The American "Living Science" website has edited the "Top Ten Ancient Capitals of the World", and the winners are Rome, Athens, Constantinople, Babylon, Cusco (the capital of the Incas), Tenochtitlan (the capital of the Aztecs), Thebes, Greater Zimbabwe, Xi'an and Kahokia (North American Indian Tribes). In my opinion, such a list lacks fairness and is difficult to convince. The ranking of ancient capitals should refer to three major criteria: (1) the fixed capital is long; (2) the capital is high in the dynasty and has great influence; (3) the influence of the city itself is sufficient. To this end, I have re-selected the 10 ancient capitals of the world. This article ranks by the time when the city first served as the capital.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" >1, Memphis (Cairo).</h1>
Memphis, part of Cairo, is just 30 km from cairo city. Ancient Egypt was divided into Upper and Lower Egypt, and Memphis happened to be at the junction. In 3100 BC, Menes unified Egypt and set its capital here. Since then, Memphis has been the capital of the early dynasty, the Old Kingdom, which has experienced about 1000 years and 10 dynasties. The famous Sphinx, the Pyramids of Giza, and the Granite Statue of Ramses II are all located here. During the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom era, Thebes in southern Egypt became the capital, but Memphis remained important. After the fall of ancient Egypt, Memphis's position was gradually replaced by the coastal port city of Alexandria, which went into decline and eventually fell into ruins. It was not until the Arab-era Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) that the capital was rebuilt here and named Cairo. The subsequent Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties were all located in Cairo until Egypt was conquered by the Turks. Cairo is still the capital of Egypt.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="36" >2, Thebes</h1>
Thebes was the political, economic and cultural center of ancient Upper Egypt. From the Middle Kingdom (2000 BC - 1790 BC) to the New Kingdom (1567 BC - 1085 BC), several dynasties of Egypt were located here, and the capital was established for nearly 1000 years. At that time, Thebes was the largest city in the world, and its city spanned the banks of the Nile River on a grand scale, called "Thebes of the Hundred Gates", and there are still a large number of ruins, such as the Karnak Temple, the Valley of the Kings and so on. The Valley of the Kings here is densely packed with the tombs of more than 60 kings from the 18th to the 20th centuries, and countless artifacts have been unearthed.
Valley of the Kings of Thebes
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="37" >3, Babylon</h1>
The city of Babylon, located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, has two rivers of water to provide irrigation, so it has repeatedly become the capital of the two rivers civilization, and also the center of the West Asian civilization. In ancient times, the kingdoms of ancient Babylon (1894-1595 BC) and the Neo-Babylonian kingdoms (626-538 BC) were located here. The famous "Hanging Gardens" were built in the Neo-Babylonian era. In 324 BC, Alexander also chose Babylon as the capital of the empire, but unfortunately the Macedonian Empire soon became civilly in turmoil, and the newly established Seleucid Dynasty was not fixed here, and Babylon began to decline.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="38" >4, Xi'an (Chang'an, Pickaxe-Jing).</h1>
Xi'an is located in the Guanzhong region of China, surrounded by plugs on all sides, and in the middle is the Weihe River Plain, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Beginning with the Western Zhou Dynasty (1027 BC – 771 BC), it became the capital of China. After the fall of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the State of Qin occupied Guanzhong, gradually developed and became stronger, and finally unified China in 221 BC. Since then, the Capital of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) and the Western Han Dynasty (202-8 BC) has been located here. Beginning with the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Xi'an became the capital of China for the third time. On the basis of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty (581-618) once again unified the country. After the fall of the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty (618-907) developed China's national power to the peak. At present, Xi'an still retains the imperial tombs of the Qin, Han, Sui and Tang Dynasties, which can be called the Valley of the Kings of China. However, from the Song Dynasty onwards, due to the deterioration of the northwestern environment and the shift of China's economic center of gravity to the south, Xi'an lost its qualification as a capital.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="39" >5, Rome</h1>
Located on the Apennine Peninsula, Rome is one of the transportation hubs of the Mediterranean Sea, and in ancient times there was a saying that "all roads lead to Rome". Rome is the most prestigious ancient capital in Europe and a symbol of European history, and it also preserves a large number of sites from the Roman Empire, such as the famous Colosseum. In 753 BC, the Roman city-state began to be established; in 509, the Roman Republic was established. In the 3rd century BC, Rome expanded wildly, turning the Mediterranean into an "inner lake". The Roman Empire was established in 27 BC, and later went through about 10 dynasties before finally collapsing in 476. In the Middle Ages, Rome, again the seat of the Catholic Church, was the religious center of Europe. In 1871, the Kingdom of Italy was established and Rome became the capital of Italy, which continues to this day.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="41" >6, Luoyang</h1>
Located in the Central Plains of China, it is a transitional zone between Guanzhong and North China, and has been regarded as the core area of the Central Plains since ancient times. It is said that the capital of the Xia Dynasty 4,000 years ago was located in the Luoyang area, where the Erlitou site was discovered. After the establishment of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Eastern Capital was established in Luoyang as an important town for the eastern princes. After the fall of Western Zhou, king Ping of Zhou moved the capital to Luoyang, and Luoyang became the "capital of companionship" for the first time. After the fall of the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty set its capital at Luoyang, and the capital officially became the center of the empire. After that, Cao Wei, Western Jin, and Northern Wei all settled here. In the Sui and Tang dynasties, the Grand Canal was opened, and Luoyang became the transportation center of north and south China. To this end, the sui and Tang dynasties regarded Luoyang as the "eastern capital" and as a bridgehead for Guanzhong to extend to the Kanto region. However, after the decline of the Tang Dynasty, Luoyang's position was replaced by Kaifeng, and it declined.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="42" >7, Ctesiphon (Baghdad).</h1>
Ctesiphon, located in the Two Rivers Valley, is now part of Baghdad. During the Hellenistic era, due to the destruction of the city of Babylon, the Seleucid Dynasty built Seleucasia as the capital of Mesopotamia. Later, a small village in Seleucasia, Ctesiphon, developed and became a large city, and the two rivers entered the Twin Cities era. Later, the Persian Sabbath (129-226) and the Sassanids (226-651) became strong, and successively made Ctesiphon one of the capitals of the empire. After the fall of the Persian Empire, Ctesiphon declined. By the mid-8th century, the Arab Abbasid caliph Al-Mansour built a city of Baghdad near Ctesiphon, and Baghdad became the capital of the Arab Empire. However, after the fall of the Arab Empire, Baghdad was also repeatedly sacked by foreign tribes. It was not until Iraq became independent in 1921 that Baghdad became the capital again.
Ruins of the Royal Palace of Ctesiphon
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="44" >8, Byzantium (Constantinople, Istanbul).</h1>
Located in the middle of the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, Byzantium was the bridgehead from Europe to Asia. In antiquity, the Greeks established the City of Byzantium here as a hub for controlling Trade between Asia and Europe. During the Roman Empire, Byzantium soon became the largest city in the East by virtue of its superior geographical location, and even developed into the "Eastern Capital" of the Empire. In 395, the Roman Empire split, and the capital of Eastern Rome was set in Byzantium, named Constantinople. The Eastern Roman Empire was one of the most prosperous empires of the Middle Ages, going through 14 dynasties and 93 emperors before being conquered by turkey in 1453. After the Turkish Empire destroyed the Eastern Rome, it renamed Byzantium Istanbul as the capital of the empire. It was not until 1922, after the collapse of the Turkish Empire, that the capital of Turkey moved to Ankara. But istanbul is still Turkey's largest city.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="47" >9, Beijing</h1>
Beijing is located in the northern part of the North China Plain, in a transitional area between nomadic and agrarian economy, so the ancient Chinese ethnic minority dynasties were often located here. Because the Zhou Dynasty once divided the Yan kingdom here, history called this place "Yanjing". During the Five Dynasties period, the Liao state took Yanjing and made it one of the five capitals. After the Jin Dynasty destroyed the Liao and the Northern Song Dynasty, the capital was moved to Yanjing in 1153, and Yanjing began to become the capital of the dynasty. After the mongols destroyed the Jin Dynasty, Yanjing became the capital of the Central Plains. In 1260, Kublai Khan declared himself Khan and set his capital at Yanjing. In the subsequent three dynasties of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, it was the capital of China. Beijing, as the capital of the whole country, has a history of nearly 1,000 years, preserving monuments such as the Forbidden City, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace, and is listed as one of the four ancient capitals of China.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="48" >10, Delhi</h1>
India has been divided for a long time in its history, and thus stable ancient times are few and far between, until the emergence of the Delhi Sultanate. In 1206, the Sultanate was established in India with its capital in Delhi, hence the name "Delhi Sultanate". The establishment of the Delhi Sultanate marked India's entry into the Era of Islam. The Delhi Sultanate went through 5 dynasties and lasted about 500 years. In 1526, the Mughal Empire was established, replacing the delhi sultanate. The Mughal Empire basically unified the Indian subcontinent and was also headquartered in Delhi. By now, Delhi has a history of 800 years as its capital. After India's independence, a new modern city was built near the ancient capital of Delhi called "New Delhi". Today's Delhi retains famous cultural heritage such as the Taj Mahal and the Gudamina Tower.