Troy
The city of Troy was built by the ancient Greeks around the 16th century BC and is located southeast of the Hellespont Strait (present-day Dardanelles Gap) at the western tip of the Asia Minor Peninsula. At the beginning of the twelfth century BC, Mycenae united with the Greek city-states to form a coalition of allied forces to cross the sea to Trojan, and the war lasted for ten years, known as the "Trojan War". Legend has it that the key to the war was the Greeks' successful invasion of the city of Troy using "Trojan horses", turning the city into ruins.
City of Babylon
Located on the right bank of the Euphrates River, in present-day Iraq, the ancient city of Babylon is a representative building of Mesopotamian civilization, famous for its towers and mud-brick temples. The hanging gardens commissioned by King Nebuchadnezzar II of Neo-Babylon became one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After that, the Neo-Babylonian kingdom was completely destroyed by the Persians, and the illustrious city of Babylon gradually disappeared into the barren grass.
Persepolis
Persepolis, the second capital of the Achaemenid dynasty of Persia, is located in a basin in the mountains of Zagros in Iran. This illustrious capital was extremely large, starting with Darius I and taking three dynasties to build. In 330 BC, Alexander the Great conquered the city and ruthlessly burned the city after a frenzied plunder, and legend has it that he used 10,000 mules and 5,000 camels to transport all the treasures in the city.
Carthage
Carthage existed between the 8th century BC and 147 BC, located in present-day northern Tunisia, North Africa, bordering the Gulf of Tunis, when the eastern and western Mediterranean were at the crossroads. At the end of the ninth century BC, the Phoenicians established a colonial city-state here. In the seventies of the third century BC, Rome expanded abroad and became Carthage's fierce enemy, breaking out into the famous three "Punic Wars" in ancient history. Finally, Carthage perished. In 147 BC, the city of Carthage was reduced to ruins by the Roman army.
Pompeii
The ancient city of Pompeii in its prosperous period gathered merchants, the city had a population of more than 25,000, and the city had Roman municipal buildings such as the Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Apollo, the theater, the Colosseum, and the aqueduct, but it was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 AD, and several meters of volcanic ash flooded the city in an instant, and people died of suffocation. Everything happened so quickly that many people didn't have time to make a final struggle.
Tikal
Tikal was the largest city-state of the Mayan Classic, located in the jungle of the province of Petén in Guatemala, and consisted of nine groups of buildings and a large square. In the mid-6th century, Tikal experienced great political upheaval due to the great migration wave from northern Mexico, and the city was built several times. Between 800-900 AD, people gradually left the city, and at the end of the 10th century, Tikal was completely abandoned in the jungle.
Loulan Ancient Kingdom
The ancient city of Loulan is located in the north of Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, China, and is a city in Loulan State, one of the 36 Kingdoms of the Western Regions, and its ruins are scattered in the Yadan terrain on the west bank of Lop Nur. During the reign of Emperor Wudi of Han, King Loulan was attacked by a large army because of the Xiongnu, coupled with the drought and water shortage caused by the deteriorating ecological environment, the people in the city abandoned the city one after another, leaving a dead city. In the raging desert storm, Loulan was finally obliterated by the dunes.
Angkor monuments
Located in the Angkor Heritage Complex about 310 kilometers northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Angkor City is the site of the capital of the Angkor Dynasty in Cambodia. It was built in 802 AD and completed in 1201, taking 400 years. It was the royal center of the Khmer dynasty, one of the most prosperous and civilized kingdoms in Southeast Asian history. After the fall of the kingdom under the reign of Zhou Yevarman VII, the city was abandoned after the Tai army captured and sacked Angkor in 1431.
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is Peru's famous pre-Columbian ancient city of 1460 AD, located on the Andes Mountains at an altitude of about 2,350 meters, and is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The urban area consists of hundreds of buildings and stone stairs connecting the city to the hillside, and is surrounded by agricultural areas. In 1531, hundreds of Spanish colonists broke into the Inca Empire, and soon the empire died and the Inca civilization represented by Machu Picchu was also lost.