It goes further back than that. In 400BC, Xenophon, while retreating from a failed attempt at taking Babylon, came across the abandoned ruins of a bunch of Assy

It goes further back than that. In 400BC, Xenophon, while retreating from a failed attempt at taking Babylon, came across the abandoned ruins of a bunch of Assyrian cities, like Nineveh and wrote about them. 200 years after being abandoned, they were far more impressive than anything Xenophon would have seen in his home country. For example, Athens at that point had a city wall(the Themistoclean wall) approximately 5 miles circumference, made of rubble, 30' tall, 10' thick at the base Compare to what Xenophon saw at Nineveh: A city wall 7.5 miles circumference, made of stone and brick, 55' tall and up to 50' thick. The most impressive structures he would have ever seen - just out in the middle of nowhere, absolutely abandoned.