progressive city where
women enjoyed equal rights.
253.33 -> And there was a tolerance for
the practice of all faiths
255.73 -> and religions and, you know,
bodacious chariot races.
259.57 -> After Nebuchadnezzar's
death in 562 BCE,
263.17 -> Babylon quickly tumbled
from its position
265.18 -> atop the ancient hierarchy.
266.98 -> The city fell to the
Persian Empire in 539,
269.92 -> became part of the Muslim
Empire by the seventh century,
272.77 -> and went on to serve
as a tourist attraction
274.69 -> for big Book of Daniel fans.
277.15 -> Interestingly, early
European visitors
279.58 -> often mistook the nearby
town of Fallujah for Babylon
282.82 -> during their Middle
Eastern trips.
284.29 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
287.392 ->
288.3 -> Another majorly important city
located in modern-day Iraq
291.69 -> was Ur, seated along
the Persian Gulf.
294.75 -> Likely founded around 5,000
BCE as a small village,
298.11 -> Ur had significantly grown
in size and importance
301.02 -> by around 3,800.
302.82 -> Ur was located at the point
where the Tigris and Euphrates
305.79 -> Rivers run into
the Persian Gulf,
307.62 -> making it an important
center for trade and travel.
310.47 -> There was probably a
big T-shirt stand there.
313.62 -> You do not let prime
tourist trap real estate
316.35 -> like that go to waste, no
matter what century you live in.
319.8 -> Ur-Nammu, who led the city
from 2047 to 2030 BCE,
324.09 -> actually created an
early code of laws.
327.03 -> His son and
successor, Shulgi Ur,
329.61 -> built a 150-mile long wall to
separate his kingdom from Sumer
334.11 -> and also invested in cultural
and community-related
336.96 -> advancements.
338.01 -> Man, these cities were
really into walls.
340.92 -> The city is also notable for
possibly being the birthplace
343.92 -> of the biblical Abraham.
345.84 -> The book of Genesis identifies
Abraham's birth city
348.6 -> as Ur Kasdim, believed
by many historians
351.24 -> to be the same place as Ur.
353.13 -> Other scholars
believe Abraham may
354.84 -> have come from a
different city named Ura,
357.18 -> and that the writers
of the book of Genesis
359.22 -> simply confused the two names.
362.49 -> Which book of Genesis
are we talking?
364.44 -> The Gabriel or Collins version?
366.6 -> Ur remained an important center
for trade and scholarship
369.27 -> until it was sacked
in 1750 BCE, which
372.09 -> was more or less a rite of
passage for ancient cities.
374.97 -> Climate change in the area
also caused the Persian Gulf
377.82 -> to recede a bit from
the city limits,
380.04 -> making the land less viable
for commercial interests.
383.1 -> At this point, most
residents migrated
385.32 -> to other populated areas
of Mesopotamia or Canaan.
388.32 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
391.75 -> The ancient Sumerian
city of Eridu
393.88 -> was founded in 5,400
BCE in present-day Iraq.
397.91 -> The city had a great deal
of religious significance
400.78 -> to the Sumerians, who
believed it had been founded
403.33 -> by the goddess Inanna
and was home to Enki,
406.69 -> the god of wisdom and magic.
409.6 -> Sounds like that guy's
house was probably
411.52 -> pretty easy to pick out.
413.02 -> It's believed by many that
Eridu's religious practices
416.08 -> had a direct influence on
the ancient Israelites.
419.2 -> Local myths included a
story about a Great Flood
421.93 -> and a man named Utnapishtim,
who was instructed by the gods
425.56 -> to preserve life by
building a great ark, which
428.68 -> bears a number of similarities
to the Old Testament
431.23 -> story of Noah.
432.55 -> It's also thought that
Eridu might have inspired
435.34 -> the Old Testament stories
about the city of Babel
438.07 -> and that the city's
notable tower might
440.62 -> have been the original Tower of
Babel mentioned in the story.
444.31 -> Around the year 600 BCE,
Eridu was abandoned.
447.67 -> Some evidence points
to possible overuse
450.07 -> of the land as an explanation,
though the specifics
452.77 -> remain unclear.
454.18 -> Maybe it was a seller's
market that year,
455.89 -> and they flipped the
whole city for Airbnbs.
458.5 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
462.05 -> The city of Carthage
was an important trading
464.54 -> hub along the Mediterranean
with a large port,
467.03 -> and it was one of the wealthiest
cities of the ancient world,
470.48 -> uh, for a time.
471.86 -> That particular
superlative usually
473.84 -> didn't last long, hence all
the ancient wall building.
477.17 -> Carthage was founded
by Phoenician settlers
479.39 -> who followed what was known
as the Punic religion.
482.42 -> While they were initially
able to trade peaceably
485.21 -> with the Greeks and Romans,
along with other civilizations
488.18 -> dotting the Mediterranean
at the time,
490.01 -> Carthage's vast
resources, wealth,
492.05 -> and geographical significance
made them a tantalizing target
495.62 -> for conquest.
496.76 -> Carthage's various battles
with their Roman neighbors,
499.43 -> beginning in 264
BCE and culminating
501.92 -> with the city's
destruction in 146 BCE,
504.59 -> were known as the Punic Wars.
506.9 -> General Hannibal, who famously
invaded the Roman Empire
510.08 -> with North African
war elephants,
511.52 -> and presumably loved it
when a plan came together,
513.95 -> was fighting on
behalf of Carthage
515.72 -> during the Second Punic War.
517.64 -> After the Romans burned
Carthage to the ground
520.19 -> at the close of the
Third Punic War,
522.14 -> the city was later
rebuilt by both
523.669 -> the Romans and
Byzantine Empires,
525.83 -> only to be continually
razed in future conflicts.
529.25 -> Remember what we
said earlier about
530.99 -> how being the wealthiest city
wasn't always a good thing?
533.838 -> It's like having the most
toys on the playground.
535.88 -> Eventually, somebody is
going to make you eat sand.
538.61 -> Today , Carthage sits around
10 miles outside the modern day
542.12 -> city of Tunis.
543.41 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
547 -> The Egyptian city
of Alexandria, which
549.73 -> remains the country's second
largest city to this day,
552.52 -> was founded in 331 BC by
Macedonian conqueror, Alexander
557.47 -> the Great.
558.37 -> Hey, if nobody intervened
when he started
560.38 -> calling himself "the
Great," nobody's
561.995 -> going to start saying a word
when he starts naming cities
564.37 -> after himself.
565.39 -> Under the reign of
Alexander's successor,
567.94 -> former general, Ptolemy
I Soter, the city quickly
570.82 -> became a focal point for all
of Hellenistic civilization.
574.66 -> In addition, it was home
to two iconic treasures--
578.02 -> the Lighthouse of
Alexandria, one
580.15 -> of the seven wonders
of the ancient world,
581.92 -> and the famed Library
of Alexandria,
584.62 -> among the greatest stores of the
world's knowledge at the time.
587.77 -> Ptolemeos moved his empire's
capital to Alexandria
590.86 -> by 305 BC.
592.57 -> Over the next few
years, it would
594.37 -> continue growing, ultimately
ranking as the largest
597.43 -> city in the world by 30 BCE.
600.19 -> Alexandria was attacked, sacked,
and rebuilt numerous times
603.85 -> during the periods
of Greek and Roman
605.53 -> domination of the Mediterranean.
607.52 -> But ultimately, it
was the combination
609.43 -> of a devastating tsunami in 365
and the rise of Christianity
613.96 -> that triggered its decline.
615.58 -> Once the practice
of pagan religions
617.44 -> was outlawed by
Theodosius I in 392,
620.44 -> Alexandria's many old
temples and religious sites
623.02 -> were destroyed or
converted into churches,
625.48 -> which is a bit like converting
an Arby's into a bank.
627.71 -> Sure, it's a bank now, but we
all know what it used to be.
630.55 -> And after the noted teacher
and philosopher, Hypatia,
633.82 -> was whacked in
Alexandria in 415,
636.25 -> which was seen as a symbolic
victory for Christianity
638.98 -> over paganism, it encouraged
many more residents
641.59 -> to flee the city.
643.19 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
646.41 -> Located in modern-day Mali,
just north of the Niger River,
650.01 -> Timbuktu was originally
a seasonal settlement
652.95 -> and probably timeshare
location, founded by nomads
656.01 -> before permanent residents
arrived in the 12th century.
658.98 -> Following a crucial visit by
the leader of the Mali Empire,
662.34 -> Mansa Musa, in 1325, the city
became an important center
666.39 -> for African trade, particularly
salt, gold, ivory, and slaves.
670.8 -> Salt was such an important
commodity at the time,
673.74 -> 14th-century Arabic
historian, al-Umari,
676.53 -> wrote that in West Africa,
you could trade a cup of salt
680.25 -> for a cup of gold dust.
682.23 -> However, you should not use the
gold dust to season your fries.
685.14 -> By the 14th century, Timbuktu
was folded into the Mali Empire
689.25 -> and then absorbed by
the expanding Songhai
692.22 -> Empire in 1468.
694.17 -> It became an important
center for Islamic learning
696.78 -> and development, home to a
number of influential mosques
699.57 -> and scholars.
700.53 -> When a Moroccan army
defeated the Songhai in 1591,
704.49 -> they made Timbuktu
their new capital.
706.8 -> But this, nonetheless,
kickstarted
708.51 -> a period of gradual decline.
710.58 -> [MUSIC PLAYING]
713.316 ->
714.23 -> Tenochtitlan, near
present-day Mexico City,
717.05 -> served as the center
of the Aztec Empire
719.66 -> during the 15th
century until the time
721.79 -> of the Spanish conquest.
723.29 -> According to Aztec legend,
Tenochtitlan founders
726.56 -> arrived on the future site
of the city in the year 1345.
730.07 -> They were apparently following
directions from the war god,
733.22 -> Huitzilopochtli, who
had promised them
735.56 -> great wealth if they founded
a city in his honor, which
738.74 -> if we're being honest, kind of
sounds like a divine phishing
741.44 -> scam.
742.16 -> When Huitzilopochtli's
nephew attempted
744.89 -> to start a rebellion against
the god, he was slain.
747.86 -> And his heart was thrown
into Lake Texcoco.
750.65 -> The heart's resting place became
the center of the future city
753.62 -> of Tenochtitlan.
755.18 -> Tenochtitlan served
as the center
757.19 -> of Aztec political and religious
life for nearly 200 years.
760.91 -> And at the height of
the empire's prominence,
763.07 -> it was home to an estimated
200,000 residents.
766.82 -> The city fell to Spanish
conquistador, Hernán Cortés,
770.3 -> on August 13, 1521,
marking the formal end
773.87 -> of the Aztec civilization.
775.94 -> So what do you think?
777.63 -> Which of these ancient cities
would you have liked to visit?
780.62 -> Let us know in the
comments below.
782.19 -> And while you're at it, check
out some of these other videos
784.69 -> from our Weird History.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Veykm3XwsNk