Damascus may be the oldest continuously inhabited city

Few places can claim a longer unbroken human story than Damascus. As Britannica puts it, “among the ancient cities of the world, Damascus is perhaps the oldest continuously inhabited.” Its very name may predate written history, hinting that the settlement existed before anyone thought to record it.

The Syrian capital was already an active commercial centre by the 2nd millennium BCE, and other authorities push its origins even earlier. National Geographic notes the city was “founded in the third millennium B.C.” and “vies for — and just might own — the title of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited city.”

Across Aramean kingdoms, Roman provinces, the Umayyad caliphate and beyond, the streets of Damascus have never fully emptied.

Rivals such as Jericho, Aleppo and Byblos make similar claims, and the title is hard to settle — but Damascus remains one of the strongest contenders.