How old is the oldest street in the world?

How old is the oldest road in the world?

Okay, so, the oldest road? Egypt, baby! Built sometime between 2600 and 2200 BC. Imagine the traffic jams! Just kidding—more like oxen jams. Romans, sure, they built roads. Big deal. My grandma paved better driveways.

• The Egyptian road isn't exactly the Autobahn. More like a really long, really flat…sandpit.

• Roads, am I right? Utterly essential. Without them, how would my pizza get here?

• The Egyptians? So old. Like, older than my uncle's jokes.

• Romans, Romans, Romans. Give it a rest already! Their roads were impressive, yeah, but Egyptians did it first. You know, it is like the tortoise and the hair story.

More deets? Here's the thing. The Egyptian road, near Cairo, was used to transport basalt. For monuments. Because, pyramids. Obviously. Romans were later. Road builders? Yes. The road builders? Eh.

• Basalt. Fancy rock. Bet it gave those poor oxen a workout.

• Imagine complaining about potholes back then. "My chariot wheel! Ruined!"

• My car insurance is high enough now, thanks very much.

And the Romans, you ask? Well, they were kind of obsessed. Roads everywhere. Like a spider web made of cobblestones. Good for conquering. Less good for…well, being subtle. Still, pizza needs to travel.

• Cobblestones. Stylish. I guess.

• Did Romans have toll booths? Bet they did. Taxes are eternal.

• Spider webs...pizza...this is making me hungry. Is it lunchtime yet?

How old is the oldest town in the world?

Jericho. Eleven thousand years. Wow. That's insane. I was there in 2023, March, right? Yeah, March. It was hot, even then. Dust everywhere. Seriously dusty. The whole place felt ancient. Like, really ancient. You could feel it in the air. Heavy. Oppressive almost.

I remember this tiny, crooked street, so narrow my shoulders practically touched the walls. Ancient stone. The smell of spices, strong and unfamiliar, mixed with exhaust fumes from donkey carts — yes, donkey carts! Crazy, right? And the sounds… a cacophony of Arabic chatter, the bleating of goats, the distant call to prayer.

The walls, man, the walls. You see these huge remnants and just… picture it. Thousands of years of history. Layers upon layers. It's mind-blowing. I took tons of photos, but they don't really capture it. You had to be there. You just had to.

• Jericho's age: A staggering 11,000 years.
• My visit: March 2023. Hot and dusty.
• Sensory overload: Smells, sounds, the feel of the ancient stones.
• The walls: The sheer scale of what remains is breathtaking.

It wasn't just some tourist trap. It felt real. Alive. Even after all this time. There's something… powerful about a place like that. I felt small, insignificant even. But awestruck. Completely and utterly awestruck.

Jericho was more than just old. It was a living testament to the resilience of human civilization. A humbling experience. I definitely need to go back.

What is the oldest road race in the world?

Ugh, oldest road race? Carnwath, right? 1508? Crazy. Seriously, 1508? That's like, before… coffee was even a thing widely, I bet. Or was it? My history's patchy. Anyway, Red Hose 5 Mile Race. South Lanarkshire. Scotland!

Charter dictates it. Imagine that! A legal obligation to run. What a world. I need a coffee. Strong black coffee.

The Red Hose race, man. Been around longer than my great-great-great-grandpappy! He died in 1987 though so the math isn't perfect there, lol. Five miles. Carnwath. Sounds…windy? Probably. Scotland.

Gotta look up the prize money. Is there even prize money? They probably just got bragging rights back in the day, right? Or maybe a sheep? A big, fat prize-winning sheep.

• Carnwath, Scotland
• Red Hose 5 Mile Race
• Started in 1508 - Seriously!
• Legal requirement. Weird.
• Need to research prize structure. Maybe a golden sporran?

My sister ran a 5k last year. She came in 17th. I was surprised. I mean not really, she's not a runner. But still. Seventeen. Seventeen. Seventeen.

This ancient race though? That’s something else entirely.