6 ‘lost’ cities archaeologists have never found
Archaeologists have been busy searching for lost civilizations, but they haven’t found everything. There are still important ancient cities, including capitals of great kingdoms and empires, that have never been discovered by scholars.
We know these cities exist because ancient texts describe them, but their locations may be lost to time.
1. Irisagrig
Shortly after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, thousands of ancient tablets from a town called “Irisagrig” began appearing on the antiquities market. From the tablets, scholars could say that Irisagrig was in Iraq and flourished about 4,000 years ago.
These tablets reveal that the rulers of the ancient city lived in palaces housing many dogs. They also raised lions which were fed to livestock. Those who looked after the lions, called “lion herders,” received rations of beer and bread. The inscriptions also mention a temple dedicated to Enki, god of evil and wisdom, and say that festivals were sometimes held inside the temple.
Researchers believe that looters found and pillaged Irisagrig around the time of the 2003 American invasion. Archaeologists have yet to find the town and the looters who have not come forward and identified its whereabouts.
2. Itjtawy
The Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat I (reigned 1981–1952 BC) ordered the construction of a new capital. This capital was known as “Itjtawy” and the name can be translated as “the conqueror of the Two Lands” or “Amenemhat is the conqueror of the Two Lands”. As its name suggests, Amenemhat faced considerable unrest. His reign ended with his assassination.
Despite Amenemhat’s assassination, Itjtawy remained the capital of Egypt until around 1640 BC. Egypt was taken over by a group known as the “Hyksos” and the kingdom collapsed.
Although Itjtawy has not been found, archaeologists believe it is somewhere near the site of Lisht in central Egypt. This is partly because many elite burials, including a pyramid belonging to Amenemhat I, are found in Lisht.
3. Akkad
The city of Akkad (also called Agade) was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which flourished between 2350 and 2150 BC. At its peak, the empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to Anatolia. Many of his conquests took place during the reign of “Sargon of Akkad”, who lived around 2300 BC. One of the most important structures in Akkad itself was “Eulmash”, a temple dedicated to Ishtar, a goddess associated with war, beauty and fertility.
Akkad has never been found, but it is believed to have been built somewhere in Iraq. Ancient records indicate that the city was destroyed or abandoned at the end of the Akkadian Empire around 2150 BC.
4. Al-Yahudu
Al-Yahudu, a name meaning “town” or “city” of Judah, was a place in the Babylonian Empire where Jews lived after the Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BC sent part of the population into exile, a practice the Babylonians often engaged in after conquering a region.
It is known that there are approximately 200 tablets from the colony and they indicate that the exiled people who lived in this colony kept their faith and used Yahweh, the name of God, in their names. The location of Al-Yahudu has not been identified by archaeologists, but like many of these lost cities, it was likely located in what is now Iraq. Since the tablets were discovered in the antiquities market and there is no record of their discovery during archaeological excavations, it appears that at some point looters managed to find their location.
5. Wasšukanni
Waššukanni was the capital of the Mitanni Empire, which existed between approximately 1550 BC and 1300 BC and included parts of northeastern Syria, southern Anatolia, and northern Iraq. It faced intense competition from the Hittite Empire to the north and from Assyrian empire in the south and its territory was gradually lost to them.
Waššukanni has never been found and some researchers believe it may be located in northeastern Syria. The people who lived in the capital, and even much of its empire, were known as “Hurrians” and had their own language, known today from ancient texts.
6. Thinis
Thinis (also known as Tjenu) was an ancient city in southern Egypt that flourished in the early history of ancient civilization. According to the ancient writer Manetho, this is where some of Egypt’s first kings ruled around 5,000 years ago, when Egypt was in the process of unification. The Egyptian capital was moved to Memphis soon after unification and Thinis became the capital of a nome (an Egyptian province) during the Old Kingdom period (ca. 2649 to 2150 BC), noted Ali Seddik Othman, inspector of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, in an article published in the Abydos Journal.
Thinis has never been identified, although it is believed to be near Abydos in southern Egypt. This is partly because many of society’s elite, including royalty, were buried near Abydos around 5,000 years ago.
