Building Blocks: Ancient City

Our geologists first started reporting the discovery of ancient cities after the Wild Update was released in June 2022. They take the form of an enormous, ancient settlement, made up of long corridors and guard towers, some of which contain the riches of the ancient world.

Like most of the deep dark, the whole place is carpeted with sculk - making it an extremely dangerous place to explore. You’ll want to be aware at all times of the risk of awakening a warden. Bring plenty of torches (it’s not called the deep dark for nothing), and probably some wool too to muffle your vibrations.

Brave adventurers, however, will find plenty to make their trip worthwhile. Soul lanterns and candles can be found here, as well as echo shards and two armor trim designs that you can’t find anywhere else. You’ll need the former if you want to craft a recovery compass.

What is a city, though? “A big town”, you might say. But how big? What qualifies as a city differs dramatically around the Earth - the UK city of St Davids has a population of just 1,750 people, while the Japanese city of Tokyo has a population of 37.5 million people.

The earliest settlements resembling a city that archaeologists have discovered are Jericho in Palestine and Çatalhöyük in modern Turkey (pictured above). Both date back to the eighth millennium BC. But Uruk in what is now Iraq, famous for being the home of Gilgamesh, probably gets the crown for the first true city – boasting something like 85,000 residents at its peak in 3100 BC. Today, Uruk lies in ruins – having been slowly abandoned after the Euphrates river shifted its course, depriving it of easy access to water. 

We can only imagine what caused the original inhabitants of Minecraft’s ancient cities to abandon their homes. Was it some kind of underground collapse? Or a conflict, perhaps with the illagers, piglins, or Endermen? Or did the wardens simply not like neighbors? We’ll likely never know, but if you find any interesting clues in your investigations of ancient cities, please let us know. For some reason, none of the archaeologists we’ve sent down there have returned...