A Chinook helicopter flies over a stretch of desert in Iraq. Many ancient cities that have not been found are in the Middle East. (Image credit: Owen Franken/Getty Images)

Archaeologists have been very busy excavating lost civilizations, but they haven't found everything. There are still prominent ancient cities, including capitals of large kingdoms and empires, that have never been unearthed by scholars.

We know these cities exist because ancient texts describe them, but their location may be lost to time.

1. Irisagrig

Ancient inscriptions, some of them from Irisagrig, are on display at a ceremony where they were returned to Iraq. (Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Not long after the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, thousands of ancient tablets from a city called "Irisagrig" began appearing on the antiquities market. From the tablets, scholars could tell that Irisagrig was in Iraq and flourished around 4,000 years ago.

Those tablets reveal that the rulers of the ancient city lived in palaces that housed many dogs. They also kept lions which were fed cattle. Those that took care of the lions, referred to as "lion shepherds," got rations of beer and bread. The inscriptions also mention a temple dedicated to Enki, a god of mischief and wisdom, and say that festivals were sometimes held within the temple.

Scholars think that looters found and looted Irisagrig around the time the 2003 U.S. invasion took place. Archaeologists have not found the city so far and the looters who did have not come forward and identified where it is.

2. Itjtawy

The remains of the pyramid of Amenemhat I at Lisht. The capital city he built has never been found, although scholars think that it is likely somewhere near Lisht. (Image credit: DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Egyptian pharaoh Amenemhat I (reign circa 1981 to 1952 B.C.) ordered a new capital city built. This capital was known as "Itjtawy" and the name can be translated as "the seizer of the Two Lands" or "Amenemhat is the seizer of the Two Lands." As the name suggests Amenemhat faced a considerable amount of turmoil. His reign ended with his assassination.

Get the world’s most fascinating discoveries delivered straight to your inbox.

Despite Amenemhat's assassination, Itjtawy would remain the capital of Egypt until around 1640 B.C, when the northern part of Egypt was taken over by a group known as the "Hyksos," and the kingdom fell apart.

While Itjtawy has not been found, archaeologists think it is located somewhere near the site of Lisht, in central Egypt. This is partly because many elite burials, including a pyramid belonging to Amenemhat I, are located at Lisht.

3. Akkad

A bust of Sargon of Akkad, an early ruler of the Akkadian Empire. (Image credit: Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

The city of Akkad (also called Agade) was the capital of the Akkadian Empire, which flourished between 2350 and 2150 B.C. At its peak the empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to Anatolia. Many of its conquests occurred during the reign of "Sargon of Akkad," who lived sometime around 2300 B.C. One of the most important structures in Akkad itself was the "Eulmash," a temple dedicated to Ishtar, a goddess associated with war, beauty and fertility.

Akkad has never been found, but it is thought to have been built somewhere in Iraq. Ancient records indicate that the city was destroyed or abandoned when the Akkadian empire ended around 2150 B.C.

4. Al-Yahudu

A painting dating to 1830, which depicts Jewish exiles in the Babylonian empire. (Image credit:  ARTGEN/Alamy)

Al-Yahudu, a name which means "town" or "city" of Judah, was a place in the Babylonian empire where Jews lived after the kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 B.C. He sent part of the population into exile, a practice the Babylonians often engaged in after conquering a region.

About 200 tablets from the settlement are known to exist and they indicate that the exiled people who lived in this settlement kept their faith and used Yahweh, the name of God, in their names. Al-Yahudu's location has not been identified by archaeologists, but like many of these lost cities, was likely located in what is now Iraq. Given that the tablets showed up on the antiquities market, and there is no record of them being found in an archaeological excavation, it appears that at some point looters succeeded in finding its location.

5. Waššukanni

A cylinder seal from the Mitanni empire. It is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. (Image credit: Gift of Martin and Sarah Cherkasky, 1987; Metropolitan Museum of Art; Public Domain)

Waššukanni was the capital city of the Mitanni empire, which existed between roughly 1550 B.C. and 1300 B.C. and included parts of northeastern Syria, southern Anatolia and northern Iraq. It faced intense competition from the Hittite empire in the north and the Assyrian empire in the south and its territory was gradually lost to them.

Waššukanni has never been found and some scholars think that it may be located in northeastern Syria. The people who lived in the capital, and indeed throughout much of its empire, were known as the "Hurrians" and they had their own language which is known today from ancient texts.

6. Thinis

The Narmer palette, shown here, depicts King Narmer — also known as Menes — smiting an enemy. It dates back around 5,000 years ago to when Egypt was being unified. (Image credit: Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

RELATED STORIES

Thinis (also known as Tjenu) was an ancient city in southern Egypt that flourished early in the ancient civilization's history. According to the ancient writer Manetho, it was where some of the early kings of Egypt ruled from around 5,000 years ago, when Egypt was being unified. Egypt's capital was moved to Memphis a bit after unification and Thinis became the capital of a nome (a province of Egypt) during the Old Kingdom (circa 2649 to 2150 B.C.) period, Ali Seddik Othman, an inspector with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, noted in an article published in the Journal of Abydos.

Thinis has never been identified although it is believed to be near Abydos, which is in southern Egypt. This is partly because many elite members of society, including royalty, were buried near Abydos around 5,000 years ago.

Owen Jarus is a regular contributor to Live Science who writes about archaeology and humans' past. He has also written for The Independent (UK), The Canadian Press (CP) and The Associated Press (AP), among others. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University. 

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.