Discovering the World’s Oldest City

In 1904, an expedition to explore the ancient cities of Babylonia, led by Edgar James Banks, unearthed what was believed to be the world's oldest city, Udnun (now known as Adab). Banks, an American diplomat, scholar, and novelist, has been described as the real-life Indiana Jones. Here, edited and condensed with modern readers in mind, is his dramatic account of that expedition.