Where’d Everybody Go?
This week covers just a few of the world’s lost and abandoned cities.
Sunday
Atlantis was invented by Plato as as a plot device in two of the philosopher’s morality tales written about 360 BC. It was not the peaceful utopia of the modern imagination, but a powerful and corrupt rival to Athens. With scant evidence, a 19th century Minnesota Congressman named Ignatius Donnelly promoted the idea that this Platonic invention was both a real island and the original source of all major advancements in civilization and technology, informing the modern conception of Atlantis. Despite Plato’s description of the alleged location, no evidence of the place has been found.
Monday
In ancient Greece, the volcanic ash of Mt. Vesuvius made the nearby soil fertile and local cities wealthy from excellent crops, but at a terrible price. When the volcano violently erupted in 79 AD, the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and others were overwhelmed by with ash, gasses, lava and raining rocks, killing about 16,000. When the abandoned city was excavated beginning in 1748, it seemed that time had hardly touched it. Residents’ bodies, everyday items, and even meals were largely found in excellent condition under the preserving ash layers.
Tuesday
The city of Troy was prominent in classical literature, including as the main setting for Homer’s Illiad, but for centuries scholars debated its exact location or even if it existed outside of mythology. The city, located near modern day Hisarlik, Turkey, had in fact been a settlement for almost three millennia going back to the Bronze Age, including during the time of the Trojan War, but was abandoned about 1500 years ago, later to be discovered in the 19th century, and is still being excavated to this day.
Wednesday
An explosion and fire at Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 led to the evacuation of about 200,000 people in and around the adjacent town of Pripyat. Since then, this city has remained abandoned and largely off limits on account of the radiation danger.
Thursday
At the city’s 12th century peak, Angkor in modern day Cambodia was home to over 750,000 people spread over a sprawling 400 square mile area, giving it “the largest footprint of any urban development in the pre-industrialized world.” But by the 15th century, the vast city was largely emptied, though a small number Buddhist monks remained over the years. Scholars continue to advance theories as to the economic, military, and environmental reasons for the dramatic population change.
Friday
Between 1959 and 1966, the US military operated a military base under the Greenland ice sheet known as “Camp Century,” since it was originally planned to be 100 miles from the edge of the ice sheet. This abandoned camp, designed to house 200, is still there, but some of the radioactive waste generated during its active years is now in increasing danger of spreading as the ice melts due to climate change.
Saturday
Pakistan’s Mohenjo-Daro was a thriving city of at least 40,000 people for 800 years or more until it was abandoned in about 1700 BC. Rediscovered in 1922, ongoing excavations have revealed that the town was elaborately planned and constructed, contained hundreds of wells, huge public baths, a complex flood control system, and even private residential toilets.