Forbidden City: Did you mean...?

The city of Babylon was once the most famous cultural and religious center of the ancient world and, in fact, was understood as the center of the world according to an ancient map. It did not acquire its reputation as a “city of sin” until...

Thebes is a town in central Greece which has been continuously inhabited for five millennia. It was an important Mycenaean centre in the middle to late Bronze Age and was a powerful city-state in the Classical period, participating in both...

The imperial Ming dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644. It replaced the Mongol Yuan dynasty which had been in power since the 13th century. Despite challenges from abroad and within, the Ming dynasty oversaw an unprecedented growth in China's...

Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia, whose ruins lie in modern-day Hillah, Iraq, 59 miles (94 km) southwest of Baghdad. The name is derived from bav-il or bav-ilim, which in Akkadian meant "Gate of God" (or "Gate of the...

Carthago Nova (modern-day Cartagena) was a city on the southern Iberian Peninsula, Spain, originally known as Mastia. Human habitation of the region predates the Neolithic Period, but the area around the site of Carthago Nova seems to have...

Mari was a city-state located near the west bank of the Euphrates River in Northern Mesopotamia (now eastern Syria) during the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age. One of the earliest known planned cities, Mari is believed to have...

A polis (plural: poleis) was the typical structure of a community in the ancient Greek world. A polis consisted of an urban centre, often fortified and with a sacred centre built on a natural acropolis or harbour, which controlled a surrounding...

This map illustrates the city-states of Classical Greece around 500 BCE, highlighting the rise of the polis system and the growing reach of Hellenic influence along the Mediterranean and Black Sea coasts. The period saw Athens and Sparta...

Nineveh (modern-day Mosul, Iraq) was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity. It was originally known as Ninua, a trade center, and would become one of the largest and most affluent cities in antiquity. It was regarded highly by...

According to legend, Ancient Rome was founded by the two brothers, and demigods, Romulus and Remus, on 21 April 753 BCE. The legend claims that in an argument over who would rule the city (or, in another version, where the city would be located...