Only a rough number can be given, since the object itself is
not even precisely defined geometrically.
Here's the data on which we may base an estimate:
- Length (from Lees Ferry to the Grand Wash) : 277 miles
- Average width (rim-to-rim) : 10 miles.
- Average height of rims above the river: 1 mile.
Taking these numbers at face value, we obtain a volume of 2770 cubic miles.
Considering that this is probably an overestimate (the walls are not vertical, etc.)
and that three significant digits would be a misleading representation of the
precision thus obtained, we should probably state that the volume of the Grand Canyon is
about 2500 cubic miles or around:
1013 m3
This corresponds to about 80% of the volume of Lake Superior or 40% the volume of
Lake Baikal (Siberia) and would represent a thickness of around 3/4" (2 cm)
if spread over the entire surface of the Earth.
Among the contenders below,
the title should probably go to Jericho...
Jericho, "West Bank"
A green oasis in the Jordan Valley,
20 km east of Jerusalem
(7 km west of the Jordan River and 10 km north of the Dead Sea)
Jericho lies 250 m below sea level.
It's the lowest major city in the world and certainly one of the oldest
continuously inhabited places, with vestiges dating back to about 8000 BC.
Damascus, capital of Syria
Also known as Al-Sham or Dimashq, Damascus is on record as the capital of
an Aramaean kingdom conquered by the Assyrians in 732 BC.
According to ancient Egyptian manuscripts, it was already the capital of a small
Aramaean principality as early as the 15th century BC.
The area may have been settled as early as 6000 BC,
or even 8000 BC, like Jericho.
Kerma (or Karmah) capital of ancient Nubia
Karmah an Nuzul is a town of modern Sudan, built on the ruins of
the capital of a kingdom which once rivaled the contemporary achievements
of ancient Egypt.
Nubia is a region of Black Africa surrounding the Nile valley,
between present-day Karthoum (Sudan) and Aswan (Egypt).
Egyptian and Nubian civilizations may have borrowed heavily from each
other, but they were once clearly distinct.
Ceramics were found in Nubia dating back to 8000 BC which may
predate equivalent "Egyptian" achievements
("Egypt" was politically unified by the first pharaohs,
around 3100 BC).
The urban ruins at Karmah seem to be the most ancient on the
African continent.
The region was known as "Kush" to the ancient Egyptians, but this term is
now best reserved to a more recent kingdom (capital: Napata)
which regained its independence from Egypt around 850 BC and
went on to conquer and reunite all Egyptian principalities,
around 750 BC.
Egypt's "25th Dynasty" thus consisted of Kushite pharaohs who were perceived
as foreigners. They did not lose control of Egypt until Assyrians invaded
the country, almost a century later (674-663 BC).
The earliest settlers of Kerma seem unrelated to the Badarians
who are
apparently,
the direct ancestors of the ancient Egyptians.
The Predynastic Period of "Egypt" is often divided into 3 parts, named after
archaeological sites: Badarian (Tasian), Amratian (Naqada I),
and Gerzean (Naqada II).
The stone-age Badarian culture existed as early as 4400 BC
or, possibly, 5000 BC.
Rome, capital of Italy
According to its own legend, the "Eternal City" was only founded in 754 BC.
Teotihuacán, pre-Columbian central Mexico
This is the impressive archeological site which contains the ruins of the oldest
city in the Americas.
Teotihuacan, which means "City of the Gods" in Nahuatl,
was probably founded around 300 BC and became prominent before
the beginning of the Christian era.
At its peak, around AD 500, the city was home to about 200 000 people,
surpassing what would be the size of Shakespeare's London,
a millenium later.
By AD 700, Teotihuacan had been sacked and burned
(most probably by Toltec invaders), but its regime had lasted longer
than the Roman Empire.
Teotihuacan's principal axis, the Avenue of the Dead,
is dominated by one of the largest monuments of the ancient world,
the 65 m Pyramid of the Sun, which had been completed by 150 BC.
Cities of the Ancient World
by George Modelski
