Aleppo, Syria

Continuously inhabited since: 5000 BC
Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. Aleppo has scarcely been touched by archaeologists since the modern city occupies its ancient site. Therefore, it’s hard to put a precise date on how old the city is. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied from around 5000 BC. The city’s continuous inhabitation is due to its strategic trading position that attracted settlers of all races and beliefs who wished to take advantage of the commercial roads that met in Aleppo from as far as China and Mesopotamia to the east, Europe to the west, and the Fertile Crescent and Egypt to the south. Today, with an official population of 2,132,100 (2004 census), it is one of the largest cities in the Levant.