🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Tavium (Büyükkale / Büyüknefes)
Bronze Age to Byzantine · Hattian/Hittite → Phrygian → Galatian Celtic → Roman
Galatian Trocmi capital at Büyüknefes with Hellenistic walls, Roman avenue and Bryaxis Zeus emporion.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Fortified city
Anavarza (Anazarbus) and Castle
Hellenistic to medieval (c.100 BCE–1375 CE) · Cappadocian → Roman → Byzantine → Armenian → Mamluk
Cilician metropolis beneath triple-ward Armenian castle on limestone ridge with stadium and triumphal arch.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Fortified city
Cổ Loa Citadel
Dong Son 3rd c BCE → Han 2nd c BCE → Ngo Quyen 938 CE · Dong Son Au Lac → Han → Dai Viet (Hanoi first capital)
Cổ Loa — spiral-walled citadel city (3rd c BCE–10th c CE) 17 km north Hanoi Old Quarter, excavated 1960s–2010s Nguyen Giang Hai (Vietnam Academy).
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Ahicchatra
Mahajanapada 600 BCE → Gupta 4th–6th c CE · Northern Panchala Mahajanapada → Mauryan → Gupta
Ahicchatra — capital of Northern Panchala Mahajanapada (c.600 BCE–1100 CE) near Ramnagar, Bareilly district, excavated 1940s–60s by ASI (V.K. Sinha).
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan · Ancient city
Ak-Beshim Chu Valley City
Sogdian 5th c → Western Turk 581–659 → Tang 659–1141 · Sogdian–Western Turk → Tang Chinese — Chuy Valley Silk Road
Ak-Beshim Chu Valley City — ancient Suyab/Suye (5th–12th c CE) Western Turk capital on Chu River at Ak-Beshim, 8 km SW Tokmok, excavated 1938–58 by Bernshtam and 2010s Kyrgyz-German.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Hastinapura
PGW 1100–600 BCE (Kuru) → NBPW 600–300 BCE → Historic · Kuru Mahajanapada (PGW culture) → NBPW Early Historic
Hastinapura — capital of Kuru Mahajanapada (c.1100–600 BCE, PGW 1100–600 BCE, NBPW 600–300 BCE) at Hastinapur, Meerut district, excavated 1950–52 by B.B. Lal (ASI).
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Maheshwar Narmada Ghat Settlement
Chalcolithic 1600 BCE → Early Historic 6th c BCE → Paramara 10th c → Holkar 1760s · Malwa → Mahishmati Mahabharata → Paramara–Holkar
Maheshwar Narmada Ghat Settlement — ancient Mahishmati (Mahabharata, Kalidasa) on Narmada ghat 2 km north of Navdatoli, excavated with Navdatoli 1952–57 showing Early Historic Mart 6th c BCE → Gupta…
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Erligang (Zhengzhou Shang City)
Early Shang Erligang 1600–1400 BCE (Xia→Shang transition) · Early Shang (Erligang culture, Zhengzhou phase)
Erligang (Zhengzhou Shang City) — Early Shang walled capital (c.1600–1400 BCE, Erligang culture) under modern Zhengzhou old city, excavated 1950s–80s An Jinhuai and Zou Heng (Henan Institute).
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Kausambi (Ancient Kosambi)
Mahajanapada 600 BCE → Mauryan → Gupta 4th c CE · Vatsa Janapada → Mauryan → Sunga–Gupta (Middle Ganga)
Kausambi (Kosambi) — capital of Vatsa Mahajanapada (c.600 BCE–300 CE) on Yamuna 56 km SW Prayagraj, excavated 1949–56 by G.R. Sharma (Allahabad University).
🇹🇷 Turkey · Fortified city
Dara (Anastasiopolis)
Late Roman–Byzantine (505 CE–1071 CE) · Eastern Roman (Byzantine) vs Sasanian Persian
Justinian border megafort with 3.5 km walls, earliest arch dam and 18 m deep rock-cut Great Cistern.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Sirsukh
Kushan 1st–3rd c CE → Gupta → Hepthalite 5th c · Kushan Gandhara (Taxila valley)
Sirsukh — last great city of Taxila (late 1st c CE–mid 5th c CE) 2 km NE Sirkap, Taxila valley, founded under Kushan Kujula Kadphises/Kanishka after 80 CE.
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan · Ancient city
Navekat Krasnaya Rechka City
Sogdian 6th–12th c → Kara-Khanid 10th–12th · Sogdian oasis — Chuy Valley Silk Road Sogdian–Turk
Navekat Krasnaya Rechka City — Sogdian Silk Road city (6th–12th c CE) at Krasnaya Rechka on Chu Valley road west of Ak-Beshim, excavated 1980s by VE Nasyrov and Koen–Goryacheva.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Rajgir Ancient City
Vedic–Magadhan to Mauryan 1000–185 BCE; Buddhist pilgrimage continuous · Magadhan / Buddhist / Jain
First capital of Magadha (c.1000 BCE–c.400 BCE) nestled in ring of five hills, both Older (Bimbisara's Rajagriha) and New Rajgir enclosed by 40 km cyclopean rubble walls up to 8 m thick — India's…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Hatra
Parthian to Sassanian (c.200 BCE–241 CE) · Parthian-Arab (Hatrene Aramaic) / Hellenistic influence
Fortified Parthian-Arab desert city (2nd c BCE–241 CE) with circular walls 6.4 km circuit resisting Trajan (117) and Septimius Severus (198).
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Khorsabad (Dur-Sharrukin)
Neo-Assyrian (713–705 BCE construction and occupation only) · Assyrian
Short-lived Assyrian capital built 713–707 BCE by Sargon II as brand-new square city 1.628 km side with seven gates, 24 km walls, and palace on citadel.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Heraclea at Latmus Athena Temple — Endymion Mountain City Sanctuary
Hellenistic (300–150 BCE) foundation over Archaic · Hellenistic Lysimachan Heracleans with Karian memory
Athena peripteros 6×11 on cyclopean walled acropolis above Bafa Lake Endymion heroon.
🇧🇩 Bangladesh · Ancient city
Mahasthangarh (Ancient Pundranagara)
Mauryan 4th c BCE → Pala 12th c · Mauryan → Sunga → Gupta → Pala
Ancient Pundranagara — Mauryan–Pala fortified city (4th c BCE–13th c CE) on Karatoya at Mahasthangarh, 12 km north Bogra. 1.5 km rampart, citadel mound, 1928–29 P.C.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Fortress
Mixco Viejo
Classic · Maya/Andean
Mixco Viejo — fortified hilltop twin capital.
🇳🇬 Nigeria · Fortified city
Katsina City Walls – 14 km Runded Earthwork
Hausa classical (c. 1100–1807 CE; Ganuwa built 13th–14th c) · Hausa (Katsina scholarly centre)
Seven-gate 14 km mud rampart enclosing 405 ha Hausa scholarly city of Gobarau minaret (14th c mudbrick tower 15 m, oldest multi-storey mud in West Africa), manuscript libraries and...
