10: Lost City in the Jungle Researchers discovered a mysterious lost city
high up in the mountains of Colombia’s Sierra Nevada.
This is an isolated mountain range deep in the jungle, near the Caribbean coast.
It's around the same area as the infamous Ciudad Perdida, literally “Lost City”
in Spanish which is another ancient jungle dwelling – but this one has no name.
The ancient settlement was found 5000 feet (1524 m) above sea level, hidden underneath
dense jungle foliage.
It was only found thanks to National Geographic explorer Albert Lin, who used light detection
scans to see through the vegetation to the ruins beneath.
These are known as LiDAR scans, which send hundreds of thousands of laser pulses across
the ground to create a 3D map of a place’s topography.
This is what allows researchers to see man-made structures that would normally be invisible.
It's now believed this city was founded around the year 800 AD, then abandoned a few centuries
later when the Spanish arrived in South America.
It was likely the mysterious civilization known as the Tairona who built this city.
They once lived across a huge part of the Caribbean coast and had countless forest dwellings
in the mountains, some of them 18,700 feet (6004 m) high.
But not much is known about the Tairona except for their crumbling ruins and thousands of
gold artifacts.
The Tairona were extremely talented goldsmiths.
Once the Spanish arrived and began their campaign of thievery, occupation, and death, the Tairona
abandoned most of their cities and slowly vanished.
9: Lost Cities of the Maya Archaeologists used remote surveying technology
to look through the thick canopy of forest in Guatemala and discover both lost cities
and ancient structures.
These lost cities were once populated by the Maya civilization, and these discoveries make
it pretty clear the Maya were a lot more spread out than previously thought.
Sure, they had some pretty big settlements in Mexico, and some that have already been
found throughout Guatemala.
But with this most recent discovery, researchers now know they lived in just about every region
of the jungle from southern Mexico almost to Costa Rica!
Just like with the lost city in Colombia, experts used LiDAR scanning to identify over
60,000 ancient structures.
These structures represent a network of cities, highways, military fortifications, and farming
communities.
The extent of the Maya civilization is mind-boggling, with an agriculture system on an industrial
scale unlike anything else in the ancient world.
In total, researchers documented 772 square miles (1999 sq km) of the Guatemalan jungle.
Before this new information, experts believed the Maya population in the lowlands here to
have been between one and two million.
Now, researchers believe there could have been as many as 20 million people spread throughout
the jungles of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize.
The population steeply declined around the year 900.
This was when drought decimated the agricultural network and people left their cities since
they no longer had food or water.
Many of the cities, even those located in the dense Guatemalan jungle, were left overnight.
They may be nothing but overgrown ruins now, but otherwise are still exactly as they were
when the Maya packed up their things and fled in search of a more stable environment.
8: The World’s First City An archaeological breakthrough using spy satellites
has revealed what some are calling the world’s first city.
The discovery can actually be traced back to the CORONA Program in the 1950s.
This was during the Cold War period, when Americans started using satellite technology
to keep an eye on places like the Soviet Union and China.
The program continued into the early 70s and was declassified by President Bill Clinton
in 1995.
The images have since been made available to the public, and have become the source
of great fascination for archaeologists.
There are over 860,000 detailed images of the Earth’s surface, and in some of them
are mysterious archaeological wonders.
Doctor Jesse Casana has been studying the photographs for years, focusing particularly
on photographs of the Middle East.
Jesse says the photos are invaluable because when they were taken 50 years ago, the countryside
was far less industrialized.
This means ancient settlements and structures hadn't yet been destroyed or built over by
modern technology.
Jesse has documented over 10,000 archaeological sites, many of which are no longer visible.
The biggest discovery comes in the form of a city estimated to be roughly 4000 years
older than the Egyptian pyramids.
The city is called Tell Brak.
It began life in the 7th millennium BC and grew to be one of the biggest cities in Mesopotamia.
It grew from a primitive village to an urban hub, and then into a giant city of 55 hectares
(135 acres).
Tell Brak continued to expand, and its name changed several times.
However, it was eventually abandoned and forgotten.
Archaeologists are calling it the first city because it was one of the very first major
metropolises that sprang up in Mesopotamia in the dawn of human civilization.
7: Mysterious Aksum Empire In 2019, a town was uncovered in Ethiopia
that had been abandoned for centuries.
The lost city was inhabited for 1400 years before it was forgotten, originally built
by the mighty civilization of Aksum.
At its peak, the Axumite Empire dominated East Africa and was just as powerful as its
counterparts in China, Persia, and Rome.
It was one of the most important civilizations that has been lost to time.
Outside of Egypt and ancient Nubia, Aksum was the earliest complex society in Africa.
It maintained control over the region until power slipped through their fingers in the
6th century as Islamic powers began to invade.
By the 10th century they had been forced from their land and the last King was betrayed
by his general, creating his own empire.
That was also around the time the newly discovered city was lost.
Archaeologists stumbled upon the remains of its stone buildings by accident near the town
of Beta Samati.
There are a few small buildings here, mostly residential, but a handful of workshops too.
Researchers also found a basilica that likely functioned as a public administration building
but it may have also been a place of Christian worship in the 4th century.
This lost city is a reflection of what happened to the world power of Axum as the empire fell
in its final years.
6: The City of the Flesh-Eating Illness In the Central American country of Honduras,
a group of archaeologists trekked deep into the forest to uncover a lost and never before
explored city.
Explorers have been marching in the jungles for centuries looking for proof of lost civilizations
– but this time they actually found what they were looking for.
The research team discovered what they believe to be the remains of the legendary White City.
It’s so deep in the jungle that getting there is an absolute nightmare.
Not only did archaeologists have to deal with the dangers of drug cartels moving through
the area, but they had to contend with deadly monsters as well.
The Honduran jungle is filled with venomous snakes, dangerous forest creatures, and flesh-eating
parasites.
Sure, the team discovered an overgrown ruin that hasn't been touched in hundreds of years,
abandoned by a civilization we don't even know the name of – but they also contracted
flesh-eating parasites.
All dangers aside, this is a remarkable part of Central America.
Researchers also identified a complex cave system running beneath the jungle, which has
never been explored or even entered by modern humans.
The whole area is bursting with hidden history!
It's just so hard to reach that so far, archaeologists have only managed to visit a single site.
And even then they almost died!
Do you think it's worth being infected by flesh-eating parasites to discover an ancient
lost city?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to hit subscribe if you haven’t
already for more videos like these!!
5: Dur-Sharrukin Dur-Sharrukin can be found in modern Iraq,
but was constructed long ago when this part of the world belonged to the Assyrian Empire.
The city was commissioned during the reign of King Sargon II to be the greatest in the
world.
This was just shy of 3000 years ago, in 717 BC.
The city grew to one square mile (2.58 sq km) and was surrounded by a wall 45 feet (13.7
m) thick and 40 feet tall (12.1 m).
That's a pretty impressive wall even by today's standards.
Plus, Sargon designed an amazing palace and a four-tiered pyramid known as a ziggurat.
But here's where the great Assyrian king failed majorly.
Apparently, nobody liked his new city.
He moved into his palace in the year 706 BC, only to die later that year during a military
campaign.
Almost immediately after his death, the people left the city en masse and it was abandoned.
It was then lost in time until archaeologist Paul Emile Botta discovered it in the shifting
desert of Iraq in 1873.
4: Lost Golden City Archaeologists in Egypt discovered a lost
city described as the most significant find in a century.
It's 3000 years old, called So’oud Atun.
Zahi Hawass, arguably the most famous Egyptologist in the world, announced the discovery himself.
The city was probably established during the rule of the great pharaoh Amenhotep III, sometime
around 1391 BC.
Archaeologists have identified a bakery, an administrative district, a residential area,
and thousands of everyday items scattered throughout the site.
It's crazy that nobody found this city before considering where it is.
It's located near the Colossi of Memnon, the Ramesseum, and the Madinat Habu Temple.
There is no way archaeologists should have missed it, yet somehow they did.
Now it's a matter of figuring out what was happening in this town 3000 years ago.
Right now, it's believed Amenhotep commissioned the city himself, only to have his son abandon
it for a new capital called Amarna.
This was a major problem in ancient Egypt, with the rulers simply making their own capitals
and completely uprooting cities that were already established.
However, archaeologists aren't sure yet if people ever returned to So’oud Atun.
We know the capital of Amarna was abandoned shortly after the death of Amenhotep’s son
– but not what happened here in the following years.
Judging by the state of things, it looks like people left in the middle of the night and
never bothered going back to their homes.
3: An Ancient Akkadian City A lost Mesopotamian city from 4000 years ago
was discovered by archaeologists in Iraq.
Researchers from France digging in Kurdistan found the ruined bones of a city that once
belonged to the very first empire in Mesopotamia.
I'm of course talking about the Akkadians.
According to Christine Kepinski, one of the experts who's been excavating the site since
2012, nobody was expecting to find a full city.
You see, they were working at the Kunara site through five different excavations, researching
things like farming, irrigation, and agriculture in ancient Mesopotamia.
But then they began to find large stone foundations.
The more they dug, the more they started to realize this was a city, not just a collection
of random settlements.
Researchers now know the ruins belonged to an unknown metropolis, inhabited by mountain
folk of the Akkadian Empire.
That's the oldest empire in the entire world.
Archaeologists even found clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform writing at the site – the
oldest system of writing on the planet.
It should be noted that the civilization of Sumer came before the Akkadians – but the
Akkadians were the first actual empire.
Sadly, the city has been very badly damaged.
It's also covered in dirt and difficult to study.
Archaeologists believe it was probably a prosperous city, thanks to the discovery of some rare
stones like obsidian.
But other than that, they know very little about this incredible find – not even its
name.
2: The Lost City of Karon The ancient city of Karon has been called
the Machu Picchu of Tajikistan.
Looking at pictures, it's not hard to see why.
The city was built high up in the mountains, there's not much left today except stone ruins,
and the landscape is almost identical to the Andes in Peru.
Even though Tajikistan is in Central Asia and Peru is in South America, most people
probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between two snapshots without additional knowledge.
At least, not snapshots comparing the Andes Mountains to the Pamir Mountains.
These mountains are so remote that the ancient city of Karon remained lost until just a few
years ago.
The region has a population density of just one person for every square mile (2.58 sq
km).
There are no major roads here, and people live simple lives.
This sparse population and humble lifestyle of the local people led to the ruins remaining
forgotten until 2012!
It was archaeologist Yusufsho Yukubov who first examined a strange structure of mud
brick near the town of Kalai Kumb.
The fragments of brick turned out to be the only surviving pieces of an ancient Zoroastrian
water temple.
The water temple dates back to the 2nd millennium BC, when it was a feature of a hilltop city
called Castle Karon.
Sadly, we don't know much about the city's history.
We know the Pamir Mountains are dotted with similar ruins, though most have been destroyed
due to natural erosion and disasters.
Up to 10,000 people may have lived in Castle Karon, members of a great mountain people
who are long gone.
1: Balasagun The modern nation of Kyrgyzstan was once one
of the most important places in all the ancient world.
It was a major stop on the legendary Silk Road, the trade network running from the Far
East in China all the way to the Mediterranean.
But not only were goods shipped along the route, so too were people of various cultures.
It was a big time for the world, with humans learning more about other people living in
faraway lands and the way they behaved.
In any case, almost all archaeological sites in Kyrgyzstan can be connected to the Silk
Road.
One of these is the lost city of Balasagun – though, it’s not so lost anymore.
The only remaining feature of the city is something called a minaret, a large tower
about 75 feet (22.8 m) tall.
Not a single other piece of the city is still standing, and not even the full tower is left.
The city of Balasagun was founded 1000 years ago by a group of people known as the Black
Khans, or the Karakhanids.
They ruled a vast empire from the border of China to the Aral Sea – and Balasagun was
their capital.
But in 1218, the Mongol Horde showed up and destroyed everything.
The Black Khans were defeated and their city was left in disrepair.
By the 14th century, just about 100 years later, the city was damaged even further by
an earthquake.
With the Silk Road in shambles, there was no reason for people to return.
There were no more caravans, the world was changing, and the only thing that remained
as a reminder of the power of Balasagun was the great minaret.
If you could see one of these lost cities when it was still in its prime, which would
you choose?
Let me know in the comments and thanks so much for watching.
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Until next time, bye!