The Lost City - Mayan

Mayan City of Tikal, Guatemala

Deep in the Guatemalan jungle, a lost city’s discovery may rewrite Mayan history. El Mirador is often referred to as the cradle of Mayan civilization according to archaeologists.

The city is the size of a modern metropolis and is larger than all of downtown Los Angeles. It contains what may be the biggest pyramid by volume in the world La Danta.

The archaeologists on the Mirador Basin Project dig are saying there are thousands of pyramids in that single ancient city yet to be uncovered.

Carving

They also discovered an unknown original creation story of the Mayans carved into stone at the pyramid that will re-write their ancient history. It is being dated at at least 300 to 200 B.C. and predates the Spanish conquistador arrival, which is significant because their conquest is thought to have tainted all written history of the Mayans until this discovery

Archaeologists exploring the lost Maya city of El Mirador claim they've found the world's biggest pyramid. The massive structure, called La Danta (The Tapir), may have its summit hidden beneath Guatemala's jungle canopy. 

Yet its volume is reckoned to be larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Khufuin Egypt's Giza Plateau. The city itself, dubbed the 'Maya Cradle of Civilization', is the size of a modern metropolis; bigger than downtown Los Angeles. And experts believe there are thousands more pyramids yet to be found.

The Lost City - Babylon

Babylon, Ancient Iraq

King Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, once one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, to dazzle the gods and as a testament to his own greatness. Herodotus chronicled its magnificence, despite probably never having seen it, but now, not so much as a hanging basket can be found. The mud-brick walls of the city were discovered in the 19th century, however, along with ruins of the northern palace. The site was controversially re-built under Saddam Hussein. Large chunks of the city's Ishtar Gate can be seen at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. 

Babylon Ruins

Herodotus claimed the outer walls were 56 miles in length, 80 feet thick and 320 feet high. Wide enough, he said, to allow two four-horse chariots to pass each other. The city also had inner walls which were "not so thick as the first, but hardly less strong." Inside these double walls were fortresses and temples containing immense statues of solid gold. Rising above the city was the famous Tower of Babel, a temple to the god Marduk, that seemed to reach to the heavens.

The Hanging Garden of Babylon

The gardens were built to cheer up Nebuchadnezzar's homesick wife, Amyitis. Amyitis, daughter of the king of the Medes, was married to Nebuchadnezzar to create an alliance between the two nations. The land she came from, though, was green, rugged and mountainous, and she found the flat, sun-baked terrain of Mesopotamia depressing. The king decided to relieve her depression by recreating her homeland through the building of an artificial mountain with rooftop gardens.

The Lost City - Patagonia

Also known as The City of Caesar, South America

Also known as the Wandering City and the City of Patagonia, The City of the Caesars is a mythical city that is believed to have been located on the southernmost tip of South America in the region known as Patagonia. The city has never been found, and at this point it is considered more legend than anything, but in its time it was quite sought after by colonial explorers. 

It was said to have been founded by survivors of a Spanish shipwreck, and was believed to possess huge amounts of gold and jewels. Over time, a number of legends have formed around the City of the Caesars, with some saying that it was populated by 10-foot tall giants, and others claiming that it was a city of ghosts that could appear and disappear at will.

The Lost City - Troy

The Lost City of Troy, Turkey

Myth and Legend - The City of troy featured in Homers Iliad, from which Dr. Schliemann was originally inspired, and is said to have used in his determination of the location of the lost city. Homer mentions that Troy had been destroyed by Hercules long before the Greeks under Agamemnon, and this legend may refer to the destruction of the first city.

Ilus, the son of Tros founded Troy in 3000 BC, and the name Troy was derived from him.

Immortalised by the writings of Virgil and Homer, the ruins of Troy were first found by Charles McLaren in 1822 (2), and excavated by Dr. Heinrich Schliemann, in 1870. The city of Troy was re-discovered after a lifelong quest which led Dr. Schliemann to the plain of Troad, on the north-west coast of Turkey. Until its discovery, it was considered a fictional city in the 'Illiad', by Homer. The discovery is one of several 'mythological' places that have unearthed in the last two hundred years.

The ruin of Troy 

Dr. Schliemann discovered four settlements or cities beneath Illium, one below the other at Hissarlik, of which he determined the third deepest to have been Troy proper, where he found the so called 'Priam treasures'. 'These four cities were separated from each other by layers of ash and other marks of conflagration. The German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann excavated Troy from 1870 to 1890. His theft of treasure from Troy and his damage to the site will be always remembered in Turkish archaeological history. Wilhelm Dorpfeld followed to excavate Troy after Schliemann. Today, a new German team is still working to rebuild Troy ruins by using new advanced technologies since 1988.

The Lost City - Petra

Petra, The City of Stone, Jordan

Literally carved directly into vibrant red, white, pink, and sandstone cliff faces, the prehistoric Jordanian city of Petra was "lost" to the Western world for hundreds of years.

Located amid rugged desert canyons and mountains in what is now the southwestern corner of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Petra was once a thriving trading center and the capital of the Nabataean empire between 400 B.C. and A.D. 106.

The city sat empty and in near ruin for centuries. Only in the early 1800s did a European traveler disguise himself in Bedouin costume and infiltrate the mysterious locale.

The ancient Nabataean city of Petra flourished two thousand years ago as a center of international commerce and culture, due in large part to its location at the crossroads of two major caravan routes between Arabia and the Mediterranean. 

In addition to being accomplished traders, the Nabataeans were noted for their skill in architecture and hydraulic engineering. They carved magnificent tombs directly into the rose-colored sandstone cliffs and built thousands of other structures including temples, burial chambers, theaters, shops, and houses. 

Engineers developed and maintained an elaborate network of terraces, damns, and irrigation channels that allowed the Nabataeans to cultivate the soil of the surrounding plateau and bring running water into the city. At the height of its prosperity, Petra was home to a diverse population over 20,000 people.

The Lost City - El Dorado

The City of Gold, El Dorado, Colombia

The legend of El Dorado had been a dream of treasure hunters in the last few hundred years. A dream about a city filled with gold. But for hundreds of years away, no one of expeditions had a successfully to uncover the veil of mystery. Is El Dorado is only a fairy tale? Or the lost city of gold is a fact that was lost?

The scene depicted in this ancient artwork, on display at the Gold Museum in Bogota, Colombia, shows the origin of the El Dorado myth. Legend tells of a Muisca king who would cover himself in gold dust during festivals, then dive from a raft into Lake Guatavita.

Chibcha people think gold is a gift from the god of the sun and should be offered back to the god. Then the story is pushed through word of mouth mentions that the cult was making merged Chibcha tribes of gold as a shield for the building. Thus their temples coated with gold plate. But there is no remaining evidence of this.

El Dorado (Spanish for “the golden one”) is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dove into the lake Guatavita. Later it became the name of a legendary “Lost City of Gold” that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors.

One of the remarkable features of El Dorado is that despite being a legendary, lost city it has been "found" a number of times. One of those who allegedly discovered its secret wasAntionio de Berrio who declared Manoa to be near the source of the Caroni river.

Sir Walter Raleigh

The most famous seeker after El Dorado was Sir Walter Raleigh. His expedition began in 1595 and on his return he reported having discovered the legendary city. According to Raleigh, Manoa was situated on an island in Lake Parima, which was then in Guiana. Raleigh's account was taken up by Theodor De Bry in his Grand Voyageswhere the tale was elaborated on and accompanied by illustrations of the golden city. Unfortunately later expeditions found no trace of El Dorado where Raleigh had indicated.

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The Lost City - Memphis

Memphis, The Ancient Capital of Egypt

Memphis, "White Walls", was the first capital of Egypt following its unification by the pharaoh Menes. In the area around Memphis, at sites such as Saqqara and Dahshur, pharaohs and important officials were entombed over many centuries.

During the Greco-Roman period, Memphis lost much of its importance to Alexandria. With the Edict of Theodosius I (AD 379-95), Christianity was established as the official religion of the Roman Empire. The sites in and around Memphis became quarries for building projects in Cairo and the Temple of Ptah was destroyed. Thus, most of the information about the Memphite religious beliefs have been lost.

Most of what we know comes from the Shabaka Stone (seen at left). This stone commissioned by Pharaoh Shabaka when he found that the only written information of the Memphite beliefs was found on a worm-ridden piece of papyrus. He ordered that the papyrus be carved onto a stone so that its knowledge and information may last for all time. Unfortunately, since its original creation the Shabaka Stone was used as a millstone to grind grain and so some of the passages are no longer clear.

The people of Memphis believed that their god Ptah was the most ancient and pre-eminent of all the gods. Ptah was seen as the creator of all the other gods, the sun, and was responsible for the ripening of vegetation. The gods of Heliopolis were considered to be just forms or manifestations of Ptah. He was called the "heart and tongue" of the Ennead. To the Egyptians, the heart and tongue were the seat of the human soul and intellect. Ptah was said to be superior to Atum whocreated his Ennead "by his semen and his fingers".

Saqqara Complex

Ptah was more than just the creator of the physical world, he also created the spiritual world. He created the ka of each being. He was the creator of all good things, such as food, drink and the offerings of the gods. Ptah also created political order in the world by founding the cities and nomes of Egypt.

Memphis Triad

Sekhmet was Ptah's primary consort and his son was either Nefertem or Imhotep.


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The Lost City - Angkor

Angkor Wat Temple - 12th Century Capital City, Cambodia

The history of the region begins with the Funan civilization that arose in the first century A.D. The Angkor period began in 802 A.D when King Jayavarman II returned from exile in Java to reclaim his throne. He founded his capital as the city of Angkor. The city flourished and grew, but the temple of Angkor Wat was not built for another 200 years. It was Suryavarman II who had the Hindu temple constructed as his own burial shrine. Later ruler, Jayavarman VII continued building at Angkor and created countless monuments, shrines and temples within the city. So many years of construction has created a vast complex of sandstone buildings, often compared to the massive construction projects seen in ancient Egypt.

Angkor was abandoned in the mid 1400s when the Thai armies invaded. With few records surviving from that time, there are no solid facts as to the historical events that took place. It's believed that the capital was moved to Phnom Penh around 1434.

Today, Angkor Wat temple is considered the largest religious structure in the world, and has been named a world heritage site. Restoration is ongoing, though unexploded land mines left over from the civil war are hindering efforts.The ruins of Angkor Wat were rediscovered in 1860 by a French botanist, Henri Mouhot, who was exploring the Cambodian jungles. This lost civilization was of great interest to Western archaeologists and historians who flocked to the site to learn more about the Khmer. Before the ruins were found, even the locals thought the existence of the temple city was likely a myth. Some who had seen the city said that it had been built by the Gods themselves.

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The Lost City - Pompeii

The Ancient City of Pompeii, Italy

In the early afternoon hours of August 24, 79 A.D. the summit of Mount Vesuvius exploded without warning. A black river of ash and lapilli ran from the crater of the volcano down through the city of Pompeii leaving death and destruction in its wake. The magnificent ancient city of Pompeii was left buried under about 20 feet of earth and ash. Pompeii was originally only 500 meters from the sea, but after the eruption the distance to the sea increased to two kilometers.

petrified-man found in the city of Pompeii

Oscans settled along the shore of the Tyrrhenian Sea on an elevated lavic spur that was created by an ancient erution of Vesuvius during the 8th century B.C. The strategic location made Pompeii an object of great importance to the Estuscans. The Samnites arrived from the mountains of Irpinia in the 5th century, putting an end to the control of Campania by the Greeks and Etruscans.

It was inevitable that Pompeii would fall under the domination of Rome at the beginning of the Samnite Wars. Pompeii became a Roman colony in 80 B.C., taking the name "Colonia Veneria Cornelia Pompeii" which refers to both her conquerer and to the goddess Venus.

The Temple of Jupiter

Seventeen-hundred years later, architect Domenico Fontana happened across some inscriptions while building a tunnel in the area. Some excavation was done near the amphitheater at that time, but no one suspected that an entire city was buried there. The first scientific exploration of the site took place in 1748, directed by Charles of Bourbon. In 1860 Giuseppe Fiorelli invented a system of pouring liquid plaster into the spaces left in the ash bed.

Mount Vesuvius

Victims had remained in the House of the Fugitives during the volcanic eruption and the fall of lapilli. Later they had tried to escape under the ashes, but suffocated.

The oldest buildings of Pompeii date to the 6th century B.C. and likely only occupied a small part of the south-western area, between the main Forum and the Triangular Forum. Pompeii gradually expanded toward the east and the north. Most of the ruins date back to its establishment as a Roman colony in 80 B.C.

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The Lost City - Machu Pichu

Machu Pichu, Peru

Machu Picchu, The Lost city of the Incas, is a mystical, sacred place. Touched by the clouds, the ruins are one of the most enigmatic and beautiful ancient ruins in the world.

 An homage to Hiram Bingham plaque, at Machu Picchu, in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of its discovery in 1961

Rediscovered on July 24, 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham,Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in Quechua, the language spoken by the Incas) was thought to be a sanctuary for the preparation of priestesses and brides for the Inca nobility.

The Architecture of Machu Pichu

The dramatic setting in a remote area of the Peruvian Andes enhances the shroud of mystery even more. An absolute wonder of human heritage,Machu Picchu will touch your heart and soul in many ways.

The Lost City

Although the citadel is located only about 50 miles from Cusco, the Inca capital, it was never found and destroyed by the Spanish, as were many other Inca sites. Over the centuries, the surrounding jungle grew to enshroud the site, and few knew of its existence.

In 1911, Yale historian and explorer Hiram Bingham brought the “lost” city to the world’s attention. Bingham and others hypothesized that the citadel was the traditional birthplace of the Inca people or the spiritual center of the “virgins of the sun,” while curators of a recent exhibit have speculated thatMachu Picchu was a royal retreat.

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