Damascus, Syria

Continuously inhabited since: 6300 BC
Damascus is the capital and the second largest city of Syria. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major cultural and religious centre of the Levant. Damascus is often claimed to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, and evidence exists of a settlement in the wider Barada basin dating back to 9000 BC. However, within the area of Damascus, there is no evidence for large-scale settlement until the second millennium BC. Carbon-14 dating at Tell Ramad, on the outskirts of Damascus, suggests that the site may have been occupied since the second half of the seventh millennium BC, possibly around 6300 BC.