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The catalogue
1,251 places to sift through. Narrow by kind, country, period or how firmly each one is established — contested and pseudoarchaeological claims are labelled here, never hidden.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Mature Harappan (2600–1900 BCE) · Harappan
Padri — Gulf of Khambhat Harappan in Gujarat, Gulf of Khambhat, India is a Mature Harappan (2600–1900 BCE) ancient city attributed to Harappan culture.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Old Babylonian to Neo-Babylonian and Hellenistic (1894 BCE–141 BCE; monumental peak Nebuchadnezzar II 604–562 BCE) · Babylonian / Assyrian / Persian / Hellenistic
Capital of Babylonian empire (1894 BCE–539 BCE) on Euphrates, Babylon at its greatest under Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II (604–562 BCE): Processional Way, Ishtar Gate (glazed brick dragons and…
🇧🇩 Bangladesh · Temple complex
Early Medieval (8th–9th c. CE) · Pala Empire
Halud Vihara — Naogaon in Naogaon District, Rajshahi, Bangladesh is a Early Medieval (8th–9th c. CE) temple complex attributed to Pala Empire culture.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Neolithic to Abbasid (6000 BCE–present; Assyrian capital 705–612 BCE) · Assyrian / Babylonian / Persian / Hellenistic / Parthian
Great Assyrian capital under Sennacherib (705–681 BCE) extended by Ashurbanipal (668–630 BCE), Nineveh at fall (612 BCE) was world's largest city (~15 km walls, 100,000 inhabitants).
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · Ancient city
Kangju to Karakhanid to Mongol to Timurid · Sogdian / Turkic / Karakhanid / Mongol
Silk Road ghost city in Otrar Oasis at Syr Darya–Arys confluence, occupied 1st c. CE–18th c., apex 10th–12th c. as caravan metropolis of 10 ha citadel + 40 ha shakhristan.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Early Historic (350 BCE–500 CE) · Kalchuri
Malhar — Chhattisgarh Urban Centre in Chhattisgarh, Bilaspur, India is a Early Historic (350 BCE–500 CE) ancient city attributed to Kalchuri culture.
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia · Ancient city
Nabataean to Roman (1st c BCE–106 CE annexation; tombs 1st c CE) · Nabataean / Roman / Thamudic
Southernmost major Nabataean city on incense route, Hegra preserves 111 rock-cut tombs with facades akin to Petra (but freestanding massifs), hydrological wells, and Roman annexation inscriptions.
🇸🇾 Syria · Ancient city
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (Shakkanakku to Zimri-Lim) · Sumerian → Amorite Mariote
Middle Euphrates great city (c.2900–1759 BCE) controlling trade between Sumer and Amorite west, with the 2.5 ha Palace of Zimri-Lim (260 rooms, frescoes — Investiture of Zimri-Lim at Louvre) and the…
🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Roman to Byzantine (27 BCE–7th c. CE; peak 1st–4th c. CE) · Roman / Byzantine
Tubusuctu (Tiklat) on the Soummam River was Augustus' veteran colony for Legio? Set on fertile Soummam plain beneath Djurdjura, with orthogonal Hippodamian plan 1,000×400 m. Remains: punic?
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Preclassic 1000 BCE – Late Classic 900 CE; peak 600–900 CE · Maya (Yaxhá kingdom)
Major Late Classic lakeside Maya city 237 structures and 40 stelae on Yaxhá Lake isthmus: Twin North Acropolis, East Acropolis triadic Temple 216 (26 m high, painted red, largest in Yaxhá, second…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Late Chalcolithic to Islamic (peak MBA–Hittite) · Halaf-Ubaid → Kura-Araxes → Yamhad → Hittite → Neo-Hittite
Major Euphrates terrace tell (220 × 180 m, 18 m high) on the Sajur tributary near Nizip, rescue-excavated 1990s ahead of...
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Phoenician to Byzantine (7th c BCE–643 CE; Severan peak 193–235 CE) · Phoenician / Punic / Roman / Byzantine
Best-preserved Roman city in Africa, Leptis Magna Phoenician foundation (7th c BCE) expanded under Emperor Septimius Severus (193–211 CE native son): Arch of Septimius Severus, Basilica…
🇳🇬 Nigeria · Ancient city
Late Medieval Kanem–Bornu (1460–1808 CE) · Kanuri (Kanem–Bornu)
Birnin Gazargamu (1460–1808) was Kanem–Bornu Empire capital, 6.5 km earthen walls 5 m high enclosing palace mound, great mosque 100×50 m and 200 compound mounds on Yo/ Kamadugu Yobe. 15th-c.
🇧🇩 Bangladesh · Temple complex
Pala (8th c.) · Pala
Paharpur Satellite Vihara — Dhirkuta in Naogaon District, Paharpur plain, Bangladesh is a Pala (8th c.) temple complex attributed to Pala culture.
🇧🇩 Bangladesh · Temple complex
Sultanate (15th c. CE) · Bengal Sultanate
Kherua Masjid — Sherpur in Bogra District, Sherpur, Bangladesh is a Sultanate (15th c. CE) temple complex attributed to Bengal Sultanate culture.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Kassite (Middle Babylonian) c. 1375–1155 BCE · Kassite Babylonian
Kassite capital Dur-Kurigalzu built by Kurigalzu I (c. 1375 BCE): enormous ziggurat to Enlil, still 57 m high (originally ~69 m) with rope reinforcement layers (reed mats) visible, highest surviving…
🇸🇾 Syria · Tell
Late Chalcolithic to EJ III (4500–2100 BCE; peak LC sprawl 3800 BCE) · LC northern Mesopotamian → Uruk → Ninevite 5
LC sprawl 4000 BCE battle town 3500 BCE — sling-bullet warfare horizon (Gibson).
🇭🇺 Hungary · Ancient city
Carolingian–Great Moravian (839–907, Pribina–Kocel) · Pannonian Slavic / Carolingian
Island fortress capital of the Pannonian Slavic principality (Mosapurc–Blatnograd) built by exiled Nitra prince Pribina as Frankish vassal 839 and his son Kocel on Lake Balaton islet, with three…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Tell
Early Bronze Age (c.3000–2300 BCE) with Phrygian/Classical caps · Northwestern Anatolian EBA → Phrygian
Stratified Early Bronze Age mound (300 × 200 m, 12 m high) on the Porsuk upper Sakarya, excavated by Manfred Korfmann 19...
🇩🇿 Algeria · Fortress
Roman (Hadrianic–Late Antique, 126–430 CE) · Roman
Gemellae (Mlili) is the pivot of the Fossatum Africae Saharan limes, a Hadrianic legionary vexillation fort 200×190 m with rounded corners and double ditch, guarding the Seguia–Oued Djedi passage.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Early Historic (300 BCE–200 CE) · Satavahana
Kondapur — Satavahana Town in Telangana, Sangareddy, India is a Early Historic (300 BCE–200 CE) ancient city attributed to Satavahana culture.
🇨🇱 Chile · Megalith
Late Intermediate–Late Horizon 1300–1540 CE · Atacameño (Likan Antai)
Atacameño clifftop fortress above Rio Grande with 4 km walls and 1540 Spanish battle site.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Late Bronze–Neo-Assyrian (c.1500–600 BCE) · Mitanni → Middle/Neo-Assyrian
Small but archive-rich tell 20 km N of Nineveh: Mitanni layer produced Nuzi-type tablets, Middle Assyrian governor’s correspondence (14 c. tablets) and Neo-Assyrian granaries. E.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Pottery Neolithic–Early Chalcolithic (c.6300–5500 BCE) · Central Anatolian Pottery Neolithic
Small Neolithic mound (80 m diameter, 4 m high) on the Konya Plain, excavated by David French 1960s as the earliest of t...
