Ancient Cities

Ordinal	City	BC Date	Reference
1	Jericho	c. 9000	1
2	Byblos	c. 5000	2
3	Damascus	c. 3000	3
4	Aleppo	c. 5000	4
5	Susa (Shush)	c. 4400	5
6	Eridu	c. 5400	6
7	Uruk	c. 4000	6
8	Al-Fayyum (Shedet)	c. 1900	7
9	Plovdiv	c. 6000	8
10	Athens	c. 3000	9
11	Sidon	c. 3000	13
12	Tyre	c. 2000	13
13	Jerusalem	c. 3000	10
14	Ray (Rayy)	c. 3000	14
15	Kirkuk (Arrapha)	c. 2200	15
16	Erbil (Citadel)	c. 5000	16
17	Jaffa	c. 1800	11
18	Varanasi (Kashi)	c. 1000	9
19	Xi’an (Chang’an)	c. 1100	12
20	Rome	753	9
21	Istanbul (Byzantium)	c. 660	11
22	Aksum	c. 100	17

References:

1. Britannica – Jericho
2. UNESCO – Byblos
3. UNESCO – Damascus
4. Britannica – Aleppo
5. UNESCO – Susa
6. New Scientist – Earliest Cities (Eridu, Uruk)
7. Britannica – Al-Fayyūm
8. University of Pennsylvania – Plovdiv
9. Britannica – Athens / Varanasi
10. Britannica – Jerusalem
11. Britannica – Jaffa
12. Britannica – Xi’an
13. Britannica – Istanbul/Byzantium
14. Britannica – Rayy (Ray)
15. Pleiades – Arrapha (Kirkuk)
16. World Monuments Fund – Erbil Citadel
17. Britannica – Aksum