I have always thought that one of the greatest things about the ancient world was their buildings. We tend to think of ourselves as great builders, but how long would one of our buildings last, if it were unattended? Would it be a few years, a hundred years, certainly not as much as 500 years before it fell down? One has only to look at the difference in construction methods. We usually build a big structure with steel and then cover it with sheets of granite, glass, or some other material. The ancients built most of their structures out of solid stone. The stone was so massive in some places, that we still can't figure out how some of it was moved. I think that some day, when we finally figure out how they did it, we are going to say, wow these people were smart and no it was not the extraterrestrials who really built these things. We know one of the methods that were used by the ancient Egyptians to built those gigantic stone temples. They used sand, ordinary, common sand. They would put down the first layer of stone, cover it with with sand so that the tops of the structure were protruding and put the next layer of stone on. They created a ramp this way. It was stone, sand, more stone, more sand, until the last layer was laid. Then they removed the sand and there was the completed temple, or whatever and it was a structure that could stand for thousands of years.

If you are wondering the age of the oldest structure in the world and where it is located, look no further than Japan. Prior to this discovery, France held the honors. In France the remains of a structure was found that was dated back 400,000 years. Yes you heard me correctly, 400,000 years, but then a discovery was made in Japan, it was the ruins of a structure that was 500,000 years old and thought to have been built by Homo Erectus. It is nothing more than ten post holes now, but tools were found there also. While no physical structure exists anymore, it does provide evidence that whatever race of people inhabited the earth at that time were builders. This was quite a scientific surprise. If we can find evidence of structures that are a half a million years old, who is to say that there are not older building remains out there?

While not as ancient as some buildings, there is a church in Paris that dates back to 511 AD. It is now part of a new building, but the original section is still being used. Can you imagine that 1700 years in the future people will still be using the Empire State building? These ancient buildings were not cared for and yet still stand either fully or partially. Could the steel in the Empire State building still remain strong enough to support that structure all that time? I am not an engineer, but I think that the ravages of time would somehow take the building down.

Parthenon

While many of the Roman buildings are in better condition than the ancient Greek ones, the Greek buildings were masterpieces never the less and a lot older than the Roman ones. The temple of Athena Nike is a very complete ruin. The roof is long gone, but the walls and columns are still standing, as is the platform and the steps leading into the temple. A lot of reconstruction has gone on in this area however and some of the structure was rebuilt, yet it is still a tribute to those ancient Greek builders. The temple was originally constructed in 427 BC., almost 2,500 years ago. I really shouldn't let you think that the Roman structures were not rebuilt and maintained by the Italian government, because many of them were, but this certainly does not detract from their magnificence. Another incredible Greek structure is the Parthenon. Truly a grand structure of very large proportions. Construction was begun in 477 BC and it is believed to have been completed in 438 BC. This is one of the grandest structures of the ancient world. Huge columns adorn the structure and it was purposely built on a grand scale to impress people that saw it. It is undergoing reconstruction and when finished, it should be even grander.

Great Pyramid

There is no way that I can avoid mentioning the Egyptian pyramids when I talk about ancient structures and buildings. The Grand pyramid is probably the most famous structure ever built and remained as one of the tallest right up until the 20th century. It is believed by most to have been built in 2560 BC, using unknown construction methods. While it is true that some say they know how it was constructed, no one has proven it to the satisfaction of the scientific community. Just the size of this monster is incredible. The Great Pyramid is the only object remaining of the original seven wonders of the ancient world. So far we know that three chambers exist inside the pyramid, however some suspect that there are others that are hidden. Huge stones were somehow placed one on top of the other to create this Monmouth structure and modern man has wondered how this was done ever since. While the Great Pyramid is the biggest pyramid in the world, it is not the oldest in Egypt. That honor belongs to the Step Pyramid of Djoser, which was built around 2575 BC. Many think that this pyramid was some sort of test to see it a true pyramid could be built.

With all this that I have spoken about, there are even older stone runs and these date back to 6,800 BC. and maybe even earlier. These ruins exist in one of the world's oldest cities and that city is Jericho. The city itself was abandoned several times and then rebuilt several times, but pieces of ancient stone work still exist, if you know where to look. Jericho is considered the world's oldest continuously inhabited city. I guess they don't count the times that it was abandoned, because people came back.