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Urbanism The first cities of the world in a bird’s-eye view • O.Popescu, J. Stefan-Gorin

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THE FIRST CITIES OF THE WORLDIN A BIRD’S-EYE VIEW

Oana POPESCUCSIII, National Institute for Research and Development in Constructions,

Urban Planning and Sustainable Territorial Development “URBAN-INCERC”, URBANPROIECT Branch, Department of Territorial

Cooperation, Environment and Territory Observation, e-mail:[email protected]

Jianca ŞTEFAN-GORÎNACS, National Institute for Research and Development in Constructions,

Urban Planning and Sustainable Territorial Development “URBAN-INCERC”, URBANPROIECT Branch, Department of Territorial

Cooperation, Environment and Territory Observation, e-mail:[email protected]

Abstract. The paper presents an overall view of the first cities of the worldwhich are considered to be the origin of urbanization, as they are reflectedin historical bird’s-eye views and maps, on one hand, and in aerial views,obtained using modern technologies such as aerial photogrammetry, on theother hand. Historical bird’s-eye views of ancient cities, having a moreartistic style rather than a technical one and requiring thousands of hoursto be created, have been replaced nowadays with aerial photographyallowing realistic representations. The paper illustrates several bird’s-eyeviews and maps created between the 16th and 18th centuries by famousengravers in order to picture well-known cities, referring at the same timeto modern digital techniques that are used today to map, visualise, analyseand manage remains of ancient cities. The use of new research methods inarchaeology, such as aerial photogrammetry, high resolution satelliteimagery, UAVs, GIS and GPS techniques combined with classical surface orsub-surface survey tools is being exemplified in the case of 5 cities, origin ofurbanization, constituted in the first 4 millenniums BC.

Key words: aerial view, urbanization, cartography, photogrammetry,archaeological survey

1. IntroductionRecent studies showed that in a globalworld, global cities were born (Chubarov,2015), reflecting a global urban hierarchyand that urban agglomerations grownowadays in a sequential pattern (Shenget al., 2014). But looking back into the

history, we should remember that thefirst large urban settlements were formedin western Asia, in the same placeconsidered to be the birthplace of earlyhuman civilisations more than 6,000 yearsago (Aruz and Wallenfells, 2003). The riseof urban societies, together with major

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developments in human history, wasbased on new techniques such asirrigation and raised field agriculture andoccurred in ancient Mesopotamia(Matthews, 2003). Here, after 3500 BC,villages in the wetlands of southern Iraqgrew and became towns, and townsfurther grew and became cities. In fact,the only people in the world to have anurban civilization at that time were theSumerians. More than that, in the IndusValley, cities like Harappa or Mohenjo-Darro revealed a very controlledcivilization and the rectangular form ofthese cities (not surrounded by walls, butby massive embankments erected toprotect the cities from floods) shows thatthey were planned.

The first communities discovered byarchaeologists and labelled as “cities”date from the 4th Millennium BC, and arelocated in Sumer, on the alluvial plainbetween the Tigris and Euphrates, whichcorresponds to modern-day Southern Iraq(McClellan and Dorn, 2008). Here, inMesopotamia, where reading and writingwere invented, we find what is consideredto be the region of primary urbanization(Van De Mieroop, 1997). In cities, theSumerians lived in crowded housessurrounded by defensive walls, due tothreats (the nomads’ invasion, floods) andto the joint work they did (channelsmaintenance, dams rising, and irrigationcontrol). The Sumerian cities and temples– such as their famous ziggurats – werebuilt from sun-dried bricks.

A short bird’s-eye view of the first citiesthat developed and flourished betweenthe 4th Millennium BC and the beginningof our era points to several outstandingcities from Mesopotamia, such as Uruk(in the 4th Millennium BC, and consideredto be the first planned city of the world),Ur (in the 3rd Millennium BC, one of the

primordial cities having an irregulardevelopment), or later the Babylon (in the2nd Millennium BC, considered to be,then, the largest city in the world, layingon more than 100 hectares). Persepolis (inthe Persian Empire), one of the mostimportant world heritage archaeologicalsites in our days, was seen in the firstmillennium BC as a universal city. InSyria, the city of Al-Rawda was builtaround 2500 BC in a region that madeurbanization impossible, and the city ofDamascus is viewed as one of the veryfew ancient places that knew urban life inthe 2nd Millennium BC. The city ofMohenjo-Daro, in the 3rd Millennium BCrevealed a planned city in Pakistan and,in ancient Greece, the city of Knossos,considered to be the Europe’s mostancient city in the 2nd Millennium BC,was built around a palace, thus known asthe “city-palace”. Jerusalem, prior tobecoming a holy city, was in the 18th

century BC a royal city of modest size.

1.1. Beginning of urbanization reflected inmaps, cartography, design

Even in the past, “surveying” techniqueswere employed by the people who werein charge with marking the boundaries oftheir cities. This happened inMesopotamia as well, but the Sumeriansalso used these techniques in order tocreate plans of their cities.

The first known maps were drawn asplans and were carved in clay tablets bythe ancient Babylonians around 2300 B.C.(Woods and Woods, 2011). Also, at thebeginning of the 3rd Millennium, peoplein Egypt created surveying instrumentsto help them place boundary stones thatwould mark the fields’ borders or theirrigation systems (Headrick, 2009).

Maps are “graphic representationsenabling a spatial understanding of


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things, concepts, conditions, processes,or events in the human world” (Harlyand Woodward, 1987). But a map is notonly a document showing a structure onthe world, with abstract characteristics, aparticular scale on a flat surface in agraphical and photogrammetric way, butit also communicates geographic aspectsin an artistic way. Design issues play animportant role in cartography in order topresent particular spatial features (“OnePicture is worth Ten Thousand Words”).Historic bird’s-eye views reflect thisaffirmation.

1.2. Historical bird’s-eye views of the urbanlandscape

According to the Dictionary (Webster’sNew World College Dictionary, 2016), theexpression “a bird’s-eye view” can beused either to describe “a view or aperspective from above or at a distance”,or, in a figurative way, to have “anoverall, but cursory, view” of a subject.The present research refers to bothmeanings.

The phrase “bird’s-eye view” was used inthe history of photographs long beforethat of “aerial view”, terms that areconsidered to be somehow synonymstoday. Being in connection with apanoramic view (took from above andhaving a perspective), a bird’s-eye view isvery often used when producing maps.Such maps can provide larger views of acertain area, putting emphasis on what isimportant, and they have an artistic style(they show landscape features inperspective, as well as objects, buildings,people etc.) rather than a technical one(they don’t have a scale). Instead of usingthe horizontal or oblique perspective, aswe use today, the maps which weredrawn in the past in a bird’s-eye viewwere represented as if they were lookingdown from the sky, such a bird might see,

so that the area was seen from above andat an oblique angle.

The history of such drawings and mapsdepicting famous cities of the worldreveals that some of them requiredthousands of hours to be created. Theyusually gave an idealized appearance ofthe cities they were describing,presenting them in a positive light.

The bird’s-eye view maps areinteresting and also important, sincethey can give an idea of the history ofregions and cities.

The “city maps” or “city views” that weknow today represented in ancient timesan artistic science called “chorography”, aname that was first used by Ptolemy in itsGeography, in the second century of ourera. At the beginning, this art was used todescribe or to map small parts of theworld, such as regions or cities.

If in medieval cartography such mapswere not very accurate in theirproportions, the European Renaissancedeveloped a very precise art of showingbird’s-eye views of the urban landscape.Graphic techniques were used to drawcity views and the Renaissance artistsused the bird’s-eye views to representtheir cities (such as Jacopo de‘Barbari in1500, in a view of Venice). Between 1562and 1570, the Flemish artist Anton vanden Wyngaerde (whose artistic valuewas recently re-discovered) accomplished62 views of cities and major towns inSpain, which were more realistic anddetailed compared to other previoussimilar works, but still representing anidealized urban space (Cabezos-Bernaland Cisneros-Vivó, 2015). He alsocontributed with city views for theGeorge Braun’s City Atlas, Civitates OrbisTerrarum. Giacomo Lauro, known for its


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illustrations, published in 1641 theAntiquae urbis splendor, containing earlyviews of Rome and representing one ofthe most beautiful works emphasizing itsmonuments. In its bird’s-eye view ofancient Rome, more than 100 places ofinterest were identified.

Between the 18th and the 19th centuries,the French Architect Alfred Guesdon,produced bird’s-eye views of severalcities from France, Italy, Spain andSwitzerland. Used at first for advertisingor commercial purposes, these maps havebecome more precise with thedevelopment of modern cartography, inthe 19th Century. In that period, each cityhad its own panoramic map.

1.3. Bird’s-eye views and maps of ancientcities, in illustrations

The great city atlas, previouslymentioned, Civitates Orbis Terrarum,edited by Georg Braun and engraved byFranz Hogenberg, published in sixvolumes between 1572 and 1617,contained 546 aerial views of urbanspaces, in the form of prospects, bird’s-eye views and maps. It was the firstcollection of city plans and views havinga uniform style and presenting the urbanlife in that period (Nuti, 1994). The planswere accompanied by the history of thecities they illustrated, the atlas being usedas a travel guide. Nowadays, the authorsre-editing this atlas consider it the“Google Map’s ancestor”, as it presents“a snapshot of urban life in circa 1600”(Braun and Hogenberg, 1585).

The city of Damascus, which has beeninhabited for more than 10.000 yearsnow, is one of the oldest places to knowurban life. In the 11th century BC, theAramaic kings made Damascus a city-capital. Although imaginative, the mapof Damascus is correctly reflecting the

river that flows through the city and isused for irrigations (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. The oldest map of Damascus: Braun andHogenberg, Civitates Orbis Terrarum or Cities of the

World, 1585

Braun’s City Atlas also illustrated bird’s-eye views of the city of Jerusalem as itwas in biblical times. But it seems that themost important plan of the city isconsidered to be (Siew, 2008) the onebelonging to Christian van Adrichom,which presents itself under the form of arectangular map. The author useddifferent sources, such as panoramicviews of the city or textual information.Prior to the archaeological discoveriesfrom the XIXth century, this plan ofJerusalem was considered to be a correctplan of the city, presenting anddescribing more than 250 locations. Theauthor is famous for the atlas entitledTheatrum Terrae Sanctae, containing 12maps and plans together withchorographical descriptions, includingthe Jerusalem town plan.

In terms of urban development,Jerusalem can be considered one of theearliest cities in the world. The ancientfortified town which took shape in theXVIIth century BC was going to become


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four centuries later a royal city, of modestsize, being under Egyptian control andknown as Urushalim or Rushalim.Archaeologists have encountereddifficulties in finding traces of differentcities that managed to flourish in placeswith unfriendly geographicalcharacteristics, which forced theconstruction of terraces and embankments.Since the 9th Century BC, the town,renamed Jerusalem, grew and progressedfrom an urban development point ofview, thus becoming, in the 17th centuryBC, a regional administrative centre withwater adductions and underground waterchannel. Starting with the 3rd century, thecity is seen as a sacred place.

Another ancient city, Babylon, wasknown long before the archaeologistsfound its remains, being mapped manytimes throughout history by travellers andexplorers. Henry Fletcher (famousengraver of flowers but also known forseveral city views) created in 1740 a bird’s-eye view of the city of Babylon, in whichthe Euphrates River, flowing in the centre,was surrounded by palaces, sanctuariesand by the famous tower of Babel.

In modern times, bird’s-eye views andimaginary representations of the citieswere replaced with aerial photographyand digital techniques allowing realisticrepresentation of cities. The results ofapplying aerial and related techniques inurban planning and archaeology in orderto map (Castrianni et al., 2010), exploreand describe the ancient sites andlandscapes which portray the first cities inthe world and the beginning of urbanization –are presented below. Aerial photos,together with high resolution satelliteimagery or UAV photogrammetry wereused to obtain accurate mapping, topreserve or to make reconstructions ofcities considered to be the roots of

urbanization - such as Uruk, Ur, Babylon,Persepolis, Al Rawda or Knossos.

2. Aerial photographs, an important toolfor re-discovering history

2.1. Aerial photography and archaeologyThe history of aerial photography recordsthe first aerial photo in 1858, taken by thephotographer, journalist and caricaturistTournachon Gaspard Felix, known asNadar, from a balloon above aneighbourhood in Paris (Verhoeven, 2009).

As a consequence of the development oftechnology, the language of photographyand, subsequently, of aerial photographyoffers a new conception and perception ofhistory (Cadava, 1997). Applications ofaerial photography include, amongothers, archaeology, architecture orproperty survey (Aber et al., 2002).

Today, exploratory aerial surveys canoffer a new image of the past. Airbornearchaeologists and landscape plannerswork together with digital images andphotographs, interpreting them andcontributing to the protection ofarchaeological sites and landscapes.Besides field-surveys and excavations,beginning with the ’90s, aerialinformation – either from historicalphotographs (as previously described),or recently from aerial exploration –offer a better understanding of thehistory of our cities, together with othermodern methods and technologies, suchas remote sensing.

Ordinarily, the photos are taken accordingto their purpose: for planning and spatialanalysis they are taken vertically, and foroutlining distinct features or forperspectives the photos are takenobliquely. Oblique aerial photographs areconsidered to be more suitable in


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archaeological research, providing moreintuitive and easy-to-read data andinformation (Ceraudo, 2013).

Archaeology, being a spatial discipline, isdeeply dependent on accuratedocumentation. This is why aerialphotography is of great importance toarchaeologists (today it is known as“aerial archaeology”), acquiring detaileddigital aerial images and thus giving anexpanded view of the archaeological sitesthey were studying, in the context of alarger landscape (Verhoeven et al., 2009).Aerial archaeology was born with the firstphotograph of an archaeological site(Stonehenge) taken from an airplane in1906 by P.H. Sharpe and it is more andmore used nowadays since aerial viewsallow the discovery of new archaeologicalsites, being better visible from the air.Aerial survey and air photographs canoffer information that is not visible atground level, being used to discover newsites or to acquire more information aboutother sites already examined and thus cancontribute to a better understanding ofancient settlements. It also represents aunique tool for presenting ancient sites intheir topographical environment, byhelping to identify a site and assigning theexact location of excavations.

2.2. Modern techniques used to maparchaeology

Aerial photography works nowadayswith a sophisticated set of tools foracquiring digital imagery, from mannedor unmanned vehicles. There are precisemethods to map the physical features of aplace, such as aerial photography, orsatellite imagery and remote sensingtechniques. The maps produced with thehelp of specialized software such as GISor CAD incorporate precious spatialinformation and databases that can beused for distinct goals.

Spatial technology in archaeology is usedfor visualisation or for spatial datamanagement and analysis. The GIS givethe archaeologists the possibility to have2D or 3D visualisations and to makespatial analyses, and together withremote sensing, digital maps of largeareas can be obtained. Using satellite andairborne radar data, new sites can bediscovered and landscapes can besurveyed. Through its modellingapplications, GIS allows the prediction ofthe location of archaeological sites. GIS isalso a powerful tool in the studies ofsettlement patterns (McCoy andLadefoged, 2009). In order to find andmap archaeological features, aerialphotography is being used (includingremotely controlled airborne cameras)together with satellite imagery (Landsat,SPOT, IKONOS, ASTER etc.) or differentkind of radars (SIR, SAR, AIRSAR). Inorder to detect buried architecture it isrecommended that multiple methods areused. The LIDAR technology, which wasinvented in the '60s to study atmosphericcomposition, since the '70s it began to beused in cartography, and since 2003,along with other technologies, allowedthe best possible picture of the soil,passing through vegetation that coveredit, being thus used in other disciplinessuch as spatial planning or archaeology.

Aerial images of sites can also beobtained by using drones (Sauerbier andEisenbeiss, 2010). Although a relativelynew technology, the Unmanned AerialVehicles (UAVs) are increasingly used tomap archaeological sites and to create 3Dmaps of ancient sites in order to protectthem. It is a quicker method than usingsatellite imagery and GPS data. Byoffering a detailed aerial perspective,drones give a new spatial perspective.Using UAVs with thermal cameras,which detects infrared light (the heat), it


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is possible to see buried parts of a site,which is covered by vegetation or soil,without digging.

In comparison to traditional forms ofaerial imaging, drones have theadvantage of covering large areas, havinga fixed speed and altitude, and allowingto be used under different weatherconditions. Drones are seen as a crucialtool for archaeological conservation, asthey can set the boundaries of the sites’protection area. They can also monitorthese sites and create digital archives forthem, building awareness among thepopulation or helping to reconstruct thedamaged sites (Musson et al., 2013).

2.2.1. UAV photogrammetry for a presumedcity - Çatalhöyük

It seems that the first map in the world –in fact a landscape painting resembling amap – was created in 6200 BC (accordingto radioactive dating) in Mesopotamia,were the civilization was born, in themost impressive of the Neolithic villages,named Çatalhöyük, situated in Anatolia,modern Turkey (Fig. 2). The painting isconsidered to be a plan of the settlementand it presents about 80 houses clusteredtogether, the entrance being cut throughthe horizontal roofs. In today’s virtualreconstructions, Çatalhöyük is mappedwith multi-staged houses, having the exitthrough the ceiling.

Fig. 2. The bird’s-eye view of Çatalhöyük, the firstmap in the world. Painting from the walls of a

shrine at Çatalhöyük (Turkey)

The inhabitants drew the map of theircity from a bird’s-eye view and from now

on, later civilizations followed thispattern of representing maps of theirsettlements, as a convention. The mapdescribes, seen from above, in a verticalprojection, a village and a volcano thaterupted, in a schematic landscaperepresentation, graphically distorted inorder to communicate reality in anefficient way (Kriz, 2013). The plan can beseen in the Museum of AnatolianCivilizations in Ankara.

The first cities did not appear suddenly,but over a period of hundreds orthousands of years (Mlodinow, 2015) andthis slow evolution makes difficult toappreciate the moment when a villagecan be classified as a city. When the siteof Çatalhöyük, covering 13 hectares, wasdiscovered in 1960, it was considered thatthe remains belong to a city. Nowadays,when discovering the vestiges of anancient settlement, specialists areconsidering that the differentiationbetween a big village and a big city ismade by the fulfilment of severalconditions, such as: the presence of animportant river nearby, the occurrence ofa strongly hierarchically developedsociety, the existence of gods protectingthe city, the increased specialization ofactivities. But, although 5,000 peoplelived in Çatalhöyük (8,000 accordingother opinions, meaning 2,000 families) inneighbouring houses, artefacts show thatthere is no labour division, each familyconducting independent daily activities.The people in Çatalhöyük wereconnected only through a commonculture and shared spiritual beliefs. Thisis the reason why archaeologists do notconsider Çatalhöyük a city, but aNeolithic village.

The Çatalhöyük 2015 Archive Report(Members of the Çatalhöyük ResearchProject, 2015) describes the final result of


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using UAV photogrammetry,respectively a very accurate map of thesite. The drones were used in low flightsfor each area of excavation and in highflights for the landscape. 2D and 3Ddigital maps resulted, such as geo-referenced photos, the digital geo-referenced photo-plan of the site (2 cmaccuracy), the Digital Terrain Model orthe Digital Surface Model of the site.

2.2.2. Aerial photos of the first planned city –Uruk

Aerial photos followed by highresolution satellite imagery (Fig. 3), wereused after 2001 in order to discoverpotential illegal digging and to acquirebetter knowledge on the structure of thecity of Uruk (or Warka, in Arabic), themost outstanding of the first cities, whichappeared around 4,000 BC in the NearEast as an important force in the trendtowards urbanization.

The city of Uruk is located in South-Eastern Iraq, near the modern city ofBasra. Most of its territory is desert, yetits geography is attractive since in themiddle of the region the Tigris andEuphrates rivers form a fertile plain –Mesopotamia, i.e. “between the rivers” inancient Greek. Unlike any other city inMesopotamia, in Uruk the urban life,between 3500 and 2900 BC, is bestexemplified (Enciclopedia UniversalaBritannica, 2010). In Uruk (considered tobe the oldest city in the world)urbanization had become possible bydigging irrigation channels (one of thewonders of the ancient world) and by theexpansion of food supplies.

Uruk exceeded in size any other ancientsettlement. Archaeologists havediscovered that Uruk had between 50,000and 100,000 inhabitants (even 200,000according to other opinions), 10 times

more than in Çatalhöyük. At the end ofthe 4th Millennium BC the city had 230hectares, and reaching 500 hectares at theend of the 3rd Millennium, when the citywas surrounded by defensive walls 10km long, with 900 towers, each 9 metreshigh (Fig. 4).

Fig. 3. 30m resolution Landsat image of Uruk©Landsat TM imagery provided by

NASA/A.Sherratt, 2004

Fig. 4. Uruk, the first planned city in the world© Jodi Summers, 2014

In Uruk, the political and religious centreof the city was the architectural complexnamed Eanna (Gates, 2003). The plan ofthe city and its architecture show ahierarchical society. The urban lifestylerequired a centralized organization, thedevelopment of exchange systems andshared systems for the storage of surplusfood. This is why thick defensive walls,adapted roads and large buildings werenecessary to be built. The demand of


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information has led to the emergence ofan intellectual, specialized class, as wellas to the development of systems forreading, writing and arithmetic.

2.2.3. Aerial photos of a primordial city - UrIn 2014, as part of a program for theconservation and maintenance of the site,drones were used to capture aerial photosof the UR archaeological site (Carlucci,2014). The hundreds of frames taken bythe UAV formed the first ortho-photomapof the UR archaeological site. According tothe same cited source, archaeologicalremains were viewed from above of 150meters of altitude with a good resolution(the average resolution is 20 cm).

The city of Ur, one of the oldest cities inMesopotamia (Curtis et al., 2008), wasfounded about 2100 BC, by the king Ur-Nammu, becoming the economic andpolitical capital of a centralized state anddominating Mesopotamia for 100 years. Itdeveloped irregularly, as all primordialcities did. The houses dating from the UrI period were small, with an area of 25-30square meters and a small number ofrooms. Narrow streets divided the cityinto neighbourhoods with housesclustered together. There were manycanals used for the irrigation of crops.

In 1835 an English archaeologist realizesthat this deserted region had covered manycities in antiquity and archaeologicalexcavations have revealed ruins of ancientbiblical fortress Ur. The city was dedicatedto the god of the Moon (Nanna), thereligious assembly being dominated by atowering ziggurat, whose remains arepresent today. The inscriptions reveal thatboth temple and defensive walls and canalswere rebuilt. A mosaic dating from theUruk period was discovered inside thetemple (Daniel, 1983), and the high artisticlevel that had been reached in that period

is proved by the furniture and objectsfound in the royal tombs discovered in1922. The city’s decay occurred at the endof the IIIrd Millennium.

2.2.4. GIS and GPS techniques for the largestcity of the ancient world- Babylon

In another important Mesopotamian city,Babylon, technology played an importantrole after the year 2000, archaeologicalsurvey including satellite images, GISand GPS techniques together with surfaceand sub-surface survey tools.

Founded in the late third millennium BC,the city of Babylon, the religious andpolitical capital of the kingdom ofHammurabi, knew its peak in the VIcentury BC, when it was regarded as aplace of prosperity and happiness (Vander Spek, 2008). It is even said it was thelargest city in the world, so great that,according to Herodotus, its residents hadreceived the news of its conquest only afew days after the event.

The city plan of Babylon reveals that thecity, which covers 100 hectares, wassurrounded by a defensive wall of 11 kmhaving three successive walls and a ditchfilled with water. The royal palace had200 rooms and 5 large patios. Here can befound one of the 7 wonders of the world– the Hanging Gardens of Babylon andalso the most famous ziggurat ofMesopotamia, identified as being themythical Tower of Babel (Walton, 1995).

2.2.5. Remote sensing data for a universalcity - Persepolis

Aerial photographs were taken duringsurveys over the site of Persepolis evensince 1935 in the scope of aerial mappingand exploration. Recently, remote sensingdata together with field survey methodswere used in archaeological researches,and air photos and images were taken at


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Persepolis, one of the most importantworld heritage archaeological sites (Behnazand Samani, 2006). Reconnaissance flightshelped to map features that were knownonly from ancient writings andphotographs were taken at different hoursand in different seasons in order to obtaincorrect photographic results. Verticalphotographs described the generalmapping of the area, while obliquephotographs depicted the remains alreadyin the process of being excavated. Morethan four hundred ancient sites weremapped in the Persepolis region in only 13hours of flying.

The city of Persepolis, whose ruins arelocated in the southwest of present Iraq,was one of the capitals of the PersianEmpire, that stretched from the Nile tothe Indus. Bringing togetherMesopotamian, Egyptian and ionicinfluences, the city was founded around520 BC by King Darius I. Architects andbuilders have worked almost twocenturies to build this city, which wasmeant to be universal (Gwilt, 1851).

Grandiose gates ensured the entry intothe city, leading to a sumptuous palacecomplex, located on a terrace built intothe mountain. The city, composed ofgardens and houses, lied in the plains.The main activity of the city consisted ofagricultural exploitation, ensured by thesewerage network that supplied the city,the gardens and the fields. The cuneiformroyal inscriptions engraved in theconstructions and the clay tablets showedthat the city of Persepolis had a centralrole in the Persian Empire, asadministrative and religious centre.

2.2.6. GPS and air photogrammetry for a cityin the middle of nowhere – Al Rawda

The expansion of urbanism that occurredin Mesopotamia during the Uruk period

was followed by a second urbanrevolution that took place in Syria, in theIIIrd Millenium BC (Castel andPeltenburg, 2007).

Discovered in 1996 in an archaeologicalsurvey, the site of Al-Rawda wasexcavated until 2002, and geo-archaeological studies were done (Gondetand Castel, 2004). Aerial photographsand satellite images were obtained andalso a GIS has been developed.

The City of Al Rawda (Al Rawda tell, inSyria) was founded around 2500 BC, in anarid region, a depression situated halfwaybetween the Mediterranean Sea and theEuphrates river, away from the famouscities of Mesopotamia. Archaeologicalexcavations have brought to light theremains of an economically grandiose city.Although urbanization seemed impossiblein this arid region with no roads, the cityplayed a key role in the urbandevelopment of the entire region.

Fig. 5. Hypothetical view of Al Rawda© Franco-Syrian archaeological mission of Al

Rawda

The city, a circular site of about 16 hectares,of which 12 ha in a circular enclosure, (Fig.5) was created following a geometric townplan, extremely coherent, that couldaccommodate several thousand people,providing a dense coverage of the territory.Its urban plan reveals a typical Syrian


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urban model, being a possible witness of anauthentic spatial planning policy. Images ofthe radial street network were offered bymagnetic maps (Gondet and Benech, 2009).The city had a defensive function(according to its 4 lines of fortification), aswell as religious and funeral functions (thebig temple and the other 2 smaller onesrespecting this type of plan and occupyingalmost a third of the built area).

The fact that this agglomeration,occupied for 300 years (between -2200and -2500 BC), experienced fewsubsequent disturbances, offered idealconditions for archaeological excavationsthat occurred after 2000 (i.e. in 2002 and2010). Another reason for the researchwas to find out why and who foundedthe city, and why it was abandoned.Therefore, in addition to geo-physicalprospection, GPS systems and airphotogrammetry were used to study a100 square kilometres area having Al-Rawda in the centre. A system of damswas discovered, ensuring the irrigation ofcrops. All archaeological discoveriesshowed that the city had an extensivetrade network (apparently being a stopfor caravans). This is why the city’svoluntary abandonment is not yetknown, as it is not justified neither interms of conflict or climate.

3. Discussion and further stepsThe article represents a comparativeanalysis of the methods and techniquesused to represent cities throughouthistory, from ancient times until presentdays. It refers to urbanization and historiccartography and discusses the use ofmodern technologies in mapping and theprotection of the remains of ancient cities.

The study focused on a time period inwhich the first cities were born. Theancestors of modern cities and urban

agglomerations, which developed startingwith the 4th Millennium BC, were “modest”cities of maximum 200,000 inhabitants. Incontrast with the few urbanised areas fromancient times, nowadays, more than half ofthe world’s population lives in cities(Villiers M., 2015). Statistics show that everyday, the existing urban population growsby a number of 190,000 people. If 40 yearsago there were only 2-3 urbanagglomerations with more than 10 millioninhabitants, today there are 30.

If in the 17th century the city views werepresented in dedicated city atlases,published in Germany, Italy and Franceas engraved illustrations, nowadays theycan be precisely obtained by modernmeans of data collection andrepresentation. Besides the classicalsurface and sub-surface survey tools,there is a wide range of applications ofmodern technologies, such as UAVphotogrammetry (drones), highresolution satellite imagery, GIS and GPStechniques and they are capable ofobtaining 2D and 3D digital maps andhighly accurate geo-referenced photosand photo-plans.

The ancient cities are important witnessesof the beginning of civilisation and thusthey must be known and protected.Moreover, old maps represent importanthistorical documents presenting thespatial relations in the past. The use ofnew technologies in locating and mappingruins of ancient urban settlements is a wayof ensuring their protection, as well as away to preserve the past.

These are not surprising results, sincethey are in accordance with recentstudies outlining the capabilities of aerialphotography and satellite images inacquiring the features omitted by classicalmaps, and mentioning the GIS tools and


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functions that allow visualisation,virtualisation and 3D models (Nieścioruk,2016). Besides that, the results of otherrecent studies are in total compliancewith the results of the present one,outlining the huge practical potential ofthese technologies that can be used tofind solutions for urban issues bystudying the historical development ofold cities (Alqatrani, 2015). Thesepractical results can be further extendedto face modern concerns, such as usingremote sensing images for changedetection in land-use cover in urbanareas, in order to quantify spatial andtemporal characteristics of theurbanization patters and the dynamics ofurban expansion (Atak et al, 2014).

During the research, the authors intendedto present examples of using moderndata acquisition techniques at nationallevel in similar preoccupations, but thelack of information and available datarepresented an obstacle. This is why webelieve that a similar research can bedone in the case of Romanian ancientcities – such as the Roman and Greekcities, situated close to the Black Sea coastor the Danube, in order to promote newtools that can help archaeologists andurban planners to locate and, finally, toprotect important national heritage sites.The present article is partially based on aprevious study (Tache et al, 2010), whichresulted in the development of ageospatial integrated system for thelocation and protection of archaeologicalsites, and in which the main author of thearticle was directly involved. Theresearch focused on the methods used toprecisely determine the location ofancient archaeological sites of nationalimportance in Tulcea County in Romania.

We believe that, on the basis of the resultsof the current study, the research can be

further deepened, through a newtheoretical and practical approach whichrecommend the use of the new non-invasive technologies in the field of urbanand spatial planning and archaeology, inorder to obtain more accurate results.

4. ConclusionsIn conclusion, modern digitaltechnologies help archaeologists andplanners acquire a better understandingof the importance and characteristics ofancient cities, as places where civilizationand urbanization were born. Scienceswith a strong spatial character, such asspatial planning or archaeology are nolonger making use of classical approaches– which are often approximate,incomplete or erroneous – but, startingwith the middle of the last century, theyrely on new technologies which initiallyhad a limited applicability. Technologiessuch as aerial photogrammetry andsatellite imagery, Radar and LiDar, space-based navigation systems, geo-processing, change detection - representinnovative tools that can be used inactivities related to land management, inurban and spatial planning or inarchaeology. By exploiting the potentialof ICT and developing an economy basedon knowledge and innovation, "smartgrowth" can be achieved, which is a goalunderpinning the Europe 2020 Strategy.

AcknowledgementsThe idea of this research was based onfindings and conclusions emerged fromthe CENTRIC project – Centre of Excellencein Territorial Management and Cadastre,project no. 664573, developed underH2020-WIDESPREAD-2014-1. The projectaims in its first step to develop acomplete business plan and strategy ofthe future centre. Being the only selectedproject from Romania in the H2020Program in WIDESPREAD competition,


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it has as Lead Partner the NationalAgency for Cadastre and LandRegistration, and, as a second Romanianpartner, INCD URBAN-INCERC.Partners from Italy, Germany, Belgiumand Luxembourg are representingimportant cadastral agencies, universitiesand companies working in the geo-spatialfield. The project is dealing with majordigital technologies that are actually usedto deliver, process, update, integrate andvisualise geo-data, such as LocationBased Services, Unmanned AerialVehicles, Big Data, 3D Modelling andvisualisation.

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Received: 14 February 2016 • Revised: 31 March 2016 • Accepted: 2 April 2016

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