Ur
  Founded       c. 3800 BC
  Abandoned     after 500 BC

Whenever I look into the history of ancient cities numbers like this boggle my mind, how many thousands of years a city saw culture and life and death only to fade into nothing. I feel like we're lucky to have language be as widespread as it is today because the chances that our lives will be forgotten is at least just a little less likely due to our written record. I just wish we chose media that lasted as long as clay tablets could.