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Cities of the Ancient Near East
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Uru was the Sumerian term for a city or city state, written with the cuneiform ideogram URU 𒌷 
.
In Akkadian and Hittite orthography, URU became a determinative sign denoting a city, or combined with KUR "land" the kingdom or territory controlled by a city, e.g. 𒈗𒆳𒌷𒄩𒀜𒋾 LUGAL KUR URUHa-at-ti "the king of the country of [the city of] Hatti".
The largest cities in the Bronze Age Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands. Memphis in the Early Bronze Age with some 30,000 inhabitants was the largest city of the time by far. Ur in the Middle Bronze Age is estimated to have had some 65,000 inhabitants; Babylon in the Late Bronze Age similarly had a population of some 50-60,000, while Niniveh had some 20-30,000, reaching 100,000 only in the Iron Age (ca. 700 BC).
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- Further information: Mesopotamia
The principal Sumerian cities (from North to South) were:
- Agade
- Kish (Tell Uheimir & Ingharra)
- Babylon
- Borsippa (Birs Nimrud)
- Nippur (Nuffar)
- Isin (Ishan al-Bahriyat)
- Adab (Tell Bismaya)
- Shuruppak (Fara)
- Girsu (Tello)
- Lagash (Al-Hiba)
- Bad-Tibira (Al Medina)
- Uruk (Warka)
- Larsa (Tell as-Senkereh)
- Ur (al Muqayyar)
- Eridu (Abu Shahrain)
Minor cities:
- Sippar (Abu Habba)
- Kutha (Tell Ibrahim)
- Dilbat (Tell ed-Duleim)
- Marad (Tell Wannat es-Sadum)
- Kisurra (Tell Abu Hatab)
- Zabala (Tell Ibzeikh)
- Umma (Tell Jokha)
- Kuara (Tell al-Lahm)
- Eshnunna
- Akshak
- Abdju (Abydos) :
- Abu (Elephantine) :
- Akhetaten (Amarna) :
- Alexandria :
- Apu (Akhmim, Khen-min, Panopolis) :
- Behdet (Idfu) :
- Buhen :
- Djanet (Tanis / Zoan) :
- Hat-nen-nesu (Heracleopolis) :
- Hatwaret (Hawara) :
- Hatwaret (Avaris/Auaris) :
- Heraclion :
- Itj-Tawy (Lisht) :
- Iunu (Heliopolis) :
- Jebel Musa (Mount Sinai) :
- Khaset (Xois) :
- Khnum (Hermopolis) :
- Mennefer (Memphis) :
- Nabta :
- Naqada (Nagade) :
- Naucratis :
- Nekheb (Eileithyiaspolis) :
- Nekhen (Hierakonpolis) :
- Nubt : ?
- Pa-Kes (Faqus / Goshen) :
- Per-Bastet (Bubastis) :
- Per-Wadjet (Buto, Butosos) :
- Pi-Atum (Pithom) :
- Pi-Ramesse (Per-Ramessu, Raamses) :
- Pikuat (Canopus, Kanobos) :
- Pilak (Philae) :
- Qustul :
- Saqqara :
- Saqqara Serapeum :
- T-78 :
- Ta-ynt-netert (Dendera) :
- Taremu (Leontopolis) :
- Tell abu ar-Rus :
- Tell Abu Sefeh :
- Tell el-Borg :
- Tell er-Herr :
- Tell Hebua I :
- Tell Hebua II :
- Tell Kedua :
- Tjafanet (Tahpanhes, Daphnae, Baal Zephon) :
- Tjeku (Succoth, Tell el Maskhuta) : ?
- Tjenu (Thinis, Girga) : ?
- Waset (Thebes) :
- Zau (Sais) :
