Legendary lost cities of ancient civilizations. Evidence that ancient civilizations had advanced technology Lost ancient civilizations

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Throughout its history, mankind has lost many civilizations. Explorers discover huge temples and gigantic treasure pits that were once majestic palaces.

Why did people leave once prosperous cities, centers and trade routes? Often there are no answers to these questions.

Here are 10 civilizations whose disappearance is still a mystery.

1 Maya

The Mayan civilization is a classic example of a civilization that was completely lost. Her monuments, cities and roads were swallowed up by the jungle Central America, and the inhabitants were scattered in small villages.

Although the Mayan language and traditions have survived to this day, the peak of civilization came in the first millennium AD, when majestic architecture and large-scale agricultural projects covered most of the Yucatán. Today this territory stretches from Mexico to Guatemala and Belize.. The Maya made extensive use of writing, mathematics, intricate calendars, and sophisticated engineering to build pyramids and terraced fields.

The mysterious decline of the Mayan civilization is believed to have begun sometime around 900, and there are several theories about this. Among them, there is evidence that climate change in the Yucatan and internecine wars led to famine and abandonment city ​​centres.

2. Indian Civilization

The Indian or, as it is also called, the Harappan civilization is one of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world. Even thousands of years ago, it stretched across India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan and boasted 5 million inhabitants, which accounted for about 10 percent of the total population of the Earth.

Its trade routes, massive high-rise buildings were abandoned more than 3000 years ago. There are several suggestions for the decline of the Indus civilization. According to the latest version, like Maya, this ancient civilization affected by gradual changes in rainfall levels, making it difficult to grow enough food for the vast population.

3. Easter Island

The Easter Islanders are another classic "lost" civilization, made famous by the enigmatic, huge statues of human heads that line coastline islands.

How did a thriving Polynesian civilization disappear after centuries of building ancient monuments here, swimming hundreds of kilometers across the ocean from one island to another?

According to one hypothesis, the Rapanui - the inhabitants of Easter Island were very developed and intelligent, but their methods were not rational. At the time they settled on Easter Island between A.D. 700 and 1200, they used all the trees and agricultural resources of the island and they had to move.

4. Chatal Huyuk

Chatal Huyuk, often called the oldest city in the world, was part of a major urban and agricultural civilization that flourished between 9,000 and 7,000 years ago in what is now central Turkey.

Chatal Huyuk had a unique structure unlike other cities. There were no roads, and instead the inhabitants built what looked like beehives, where the houses were built on top of each other, and the entrance was located on the roof. It is believed that outside the walls, people grew everything that was possible, from almonds to wheat. Residents decorated the entrance to the house with the skulls of bulls, and buried the bodies of the dead people underground on the floor.

Civilization existed even before the Iron Age and before the advent of literacy, but evidence nevertheless survives that it was a highly advanced society, including art and ritual. Why did people leave the city? There is no answer to this question yet.

5. Cahokia

Long before Europeans arrived in North America, the so-called Mississippians built a large city surrounded by huge earthen pyramids - mounds and structures made of wood, similar to Stonehenge, in order to follow the movement of the stars.

The heyday of civilization occurred in 600-1400 AD., and the city stretched for 15 square meters. km with hundreds of burial mounds and a huge square in the center. Its population was about 40,000 people, many of whom were skilled artists, architects, farmers who created amazing art objects from shells, copper and stone. It is not completely clear what made people leave the city, but some archaeologists believe that perhaps disease and famine began in the city and people went to more favorable places.

6. Gobekli Tepe

One of the most mysterious structures discovered was the Göbekli Tepe complex, built around 10,000 BC. and located in modern southern Turkey.

The complex is a series of round, nested structures, decorated with carvings in the form of animals, which is likely served as a temple for nomadic tribes in the area. It was not a permanent place of residence, although it is possible that several priests lived here all year round. It is the first permanent human-built structure to be discovered and probably represents the pinnacle of the local Mesopotamian civilization of that era.

What did people worship? Where did they come from to this place? What else were they doing? At the moment, archaeologists are carefully working to answer these questions.

7. Angkor

Many people have heard of the outstanding temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. But this is just a small part of that huge civilization during the Khmer Empire, which was called Angkor. The city prospered during the late Middle Ages in 1000-1200 AD and was supported by about a million people.

There is many reasons for the decline of Angkor, from wars to natural disasters. Now most of the civilization is buried in the jungle. It is still not clear how many people actually lived in the city, which was distinguished by amazing architecture and Hindu culture. Some archaeologists believe that given all the roads and canals that link many of its regions, it can be assumed that this is it. was the largest city in the world at its heyday.

8 Turquoise Mountain

Although not all ruined monuments represent lost civilizations, Jam Minaret is just such a structure. This majestic architectural structure, built in 1100, was part of a city in Afghanistan. Archaeological excavations indicate that it was a multinational territory, where many religions coexisted, including Jewish, Christian and Muslim, whose representatives harmoniously lived here for hundreds of years.

Perhaps the unique minaret was part of the lost ancient capital Afghanistan called Turquoise Mountain.

9. Nia

Now a deserted place in the Taklamakan desert in western China, Nya was a prosperous city 1600 years ago, located on the famous Silk Road. Over the past two centuries, archaeologists have discovered countless treasures in the dusty and ruined remains of what once was. majestic city with wooden houses and temples.

In a sense, Nia is a relic of the lost civilization of the Great Silk Road, which connected China with Central Asia, Africa and Europe. Many people traveled along the Silk Road, including wealthy merchants, pilgrims and scholars, who exchanged ideas and created a sophisticated, enlightened culture wherever the Silk Road passed. The ancient route went through many changes, but its importance as a trade route diminished during the reign of the Mongol Empire and it fell into decline in the 1300s.

10. Nabta Playa

Around 7000 - 6500 BC in what is now the Egyptian part of the Sahara, an incredible urban community arose.

The people living here domesticated livestock, farmed, made pottery and left behind stone structures indicating the study of astronomy. Archaeologists believe that the inhabitants of Nabta Playa were the forerunners of the civilization that reigned in major cities Nile that appeared in Egypt thousands of years ago.

Although the Nabta civilization is now located in an arid area, it arose at a time when rainfall was different, filling the place with a lake that allowed this culture to flourish.

Egyptian maze keeps the secrets of ancient civilizations Everyone knows about the existence of mysterious pyramids in Egypt, but not everyone knows that a huge labyrinth is hidden under them. The secrets kept there are able to reveal the secrets not only of the Egyptian civilization, but of all mankind. This ancient Egyptian labyrinth was located next to Lake Birket-Karun, west of the Nile River, 80 kilometers south of modern city Cairo. It was built back in 2300 BC and was a building surrounded by a high wall, where there were one and a half thousand ground and the same number of underground rooms. The total area of ​​the labyrinth was 70 thousand square meters. Visitors were not allowed to explore the underground rooms of the labyrinth, there were tombs for pharaohs and crocodiles - sacred animals in Egypt. Above the entrance to the Egyptian labyrinth, the following words were inscribed: "Madness or death - this is what the weak or vicious finds here, only the strong and good find life and immortality here." Many frivolous people entered this door and did not leave it. It is an abyss that brings back only the brave in spirit. The complex system of corridors, courtyards and rooms in the labyrinth was so intricate that without a guide, an outsider could never find a way or exit in it. The labyrinth was immersed in absolute darkness, and when some doors were opened, they made a terrible sound, like thunder or the roar of a thousand lions. Before big holidays, mysteries were performed in the labyrinth and ritual sacrifices were made, including human ones. So the ancient Egyptians showed their respect to the god Sebek - a huge crocodile. In ancient manuscripts, information has been preserved that crocodiles actually lived in the labyrinth, reaching 30 meters in length. The Egyptian labyrinth is an unusual large building- the dimensions of its base are 305 x 244 meters. The Greeks admired this labyrinth more than any other Egyptian building, with the exception of the pyramids. In antiquity it was called "the labyrinth" and served as a model for the labyrinth in Crete. With the exception of a few columns, it is now completely destroyed. Everything we know about it is based on ancient evidence, as well as on the results of excavations carried out by Sir Flinders Petrie, who attempted to reconstruct this building. The earliest mention belongs to the Greek historian Herodotus of Halicarnassus (about 484-430 BC), he mentions in his "History" that Egypt is divided into twelve administrative districts, ruled by twelve rulers, and further cites his own impressions of this structure: “And so they decided to leave a common monument, and having decided this, they erected a labyrinth a little higher than Lake Merida, near the so-called Crocodile City. I have seen this labyrinth inside: it is beyond description. After all, if all the walls and great structures erected by the Hellenes were collected, then in general it would turn out that less labor was spent on them and Money than this one maze. Meanwhile, the temples in Ephesus and Samos are very remarkable. Of course, the pyramids are huge structures and each of them is worth many creations of the Hellenic building art in size, although they are also large. However, the labyrinth is larger than these pyramids. It has twenty courtyards with gates placed one against the other, with six facing north and six facing south, adjacent to each other. Outside, a single wall runs around them. Inside this wall there are chambers of two kinds: one underground, the other above the ground, numbering 3000, exactly 1500 of each. I myself had to go through the above-ground chambers and inspect them, and I speak of them as an eyewitness. I know about the underground chambers only from stories: the Egyptian overseers would never show them to me, saying that there are the tombs of the kings who erected this labyrinth, as well as the tombs of the sacred crocodiles. That is why I speak of the lower chambers only by hearsay. The upper chambers, which I happened to see, surpass all the creations of human hands. The passages through the chambers and the winding passages through the courtyards, being very intricate, evoke a feeling of endless amazement: from the courtyards you pass into the chambers, from the chambers into the galleries with colonnades, then back into the chambers and from there again into the courtyards. There are stone roofs everywhere, as well as walls, and these walls are covered with many relief images. Each courtyard is surrounded by columns of carefully fitted pieces of white stone. And on the corner at the end of the labyrinth, a pyramid 40 orgies high was erected, with huge figures carved on it. An underground passage leads to the pyramid. Manetho, the high priest of Egypt from Heliopolis, who wrote in Greek, notes in his surviving work in fragments dating from the 3rd century BC. e. and dedicated to the history and religion of the ancient Egyptians, that the creator of the labyrinth was the fourth pharaoh of the XII dynasty, Amenemhat III, whom he calls Lahares, Lampares or Labaris and about whom he writes: “He ruled for eight years. In the Arsinoe nome, he built a tomb for himself - a labyrinth with many rooms. Between 60 and 57 B.C. e. Greek historian Diodorus Siculus temporarily lived in Egypt. In his Historical Library, he states that the Egyptian labyrinth is in good condition. “After the death of this ruler, the Egyptians again became independent and installed a compatriot ruler, Mendes, whom some call Marrus. He did not conduct any military operations, but built for himself a tomb, known as the Labyrinth. This Labyrinth is remarkable not so much for its size, but for the cunning and skillfulness of the internal structure, which cannot be reproduced. For when a person enters this Labyrinth, he cannot find his way back himself, and he needs the help of an experienced guide. who knows the structure of the building thoroughly. Some also say that Daedalus, who visited Egypt and admired it wonderful creation , built a similar labyrinth for the Cretan king Minos, which contained. as the myth goes, a monster named the Minotaur. However, the Cretan labyrinth no longer exists, perhaps it was razed to the ground by one of the rulers, or time did this work, while the Egyptian labyrinth stood completely intact until our times. Diodorus himself did not see this building, he only gathered together the data that turned out to be available to him. When describing the Egyptian labyrinth, he used two sources and failed to recognize that both of them tell about the same building. Soon after compiling his first description, he begins to consider this building as a common monument to the twelve nomarchs of Egypt: “There was no ruler in Egypt for two years, and rebellions and murders began among the people, then the twelve most important leaders united in a holy union. They met in council at Memphis and entered into an agreement of mutual loyalty and friendship and proclaimed themselves rulers. They ruled in accordance with their oaths and promises, maintained mutual agreement for fifteen years, after which they decided to build a common tomb for themselves. Their idea was such that, just as during their lifetime they cherished a cordial disposition towards each other, they were given equal honors, so after death their bodies should rest in one place, and the monument erected by their order should symbolize the glory and power of the buried there. It was to surpass the creations of its predecessors. And so, choosing a place for their monument near Lake Merida in Libya, they built a tomb of magnificent stone in the shape of a square, but in size each side of it was equal to one stage. The craftsmanship of carved ornaments and all other work could never be surpassed by posterity. A hall was built behind the fence, surrounded by columns, forty on each side, while the roof of the courtyard was made of solid stone, hollowed out from the inside and adorned with skillful and multi-colored paintings. The courtyard was also decorated with magnificent picturesque images of the places where each of the rulers came from, as well as the temples and shrines that existed there. In general, it is known about these rulers that the scope of their plans for the construction of their tomb was so great - both in terms of its size and in terms of costs - that if they had not been overthrown before the completion of construction, their creation would have remained unsurpassed. And after these rulers had reigned in Egypt for fifteen years, it came to pass that the reign passed to one man. ..” Unlike Diodorus, the Greek geographer and historian Strabo of Amasea (circa 64 BC - 24 AD) gives a description based on personal impressions. In 25 BC. e. he, as part of the retinue of the prefect of Egypt Gaius Cornelius Gallus, traveled to Egypt, which he describes in detail in his Geography: “In addition, this nome has a labyrinth - a structure that can be compared with pyramids - and next to it is the tomb of the king , the builder of the labyrinth. Near the first entrance to the canal, having gone forward 30 or 40 stadia, we reach a flat area in the shape of a trapezoid, where there is a village, as well as a large palace, consisting of many palace rooms, as many as there were nomes in former times, for there are so many halls which are surrounded by adjoining colonnades, all these colonnades are arranged in one row and along one wall, which is like a long wall with halls in front of it, and the paths leading to them are directly opposite the wall. In front of the entrances to the halls there are many long covered vaults with winding paths between them, so that without a guide, not a single stranger can find either an entrance or an exit. It is astonishing that the roof of each chamber is made of one stone, and that the roofed vaults are likewise covered in breadth with slabs of solid stone of extremely large size, without any admixture of wood anywhere or any other substance. Climbing up to the roof of a small height, since the labyrinth is one-story, one can see a stone plain, consisting of stones of the same large size; from here, going down again into the halls, you can see that they are arranged in a row and rest on 27 columns, their walls are also made of stones of no less size. At the end of this building, which occupies a space larger than a stage, a tomb is placed - a quadrangular pyramid, each side of which is about a pleura in width with equal height. The name of the person buried there is Imandes. It is said that such a number of halls were built by virtue of the custom to gather here for all the nomes according to the significance of each, together with their priests and priestesses to perform sacrifices, bring gifts to the gods and for legal proceedings on important matters. Each nome was assigned a hall intended for him. Somewhat further, in the 38th chapter, Strabo gives a description of his trip to the sacred crocodiles of Arsinoe (Crocodilopolis). This place is located next to the labyrinth, so it can be assumed that he also saw the labyrinth. Pliny the Elder (23/24-79 AD) in his Natural History gives the most detailed description labyrinth. “Let's also talk about labyrinths, perhaps the most outlandish creation of human extravagance, but not fictional, as they might think. The one that was first created, as they say, 3600 years ago by King Petesukh or Titoes, still exists in Egypt in the Heracleopolis nome, although Herodotus says that this whole structure was created by 12 kings, the last of which was Psammetich. Its purpose is interpreted in different ways: according to Demotel, it was the royal palace of Moterida, according to Lycaeus - the tomb of Merida, according to the interpretation of many, it was built as a sanctuary of the Sun, which is most likely. In any case, there is no doubt that Daedalus borrowed from here the model of the labyrinth that he created in Crete, but reproduced only its hundredth part, which contains the rotation of the paths and intricate passages back and forth, not as we see on paviments or in The field games of the boys, containing on a small patch many thousands of steps of walking, and with many built-in doors for deceitful moves and return to the same wanderings. It was the second labyrinth after the Egyptian one, the third was in Lemnos, the fourth in Italy, all covered with hewn stone vaults. In Egyptian, which surprises me personally, the entrance and columns are made of stone from Paros, the rest is made of blocks of syenite - pink and red granite, which can hardly destroy even centuries, even with the assistance of the Herakleopolites who belonged to this structure with extraordinary hatred. It is impossible to describe in detail the location of this structure and each part separately, since it is divided into regions, as well as into prefectures, which are called nomes, and 21 names of them are given as many spacious rooms, in addition, there are temples of all the gods of Egypt, and , moreover, Nemesis in 40 aedicules of closed chapels of mortuary temples concluded many pyramids of forty girths, occupying six aruras 0.024 hectares at the base. Tired of walking, they fall into that famous tangled trap of roads. Moreover, here are the second floors high on the slopes, and ninety steps descending porticos. Inside - columns made of porphyrite stone, images of gods, statues of kings, monstrous figures. Some rooms are arranged in such a way that when the doors are opened, a terrible thunder is heard inside. And pass for the most part in the dark. And beyond the wall of the labyrinth there are other huge buildings - they are called the pteron of the colonnade. From there, passages dug underground lead to other underground rooms. Something was restored there by only one Chaeremon, the eunuch of King Necteb [Nectaneb I], 500 years before Alexander the Great. It is also reported that during the construction of vaults of hewn stone, the supports were made from the trunks of the back [Egyptian acacia], boiled in oil. Description of the Roman geographer Pomponius Mela, who in 43 AD e. outlined in his essay “On the Condition of the Earth”, consisting of three books, the views on the known world adopted in Rome: “The labyrinth built by Psammetichus covers three thousand halls and twelve palaces with one continuous wall. Its walls and roof are marble. The labyrinth has only one entrance. Inside it there are countless winding passages. All of them are directed in different directions and communicate with each other. In the corridors of the labyrinth there are porticos, pairwise similar to one another. The corridors go around each other. It creates a lot of confusion, but it can be sorted out.” The authors of antiquity do not offer any single, consistent definition of this outstanding structure. However, since in Egypt during the time of the pharaohs, only sanctuaries and structures dedicated to the cult of the dead (tombs and funerary temples) were built of stone, then all their other buildings, including palaces, were built of wood and clay bricks, which means that the labyrinth could not have been palace, administrative center or monument (provided that Herodotus, speaking of "monument, monument", does not mean "tomb, which is quite possible). On the other hand, since the pharaohs of the XII dynasty built pyramids as tombs, the only possible purpose of the "labyrinth" remains the temple. According to a very plausible explanation given by Alan B. Lloyd, it probably served as both a mortuary temple for Amenemhat III, who was buried in a pyramid nearby, and also as a temple dedicated to some gods. The answer to the question of how this "maze" got its name remains unconvincing. Attempts have been made to derive the term from the Egyptian words "al lopa-rohun, laperohunt" or "ro-per-ro-henet", meaning "the entrance to the temple by the lake". But there is no phonetic correspondence between these words and the word "labyrinth", and nothing similar has been found in the Egyptian texts either. It has also been suggested that the throne name of Amenemhat III, Lamares, the Hellenized version of which sounds like "Labaris", comes from the name of the temple of Labaris. Such a possibility cannot be ruled out, but this does not explain the essence of the phenomenon. Moreover, a strong argument against such an interpretation is the fact that Herodotus, the author of the earliest written source, does not mention Amenemhat III and his throne names. He does not mention how this structure was called by the Egyptians themselves ("Amenemhet lives"). He simply talks about the "labyrinth", not considering it necessary to explain what it is. He uses a Greek term to describe a huge, awe-inspiring, elaborate stone structure, as if the term were expressing some general meaning, concept. It is this kind of description that is given in all other written sources, and only later authors mention the danger of getting lost. Therefore, we can conclude that the term "labyrinth" in this case is used metaphorically, it serves as the name for a certain building, an outstanding structure made of stone. M. Budimir, resorting to historical and linguistic argumentation, came to a similar conclusion, interpreting the labyrinth as a term denoting "a building of great magnitude." The German Jesuit and scientist Athanasius Kircher (1602-1680), known to his contemporaries as the Doctor of the Hundred Arts (Doctor centum artium), attempted to reconstruct the Egyptian "labyrinth" based on ancient descriptions. In the center of the drawing is a labyrinth, which Kircher may have modeled on samples from Roman mosaics. Around are images symbolizing twelve nomes - administrative units. ancient egypt described by Herodotus. This drawing, engraved on copper (50 X 41 cm), is placed in the book "The Tower of Babel, or Archontology" ("Turris Babel, Sive Archontologia", Amsterdam, 1679). In 2008, a group of researchers from Belgium and Egypt began to study the objects hidden underground in the hope of finding and unraveling the mystery of the mysterious underground complex of an ancient civilization. The Belgian-Egyptian expedition, armed with scientific instruments and techniques that allow them to look into the secret of rooms hidden under the sand, was able to confirm the presence of an underground temple near the pyramid of Amenemhat III. Without a doubt, the expedition led by Petri brought out of the darkness of oblivion one of the most incredible discoveries in the history of Egypt, shedding light on greatest discovery. But if you think that the discovery took place, and you do not know about it, then you will make a mistake with the conclusion. This significant discovery was hidden from society, and no one could understand why this happened. The results of the expedition, the publication in the scientific journal NRIAG, the conclusions of the study, the public lecture at the University of Ghent - all this was subjected to a "freeze" as the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt banned all reports of the find, allegedly due to sanctions imposed by the Egyptian service security, protecting the monument of antiquity. Louis de Cordier and other researchers of the expedition patiently waited for an answer about excavations in the labyrinth area for several years, with the hope of recognition of the find and the desire to make it public, but unfortunately this did not happen. But even if researchers have confirmed the existence of an underground complex, excavations must still be carried out to investigate the incredible conclusion of scientists. After all, it is believed that treasures underground labyrinth can provide answers to the countless historical mysteries of the ancient Egyptian civilization, as well as provide new knowledge about the history of mankind and other civilizations. The only question here is why this undeniably incredible historical discovery fell under the yoke of "silence"?

For the majority of people ancient history limited to only three civilizations - Egypt, Rome and Greece. Beyond those three whales, our map of the ancient world is just a gap. However, many vibrant and exciting cultures existed outside this narrow center. Filling in the blanks, in this compilation we will tell you about 10 forgotten ancient civilizations.

Aksumite kingdom

The Kingdom of Aksum has been the subject of countless legends. among them the home of the mythical Prester John, the lost kingdom of the Queen of Saba, or the burial place of the Ark of the Covenant, Aksum has long been at the forefront of the Western imagination. The Ethiopian kingdom is not a myth at all, it once held international trading power. With access to the Nile and the Red Sea with trade routes, trade flourished, and by the beginning of the Common Era, most of the Ethiopian peoples were under Aksumite rule. The power and prosperity of Aksum allowed it to expand into Arabia. In the third century AD, a Persian philosopher wrote that Aksumite was one of the four largest kingdoms in the world, along with Rome, China and Persia. Aksum adopted Christianity immediately after the Roman Empire and continued to flourish in the early Middle Ages. Had it not been for the expansion of Islam, the kingdom would have continued to dominate East Africa. After the Arab conquest of the Red Sea coastline, Aksum lost its main commercial advantage over its neighbors. But they could only blame themselves. Just a few decades earlier, the king had given refuge to the early followers of Muhammad, thus ensuring the expansion of the religion that brought down the kingdom of Aksum.

Kingdom of Kush

Known in ancient Egyptian sources for its abundance of gold and other valuable natural resources, the kingdom of Kush was conquered and exploited by its northern neighbor for almost half a millennium (approximately 1500–1000 BC). But the origin of Kush extends much deeper into the past - ceramic artifacts dating back to 8000 BC were discovered in the area of ​​​​its capital, Kerma, and as early as 2400 BC. Kush had a highly stratified and complex urban society supported by large-scale agriculture. In the ninth century BC, instability in Egypt allowed the Kushites to regain their independence. And in one of the biggest conquests in history, Kush captured Egypt in 750 BC. Over the next century, a number of Kushite pharaohs controlled territory that far surpassed their Egyptian predecessors. These were the rulers who resumed the creation Egyptian pyramids and contributed to their construction in Sudan. They were eventually driven out of Egypt by the Assyrian invasion, ending centuries of cultural exchange between Kush and Egypt. The Kushites fled south, settling on the southeast bank of the Nile. Here they did away with Egyptian influence and developed their own form of writing, now called Meroitic. The manuscripts are still a mystery and have not yet been deciphered, obscuring much of Kush's history. The last king of the realm died in 300 AD, although the fall of his kingdom and the exact reasons for its decline remain a mystery.

Yam Kingdom

The Kingdom of Yam existed as a trading partner and possible rival of the Egyptian kingdom, but its exact location proved almost as elusive as the mythical Atlantis. Based on funerary inscriptions by the Egyptian explorer Harkhuf, it seems that Yams was a land of “incense, ebony, leopard skins, elephant tusks, and boomerangs.” Despite Harhoof's claims of possible overland trips exceeding seven months, Egyptologists have long placed boomerang land just a few hundred miles from the Nile. Conventional wisdom was that there was no way the ancient Egyptians could have crossed the inhospitable expanse of the Sahara Desert. But it seems that we have underestimated the ancient Egyptian traders, because hieroglyphs recently discovered more than 700 kilometers southwest of the Nile confirm the existence of trade between Yam and Egypt and point to the location of Yam in the North Scottish Highlands of Chad. It is not known exactly how the Egyptians crossed hundreds of miles of desert before the invention of the wheel, with only donkeys as beasts of burden.

Xiongnu Empire

The Xiongnu Empire was a confederation of nomadic peoples who dominated northern China from the third century BC. to the first century BC Imagine the Mongol army of Genghis Khan, but a millennium earlier... and with chariots. Many theories exist to explain the origin of the Xiongnu, and at one time some scholars claimed that they were the ancestors of the Huns. Unfortunately, there is little historical information about this people. What we do know is that the Xiongnu raids on China were so devastating that Emperor Qin ordered the earliest building work on the Great Wall. Nearly half a century later, the constant raids of the Hongwu forced the Chinese, this time under the Han Dynasty, to re-fortify and expand great wall even further. In 166 BC, over 100,000 Xiongnu horsemen made it 160 kilometers to the Chinese capital before finally being stopped. The Chinese have finally gained some semblance of control over their northern neighbors. However, the Xiongnu were the first and longest running Asian nomadic empire.

Greco-Bactria

Too often, in stories about the life and conquests of Alexander the Great, we do not remember the people who followed him in battle. The fate of Alexander is well known, but what is known about those people who died for the sake of the young general's conquests? When Alexander died unexpectedly, the Macedonians didn't just go home. Instead, their generals fought each other for supremacy in running the empire. Seleucus I Nicator was quite successful in this, capturing everything from the Mediterranean in the west to what is now Pakistan in the east. However, even the empire of Seleucus is fairly well known, compared to Greco-Bactria. In the third century BC. the province of Bactria (now Afghanistan and Tajikistan) became so strong that it declared independence. Sources describe a rich land of “thousands of cities,” and artifacts found during excavations span centuries. The location of Greco-Bactria made it a hub for a whole litany of cultures: Persians, Indians, Scythians and many nomadic groups all contributed to the development of a completely unique kingdom. Of course, location and wealth also attracted unwanted attention by the early second century B.C. pressure from nomads from the north forced the Greeks to travel south to India. At Alexandria Oxiana, or Ai Khanum as it is now known, spectacular evidence of this radical combination of Greek and Oriental culture was unearthed, before the Afghan war destroyed the site in 1978. During the excavation period, Indian coins, Iranian altars and other finds were found among the ruins of this Greek city, full of Corinthian columns, a gymnasium, an amphitheater and a temple that combines Greek and Zoroastrian elements.

Yuezhi

The Yuezhi are known for having fought with so many peoples. For several centuries they have appeared in the background of an incredible number of significant events in Eurasia. The Yuezhi originated as a confederation of several nomadic tribes on the steppes north of China. Traders traveled long distances to trade jade, silk, and horses. Their flourishing trade brought them into direct conflict with the Xiongnu, who eventually forced them out of the trade. The Yuezhi then headed west, where they encountered and defeated the Greco-Bactrians. By the first and second centuries AD, the Yuezhi were fighting the Scythians, in addition to occasional warfare in Pakistan and Han China. During this period, the tribes united and established their own agricultural economy. This empire survived for three centuries until troops from Persia, Pakistan and India reconquered their old territories.

Kingdom of Mitanni

The state of Mitanni existed from about 1500 BC. until 1200s BC and consisted of what is now Syria and northern Iraq. You know of at least one Mitannian, as there is evidence that the famous queen of Egypt, Nefertiti, was born in a Mesopotamian state. Nefertiti married the Pharaoh to improve relations between the two kingdoms. The Mitannians are believed to have been Indo-Aryan in origin, and their culture demonstrates the level to which ancient Indian influence penetrated Middle Eastern civilization. They supported Hindu beliefs in fate, reincarnation and cremation, which confirm the connection between Mitanni and Egypt. Nefertiti and her husband, Amenhotep IV, were at the center of the religious revolution in Egypt and had a great influence on the pharaoh. While much of the above remains unconfirmed, scientists are hopeful that early excavations will reveal the Mitanni capital and reveal more about the ancient kingdom.

Tuvan

There is no more lost or forgotten kingdom in the world than Tuwana. When the Hittite Empire collapsed, Tuvana was one of a handful of city-states that helped fill the power vacuum in what is now Turkey. During the ninth and eighth centuries BC, Tuvana rose to prominence, strengthening its position between the Phrygian and Assyrian empires to secure trade throughout Anatolia. As a result, substantial wealth has been accumulated. It is likely that Tuvana's central location and the disunity of the Anatolian city-states made the kingdom weaker when, in the early 700s BC. the conquest took place. As the Assyrian Empire expanded westward, it toppled each of the post-Hittite city-states along its path. Up until 2012, all that was known about Tuvan was based on a handful of inscriptions and a few references in some Assyrian documents. The recent discovery of a massive city believed to have been the base of Tuwana's power changes all that. With such a large and well-preserved find, archaeologists began to piece together the history of a strong and wealthy kingdom that ruled the region's trade for several centuries. Since the city captured the Great Silk Road with its location, the archaeological potential of Tuvana is huge.

Mauryan Empire

Chandragupta Maurya was essentially Alexander the Great for India. No wonder they soon met. Chandragapta requested Macedonian aid in his quest to control the subcontinent, but Alexander's troops were too busy mutinying. The undaunted ruler unified most of India under his reign and defeated all conquerors in the subcontinent. He did it all by the age of 20. After Alexander's death, it was the Mauryan Empire that prevented his successors from expanding deeper into India. Chandragapta personally defeated several Macedonian generals in a battle after which the Macedonians preferred agreement over risk open war. Unlike Alexander, Chandragupta left behind a carefully crafted government to ensure the continuity of his legacy. And it might have survived longer were it not for the coup in 185 BC that left India divided, weak, and open to Greek invasion.

Indo-Greeks

Impossible to talk about ancient world without mentioning the Greeks - the Greeks were everywhere. As mentioned before, external pressure doomed the Greco-Bactrians, but the Indo-Greek kingdom carried the torch of Hellenistic culture for another two centuries in northwestern India. The most famous of the Indo Greek kings, Menander, allegedly converted to Buddhism after a long debate with the philosopher Nagasena. The Greek influence can be clearly seen in the fusion of artistic styles. The collapse of the Indo-Greek kingdom was most likely a combination of Yuezhi invasion from the north and Indian expansion from the south.

Amazing cities, kingdoms, palace ruins, strangely preserved statues ... and mysteriously disappeared inhabitants.

Anchor Wat
The golden age of Khmer civilization occurred between the 9th and 13th centuries during the reign of Kambuja, whose name gave Cambodia its name. He ruled vast territories from the capital of Angkor, in the west of Cambodia. Under the reign of Jayavarman VII, Kambuja reached its political and cultural heyday, which is now evident from the ruins of this palace, the central towers of which symbolize the peaks of Mount Meru - the center of the universe according to Hinduism, and on the towers the smiling faces of the gods carved from stone.

Ruins of Anuradhapura
This is the former capital of Sri Lanka during the heyday of the ancient Lankan civilization. This place is considered one of the most sacred, most important and longest inhabited among the ancient Lankan cities. The city was built around 380 BC and prospered until the population was resettled in Polonnaruwa in the 10th century AD. Still sacred to Buddhists and Hindus, this city is surrounded by monasteries.

Hugo Kingdom, Tibet
The mysterious Tibetan kingdom, founded by the son of King Glang Darma, formed around the 10th century and then collapsed under mysterious circumstances 700 years later. Its population of tens of thousands of people disappeared without a trace. The ruins still lie on the slopes of Ngari, famous for its Buddhist monasteries, snow-capped mountains and lakes. Very important are the preserved frescoes in the walls of this city, demonstrating everyday life its former inhabitants, as well as a unique amazing Buddha statue made of gold and silver.

Humpy
Hampi is located among the ruins of Vijayanagar, the former capital of the empire now known as the village of Karnataka, India. Perhaps thanks to this ancient city and the temple located in it, the village, which is located nearby, is considered the most important religious center. Since the village itself is located in the center of Vijayanagara, it is often confused with the ancient city itself. This place is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Kingdom of Kerma
This kingdom was a rival of ancient Egypt from about 2500 BC until 1520 BC. It was founded in Upper Nubia - now this place is approximately between Sudan and east coast Nile - and was the main trading center in the Middle Kingdom during the time of Egypt. There is a cemetery in this place: on which you can see many large barrows, which are the tombs of emperors. Some archaeologists believe that the kingdom of Kerma could be related to the legendary Kingdom of Kush mentioned in the Book of Genesis.

There were three Kushite kingdoms: the first was called Kerma (Kerma), as the capital of the same name, and existed from 2400 to 1500. BC.; the second was Napata (1000-300 BC) and the third was Meroe (300 BC-300 AD). Initially influenced by their northern neighbors, the Nubians were eventually able to conquer Egypt, the king of Napata reigned as pharaoh of the 25th dynasty until the Assyrian conquest in 656 BC.

Nubian pyramids
The Buried Kingdom of Kotte
This kingdom is located on the border of the current city of Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka, it flourished on the territory of the current state in the 15th century. Its ruler was the last hereditary who managed to unite all the peoples of Sri Lanka. By 1450, Parkamab VI completed the unification. During his reign, literature and the arts flourished

Kingdom of Koguro
Scattered across the Chinese provinces of Jilin and Liaoning are the remains of three cities - the mountain city of Wunu, Guonei and the mountain city of Wangdu - these are the sites of 14 royal tombs. All of these cities once belonged to the Goguro culture, named after the dynasty of the same name, which ruled in various parts of northern China and the northern part of the Korean peninsula from 277 BC to 668 AD.

sabaen kingdom
The Sabaenese lived in what is now Yemen between 2000 BC and the 8th century AD. This temple was recently discovered in Sirvaa, located east of Sanaa. Known as Almaga, the temple has been preserved in excellent condition with wide entrances and large interior rooms. All made of wood and stone, the tower-like ledges weigh about 6 tons. 7 huge columns were raised using a mechanism resembling a crane. The front of the temple is adorned with two huge sculptures of the Sabi kings.

Sukhothai Historical Park
Located in the north of Thailand. This city was the capital of the state of the same name, the heyday of which fell on the period of the 13th-14th centuries. The city walls form a rectangular space of 70 square kilometers, each wall has a gate. Remains can be found inside royal palace and 26 temples, the largest of which is Wat Mahatha. The park is under the protection of the Department of Arts of Thailand, and is also included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The park is visited by many people to see and admire the ancient Buddha figure, the ruined palace complex and the ruins of temples.

The literature on past civilizations often mentions lost cities. The most famous of them is the legendary Atlantis, swallowed up by the sea and lost forever. However, the story of Atlantis is not unique; other cultures have similar legends of cities that disappeared underwater, under desert sands, or buried under thick layers of vegetation. Most of these legendary cities have never been found, but with the help of new technology, some have been discovered and others are waiting to be discovered.

Iram multi-column: Atlantis of the sands

The ruins of the fortress in the city of Iram. Photo: Wikipedia

Arabia also has its own legend about a lost civilization, the so-called Atlantis of the Sands - a lost city, which is mentioned in the Koran. It is also known as Iram the multi-column.

The Qur'an says that Iram has high buildings and inhabited by Adites. Since they turned away from Allah and became immoral, the Prophet Hud was sent to call them back to the worship of Allah. But the people of Iram did not heed the words of Hud. As a result, people were punished: a sandstorm was directed at the city, it lasted for seven nights and eight days. After that, Iram disappeared into the sands, as if he had never existed.

The story of Iram says that people should obey Allah and not act arrogantly. Many believe that such a city really existed.

In the early 1990s, a team of archaeologists led by Nicolai Klapp, an amateur archaeologist and filmmaker, announced that they had found the lost city of Ubar, which had been identified as Iram. This was achieved using remote sensing from NASA satellites, data from the Landsat program, and images taken by the Space Shuttle Challenger. These resources have allowed archaeologists to identify old trade routes and the points where they converge. One of these points was a famous well in Shisr, Dhofar province in Oman. During the excavations, a large octagonal fortress with high walls and high towers was discovered there. Unfortunately, most of the fortress was destroyed, plunging into a sinkhole.

The sunken city of Helik

Excavations of Helik. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The story of the death of Atlantis is one of the most famous. However, there is a similar story about the sunken city of Helik. Unlike Atlantis, there is written evidence about it that has helped archaeologists determine the true location of the lost city.

Helik was located in Achaia, in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. During its heyday, Helik was the leader of the Achaean Union, which consisted of 12 cities.

Helik's patron god was Poseidon, the Greek god of the sea and earthquakes. The city really was located in one of the most seismically active zones in Europe. In Helik there was a temple and a sanctuary of Poseidon, a bronze statue of Poseidon and coins with his image were found there.

In 373 BC the city was destroyed. Prior to this, some signs of the doom of the city had already appeared, including the appearance of "huge pillars of flame" and the mass migration of small animals from the coast to the mountains in the days before the disaster. A strong earthquake and then a powerful tsunami from the Gulf of Corinth wiped the city of Helik off the face of the earth. No one is left alive.

Although the search for the actual location of Helik began at the beginning of the 19th century, it was only at the end of the 20th century that it was found. This sunken city was one of the most big secrets underwater archeology. However, it was the belief that the city was somewhere in the Gulf of Corinth that made its discovery impossible. In 1988, Greek archaeologist Dora Katsonopoulo suggested that the "poros" mentioned in ancient texts could not have been in the sea, but in the inner lagoon. If this is the case, then it is quite possible that Helik is inland and the lagoon has been filled with silt for millennia. In 2001, archaeologists discovered the ruins of a city in Achaia in Greece. In 2012, a layer of silt and river deposits was removed, then it became obvious that this was Helik.

Urkesh: the lost city of the Hurrians

Excavations in Urkesh. Photo: Archaeological Institute of America

Ancient Urkesh was once a major center of the ancient Middle Eastern Hurrian civilization, known in mythology as the home of the primeval god. Little was known about Urkesh and the mysterious Hurrian civilization, as the ancient city had been buried under the desert sands for thousands of years and lost in the pages of history. However, in the 1980s, archaeologists unearthed Tell Mozan, a mound that contained the ruins of an ancient temple and palace. Ten years later, researchers have drawn the exciting conclusion that Tell Mozan is the lost city of Urkesh.

Located in northern Syria, near its current borders with Turkey and Iraq, ancient Urkesh was big city Mesopotamia, which flourished between 4000 and 1300 B.C. BC. It is one of the earliest known cities in history.

The excavations revealed not only brick structures, but also rare stone structures - a monumental staircase and a deep underground shaft - "transition to the underworld" - which was associated with religious rituals.

There were monumental public buildings in Urkesh, including big temple and a palace. Many of them date from the Akkadian period (about 2350-2200 BC)

Sunken Gwaelod-y-Ghart in Wales

Remains of a petrified forest on the coast of Wales. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Gwaelod was located between the islands of Ramsay and Barcy in the area known today as Cardigan Bay, in the west of Wales, UK. It is believed that Gwaelod protruded into the bay for 32 km.

In the 6th century, Gwaelod was ruled by the legendary king Guidno Garanhir. Until about the 17th century, Gwaelod was known as Maes Gwyddno ("Land of Gwyddno"), named after this Welsh ruler. An earlier version of the legend associated with Maes Gwyddno claims that the area went under water due to the fact that the floodgates were not closed in time during a storm.

The legend says that Guayeloda had extremely fertile soil, an acre of land there was worth four times more than elsewhere. But the city depended on a dam to protect it from the sea. At low tide, the locks were opened to allow the water to drain, and at high tide, the gates were closed.

In a later version, it is said that Gwindo Garanhir appointed his friend Seitennin, who was a drunkard, to guard the gates of the dam. One night, a storm swept in from the southwest, when Seitenin was at a party in the palace, he drank too much and fell asleep, so he did not close the floodgates in time. As a result, 16 villages were flooded. Gwindo Garanhir and his retinue were forced to leave the fertile valleys and seek refuge in less fertile regions.

Some believe in the existence of Gwaelod and even plan to organize an underwater expedition to find this lost land. The remains of prehistoric forests sometimes appear on the surface of the water in stormy weather or during low tides. In addition, fossils with traces of humans and animals on them, as well as some tools, were found there.

In Search of the Lost City of the Monkey God

Photo: public domain/Wikimedia Commons

Two years ago, an aerial survey of the dense jungles of Honduras was carried out. It involved scientists inspired by local legends about the lost ancient city. After that, the news quickly spread that archaeologists had found La Ciudad Blanca (The White City, known as the Lost City of the Monkey God). A ground-based expedition has recently ended, which confirmed that aerial photography indeed showed traces of a lost civilization. Archaeologists have discovered large areas excavation, mounds, earthen pyramids and dozens of different artifacts belonging to a mysterious culture that is practically unknown.

La Ciudad Blanca - mysterious city, located, according to legend, in the virgin rainforests of La Mosquitia in eastern Honduras. The Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortés reported that he had received "reliable information" about the ancient ruins, but did not find them. In 1927, pilot Charles Lindbergh reported that while flying over the eastern territories of Honduras, he saw monuments built of white stone.
In 1952, the explorer Tibor Sekelj went in search of white city, the expedition was funded by the Ministry of Culture of Honduras, but he returned empty-handed. Research continued and in 2012 the first significant discovery was made.

In May 2012, a team of researchers led by documentary filmmaker Steve Elkins conducted aerial photography in La Mosquitia using remote sensing (lidar). The scan showed the presence of artificial characteristics, all the media reported the possible discovery of the lost city of the Monkey God. In May 2013, additional laser analysis revealed the presence of large architectural structures under the forest canopy. It's time for ground reconnaissance.

Discovery of the long-lost Musasir temple

Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: Wikimedia

The Temple of Musasir was dedicated to Khaldi, the supreme god of the kingdom of Urartu, located on the Armenian Highlands, which extended into the territory where Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Armenia are currently located. The temple was built in the holy city of Ararat in 825 BC. But after Musasir fell, defeated by the Assyrians in the 18th century BC, ancient temple was lost and only recently rediscovered.

The Temple of Musasir dates back to a time when the Urartians, Assyrians and Scythians were at odds trying to gain control of what is now northern Iraq. In ancient writings, Musasir is called "the holy city built in the rock", while the name Musasir means "the exit of the serpent". The temple is depicted on an Assyrian bas-relief that adorned the palace of King Sargon II in honor of his victory over the "seven kings of Ararat" in 714 BC.

In July 2014, an exciting announcement was made about the discovery of the long-lost temple of Musasir in Kurdistan, northern Iraq. Life-size sculptures of a man, the bases of the columns of a temple dedicated to the god Khaldi, were found.

The discovery was made with local residents who stumbled upon the ruins by accident, Dishad Marf Zamua of the University of Leiden in the Netherlands examined archaeological finds on site, the most significant of which are the bases of the columns. Sculptures of bearded men up to 2.3 meters in height are also considered an unusual find. They are made of limestone, basalt or sandstone. Some were partially destroyed within 2800 years.

Lost city in the jungle of Cambodia

Australian archaeologists using advanced remote sensing technology have made a remarkable discovery in Cambodia - a 1200-year-old city has been discovered there, which is older than the famous temple complex Angkor Wat.

Damian Evans, director of the archaeological research center at the University of Sydney in Cambodia, and a small group of scientists working in the Siem Reap area. They received permission to use lidar laser technology in the remote jungles of Cambodia. For the first time, the technology was used for archaeological research in tropical Asia, with its help you can get a complete picture of the area.

The discovery was made when the lidar data appeared on a computer screen. “Thanks to this tool, we saw a picture of the whole city, the existence of which no one knew. It's great," Evans said.

An amazing find is made after many years of searching for Mahendraparvat, lost medieval city, built on Mount Phnom Kulen, 350 years before the construction of the famous temple complex Angkor Wat in northwestern Cambodia. The city was part of the Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire, which ruled in South-East Asia from 800 to 1400 AD.

Research and excavations of Mahendraparvat are in their initial stages, so scientists are waiting for new discoveries.

Karal Supe: 5,000 year old city of pyramids

Karal Supe. Photo: public domain

It is widely believed in historical circles that Mesopotamia, Egypt, China and India are the first civilizations of mankind. However, few know that at the same time, and in some cases even earlier, there was a great civilization of Norte Chico in Supa, Peru - the first famous civilization Northern and South America. Its capital was the sacred city of Caral, a 5,000-year-old metropolis of rich culture and monumental architecture - it had six large pyramidal structures, stone and earthen platforms, temples, amphitheaters, circular squares and residential areas.

In 1970, archaeologists discovered that the hills, originally identified as natural formations, were step pyramids. By 1990, the great city of Caral was fully manifested. But the biggest surprise was yet to come - in 2000, radiocarbon analysis of reed bags found during excavations showed that Caral dates from the late archaic period, around 3000 BC. Caral provides numerous evidence of the life of ancient people in North and South America.

Caral is one of 18 settlements in the Supe Valley, with an area of ​​about 65 hectares. It is located in the desert, in the valley of the river Supe. Exceptionally well-preserved, the city impresses with its complexity of planning and architecture.

Two ancient Mayan cities in the jungles of Mexico

Hellerick/BY-SA 4.0/wikipedia

In the jungles of Mexico, archaeologists have discovered two ancient Mayan cities: the ruins of pyramidal temples, a palace, an entrance that looks like a monster's mouth, altars and other stone structures. One of the cities was already found several decades ago, but then it was “lost” again. The existence of another city was not previously known - this discovery sheds new light on ancient civilization Mayan.

Expedition leader Ivan Spradzhik from the research center of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) explained that the cities were discovered using aerial photography. rainforest central Yucatan in the state of Campeche, Mexico. Some anomalies were noticed among the dense vegetation of the forest, a group of scientists was sent there to study.

Archaeologists were stunned when they discovered an entire city between the Rio Bec and Chenes. One of the most impressive features of this city is the huge entrance, which looks like the mouth of a monster, it is the personification of the deity of fertility. “This is a symbolic entrance to the cave, and in general - the watery underworld, the place of the mythological origin of corn and the abode of the ancestors,” Sprajik told Discovery News. After passing through the "underworld", archaeologists saw a large temple-pyramid 20 meters high, as well as the ruins of a palace complex located around four large squares. There they found numerous stone sculptures and several altars with well-preserved bas-reliefs and inscriptions.

Even more startling than the rediscovery of Lagunite was the discovery of previously unknown ancient ruins nearby, including pyramids, an altar, and a large acropolis surrounded by three temples. These structures are reminiscent of another Mayan city, which was named Tamchen (deep well), as more than thirty deep underground chambers were found there, used to collect rainwater.