Lost cities at all times excited the minds of not only hunters of antiquities, but simply adventurers. Some of these objects have been hiding the jungle for hundreds of years, and they were discovered by chance, others rested under the earth and were found during archaeological excavations or on the construction site, and there are those mentioned in ancient documents, but they are still not found..
Thousands of people annually visit mysterious places where ancient civilizations once lived, since the mystery of a lost city is a profitable tourist product that adventurers are eagerly buying up.
Babylon
Babylon is a city, the existence of which archaeologists knew not only through the Bible, but also from the records of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, whose work of "History" has survived to this day. Ancient lost cities of such a scale as Babylon or Troy did not give rest to researchers. The main reason for this is the desire to prove that one or another object is not a poet's fiction or a biblical "fairy tale", but a real-life settlement that had its own life and death.
If we take the biblical story as the basis, then Babylon was founded by a descendant of Ham, the son of Noah, Nimrod. In fact, it is not known exactly how in the second half of the 3rd millennium BC e. a settlement appeared on the banks of the Euphrates, which later became the capital of the world, as the Babylonians themselves believed.
Due to its advantageous location, Babylon has become the capital of Mesopotamia for a thousand years, where people from all over the world gathered. It mixed many cultures, languages and religions, but the main god of the rulers was Marduk, and the goddess Ishtar. During the excavations, which took place from 1899 to 1917, fragments of one of the 8 gates of the city - Ishtar Gate were found.
This magnificent building, covered with blue glazed tiles, can be seen in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
Inca Cities
The Inca people, who once inhabited the territories of the countries known today as Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and part of Chile, became a mystery to scientists. This young civilization, the history of which begins with only 1200 BC. e., was destroyed by the Spaniards. The descendants of the once great people today live in the Andes.
The mystery was precisely the lost Inca cities, which were simply “hidden” from the human eyes by the jungle. These settlements were well equipped, had a clear structure and all the necessary city communications, but nevertheless the residents left them for some reason.
The most famous - once lost - city of Machu Picchu today is visited by up to 2500 tourists daily.
He was found in the jungle in 1911 by the American archaeologist Bingham, discovering the perfectly preserved pyramids. The UNESCO organization, which declared Machu Picchu the Inca cultural heritage, allows a limited number of visitors to go upstairs - no more than 800 people a day, and even then they want to reduce this number in order to preserve the pyramids.
Maya Cities
Mayans were not civilization in the sense that it is commonly believed in scientific circles. They built settlements, each of which was a separate state. Perhaps the most famous lost cities in the world belong to Maya.
The most famous and most visited tourists from all over the world are such objects as Chichen Itza, Uxmal and Koba on the Yucatan Peninsula.
Chichen Itza was abandoned by residents in 1194 for unknown reasons. Archaeologists could not find out why, 400 years after the foundation, the settlement was empty. This is more than strange, because roads were laid between the Mayan cities on Yucatan, they had a clear layout, highly developed communications for that time and a thriving culture. But in the 13th century, all Indians left Yucatan, so the Spaniards, who landed there in the 16th century, got only ruins.
And only after centuries, the lost cities of this mysterious people, who gave the world a calendar, astronomy, a counting system and the concept of zero, were rediscovered for the civilized world and even came under the protection of UNESCO, and the city of Chichen Itza was named the 8th wonder of the world.
Troy
The most famous "open" lost city is Troy. Few believed that it even existed. She was considered a fictional homer by the place where the legendary ancient Greek poet and storyteller placed the heroes of his epic poem The Iliad.
The first who believed and decided to find the legendary city was an amateur archaeologist and treasure hunter Heinrich Schliemann. Being a rich man, he could conduct excavations wherever he wished, and therefore worked both in Crete and on the hill of Gissarlyk.
During the excavation, he found many artifacts, but the most significant find, of course, is Troy, excavated in 1870.
Today, no one doubts that this city actually existed, and the events that Homer covered in such detail in his works really could have taken place in history. Enough to go to Turkey to see the existence of the legendary Ilion with your own eyes.
Angkor
Lost cities in the jungle are perhaps the most attractive places for lovers of secrets, treasures and adventures.
A vivid example is the city of Angkor in Cambodia, which was rediscovered in the 19th century by French archaeologists.
For 6 centuries, this settlement was the center of the Khmer state, after which it was captured by Thai troops and abandoned by local residents. This is a rare case when the jungle has kept intact numerous Buddhist temples, houses and multiple monuments.
Lost in the jungle, a traveler from France Henri Muo accidentally came across the largest temple in the world - Angkor Wat.
It happened on January 22, 1861. Soon, the whole world learned about a find in the jungle. Today, Angkor is a city of temples that are part of Cambodia’s heritage and are protected by UNESCO.
Scara Bray
The lost cities of Europe are not as famous as Thebes and Memphis in Egypt or Angkor in Cambodia, but no less interesting and informative in terms of studying the history and culture of the peoples who inhabited them.
The city of Skara Bray in Scotland was discovered in 1850 thanks to a storm, after which part of the land was washed away into the sea, exposing a fairly well-preserved settlement once. Archaeologists have determined that the inhabitants left it in 3100 BC. e., presumably due to abrupt climate change.
The small settlement consisted of only 8 buildings, but they had high-quality sewage, as evidenced by the toilets and bathrooms found in the houses. Unfortunately, there is no information about who lived in these houses, in which not only the layout, but also the furniture was of the same type.
