When Did People Start Building Cities?

Angel Torres

20 Jul 2025 — 3 min read

If someone were to ask you the name of the first city ever built, what would you say? If we’re starting from a biblical point of view, then that answer is clear:

“And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch” (Gen. 4:16–17 KJV; emphasis added).

It was Cain who established the first recorded city and he named it after his own son, Enoch. For some context, Cain murdered his brother and had gone out "from the presence of the Lord" prior to the founding of Enoch. God then decreed that Cain would become a wanderer whose crops would not yield their produce to him; since Cain was essentially a farmer (Genesis 4:2), God's decree would've greatly affected his life. Even so, God mercifully allowed Cain to keep his life; therefore, the farmer lived on to start the first civilization in human history. (Note that these events didn't happen terribly long after the dawn of creation, perhaps even within the first 200 years or so of recorded history.)

Contrary to evolutionary history, however, the first human beings to walk the earth were highly intelligent! In fact, this is what we read of Cain's descendants in that same chapter:

"And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah" (Genesis 4:20-22; emphasis added).

Not only were the beginnings of organized civilization and urbanization not far removed from the creation of the world, but people were knowledgeable of metalworking back then, too. We can only wonder at the kinds of technological advancements and breakthroughs that could've been found at Enoch.

Considering that people at that time in history lived to be 900+ years, Enoch's inhabitants would've had plenty of time to hone their skills and develop their trades. Despite all of these amazing achievements, however, we find that Cain’s descendants retained their forefather’s rebellious way of thinking. Within five generations, the sanctity of marriage had been corrupted and there was an even greater propensity for rebellion and murder (Genesis 4:23–24). No amount of technological or intellectual achievements could ever satisfy man’s innate longing for his Creator.

Despite all of their amazing accomplishments, we never do read about any of Enoch’s inhabitants making a bold stand of faithfulness to the true Creator. If Enoch had somehow survived to the time of the Flood, it was certainly destroyed and lost underneath the waters of judgment. Whereas the waters of the Flood blotted out the achievements of the ungodly, the legacy of the God-fearing men and women in the years leading up to the Deluge have been preserved for all eternity:

"And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the Lord" (Genesis 4:25-26; emphasis added).

May you and I seek to be part of that group which called upon the name of the Lord!