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Ancient cities were not all built in the same era, for the same purpose, or according to a single plan. Archaeology reveals a range of urban histories: an early settlement growing over millennia at Jericho, the engineered streets and drains of Moenjodaro, imperial Babylon, and the water-managed cities of Myanmar’s Pyu culture. Comparing their surviving evidence helps explain how people organized settlements, infrastructure, power, and agriculture—while showing why “the first city” depends on what counts as a city.
What makes a settlement an ancient city?
There is no single feature that turns a settlement into a city. A place may have very early occupation without being an urban centre in the later sense; monumental construction does not by itself prove a particular political system; and a long sequence of occupation does not necessarily mean unbroken habitation. Archaeologists look at evidence such as settlement size and permanence, streets, walls, public buildings, water systems, and the organization of surrounding land.
Those measures produce different answers to questions such as “What were the first cities?” Tell es-Sultan, identified with ancient Jericho, has deposits of human activity dating to about 10,500 BC, according to the UNESCO World Heritage Centre property record. UNESCO describes it as a sizeable permanent settlement by the ninth to eighth millennia BC. Its early settlement history is important, but it should not be treated as proof that every feature of a later city was already present.
Four cities, four different kinds of evidence
| Site and region | Chronology in the evidence | What the remains show | Important qualification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ancient Jericho/Tell es-Sultan, southern Levant | UNESCO dates deposits of human activity to about 10,500 BC and reports 29 occupation phases in the site’s stratigraphy. | A perennial spring, settlement remains, and, by the ninth to eighth millennia BC, a permanent settlement with a wall, ditch, and tower. Later layers document urban planning in the Early Bronze Age and a Canaanite city-state in the Middle Bronze Age. | Early settlement, monumental construction, and later urban development are related but distinct stages. UNESCO notes conservation needs, including for Middle Bronze Age ramparts. |
| Moenjodaro, Indus region | A metropolis of the Indus civilization; UNESCO’s property record does not give a date range in the details cited here. | A planned layout, baked-brick buildings, public baths, wells, a large granary, and an elaborate drainage system. In the lower city, streets intersect at right angles. | UNESCO describes burnt-brick structures across 240 ha and says about one third had been excavated since 1922. Its record identifies saline action associated with a rising water table, thermal stress, rain, and flooding as conservation concerns. |
| Babylon, Mesopotamia | Capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 626 to 539 BCE, according to UNESCO. | Walls, gates, palaces, temples, and a ziggurat show urban and architectural creativity as well as imperial power. | UNESCO reports that about 85% of the property remains unexcavated and notes conservation and authenticity concerns, including the effects of modern reconstructions. The Hanging Gardens belong to Babylon’s legacy of tradition and legend, not to a claim established by the remains described here. |
| Pyu Ancient Cities, Myanmar | UNESCO’s 2014 inscription record reports radiocarbon dates from intact architectural features extending back to 190 BCE, within a sequence of roughly a thousand years of occupation. | Moated city walls, monuments, unexcavated remains, and an agrarian landscape. Canals and water tanks remain in use for agricultural processes. | The UNESCO-listed property covers 5,809 ha. Its exposed archaeological remains and hydrological landscape features have continuing conservation needs. |
These dates and measurements describe specific UNESCO-listed properties, not a universal timeline for cities. The UNESCO property pages for Jericho, Moenjodaro, and Babylon are undated records; the dates above are those reported on the pages, not publication dates. UNESCO identifies 2014 as the Pyu Ancient Cities’ inscription year.
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How were ancient cities planned?
Street layouts and civic infrastructure at Moenjodaro
Moenjodaro is especially useful for understanding how urban design can be inferred from physical remains. Right-angle street intersections in its lower city, together with wells, public baths, and drainage, point to deliberate organization of movement and water management. UNESCO describes the site as a metropolis with an organized civic, economic, social, and cultural system. The evidence supports a planned urban centre; it does not, by itself, tell us every rule or decision behind that plan.
Walls and monuments at Jericho and Babylon
At Tell es-Sultan, a wall, ditch, and tower are evidence of monumental building in the settlement’s early history. The site’s later layers add evidence of urban planning and a Canaanite city-state. At Babylon, walls and gates, alongside palaces, temples, and a ziggurat, reveal a city with major political and religious architecture. Similar kinds of remains can therefore point to very different histories and roles.
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Water and agricultural landscapes in the Pyu cities
The Pyu sites show why a city cannot always be understood by looking only at buildings inside its walls. UNESCO describes canals and water tanks within a broader agrarian landscape, with features still used for agricultural processes. This evidence connects urban history to water management, food production, and continuing local practices.
What can infrastructure tell us about daily life?
Infrastructure offers clues about shared needs and the coordination required to meet them. Wells and drains at Moenjodaro show that water access and waste disposal were built into the urban environment. Public baths indicate spaces for collective use. At the Pyu sites, canals and tanks connect settlement to agricultural work. Walls, streets, and monumental buildings at the other sites show how people shaped and used shared spaces.
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These clues do not provide a complete account of everyday experience. A drain cannot tell us on its own who maintained it, how access was regulated, or how reliably it worked; a monument cannot establish how every resident understood its purpose. Archaeological remains make some parts of urban life visible, while many details of routine, belief, and social relations remain uncertain unless other evidence supports them.
How did ancient cities manage water and waste?
The sites offer different kinds of evidence rather than one common system. Moenjodaro has wells, an elaborate drainage system, and soak pits for sewage disposal in UNESCO’s description. The arrangement suggests that sanitation and drainage were part of the city’s infrastructure. The Pyu cities’ canals and water tanks relate to water management and agricultural processes, rather than serving as evidence for the same drainage system.
At Jericho, the adjacent perennial spring is a key feature of the site’s setting. It helps explain the importance of water to settlement there, but it should not be confused with evidence for a particular citywide water network. Babylon’s listed remains include major urban and religious structures; the UNESCO description cited here does not establish comparable water or waste infrastructure.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How much of these cities can archaeologists see?
What is visible today is only part of each site’s history. UNESCO says about one third of Moenjodaro’s property had been excavated since 1922, while about 85% of Babylon’s property remains unexcavated. The scale of excavation affects how confidently researchers can describe a city: buried areas may contain evidence that would change or refine current interpretations.
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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minutePreservation also shapes what can be studied. UNESCO identifies saline action associated with a rising water table, thermal stress, rain, and flooding as threats at Moenjodaro. At Jericho, some features, including Middle Bronze Age ramparts, need conservation. At Babylon, modern reconstructions raise authenticity concerns. For the Pyu sites, exposed archaeological remains and the water-related landscape require continued care. These issues are part of the evidence: the condition and treatment of remains affect what survives for future study.
Why comparisons need care
Jericho, Moenjodaro, Babylon, and the Pyu cities are representative examples, not a complete catalogue of ancient urbanism. They belong to different regions and periods and preserve different kinds of evidence: early settlement layers, planned civic infrastructure, imperial monuments, and long-term landscape management. Their comparison is most useful when it asks what each site’s physical remains establish, what remains buried, and what later tradition adds. It is less useful to rank them as if “oldest,” “most advanced,” and “most urban” were interchangeable measurements.
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