🇪🇬 Egypt · Archaeological wonder
Abu Mena
Late Roman to Early Byzantine 4th–7th c. CE, peak 5th–6th c. · Coptic Christian / Byzantine Egyptian
Desert pilgrimage city of Saint Menas, 4th–7th c., now endangered by water table rise.
1
🇴🇲 Oman · Buried city
Iram of the Pillars – Ubar, Atlantis of the Sands (Hypothetical)
Iron Age to Late Antique (1000 BCE – 500 CE) · Arabian frankincense / South Arabian / Parthian
Qur'anic Iram dhat al-'Imad — 1992 SAR identified Shisr 8-tower limestone fortress collapsed into sinkhole c. 500 CE (contested as Ubar).
🇫🇲 Micronesia · Buried city
Nan Madol – Atlantis of the Pacific Pseudo-Claim, Pohnpei
Medieval Pacific (1180–1628 CE Saudeleur; 1628–1835 Nahnmwarki) · Pohnpeian / Saudeleur / Nahnmwarki
92 basalt-log islets 1180 CE on Pohnpei reef — 750,000 tonnes columnar basalt Venice of Pacific, pseudo-grafted to Mu/Lemuria 14k BCE (typhoon slump at −6 m, not Atlantis).
🇹🇭 Thailand · Ancient city
Si Thep Historical Park (Ancient Town of Si Thep)
Dvaravati Culture 6th–13th CE (Mon) → Khmer → Ayutthaya · Dvaravati Mon (Austroasiatic Mon) with Mahayana–Hindu–Theravada syncretism
Dvaravati (Mon) ancient twin-city (c.500–1300 CE) on the Pa Sak plains 200 km north of Bangkok in Phetchabun — UNESCO World Heritage 2023 'The Ancient Town of Si Thep and its Associated Dvaravati…
🇮🇱 Israel · Hydraulic works
Mamilla Pool & Low-Level Aqueduct to Jerusalem
Second Temple (Herodian) to Byzantine · Herodian Jewish / Roman / Byzantine
Mamilla (Birket Mamilla) reservoir (760 m asl, 31°46′42″N 35°13′15″E 31.7786,35.2209) 650 m NW of Jaffa Gate in centre of Mamilla Cemetery, one of Jerusalem's ancient pools (Upper pool of Gihon)…
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka · Hydraulic works
Abhaya Wewa (Abhayavapi) — Anuradhapura Ancient Reservoir
Anuradhapura period (400 BCE – 10th c. CE) · Anuradhapura Sinhalese (Sinhala hydraulic civilisation)
400 BCE 350-ha 3.8 Mm³ tank with Bisokotuwa sluice — world's earliest valve 3rd c. BCE.
🇩🇪 Germany · Ancient city
Hedeby (Haithabu) Viking Town — Schleswig
Viking Age (c.770–1066 CE) · Danish Viking (later German Ottonian)
Hedeby (Heiðabýr, 8th–11th century CE), on the Haddebyer Noor inlet at the base of the Jutland Peninsula, was the largest Viking Age emporium in Scandinavia, a 27-hectare semicircular…
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan · Ancient city
Suyab (Ak-Beshim)
Western Turkic → Tang protectorate → Karluks/Qarakhanid 6–12 c. CE · Sogdian → Turkic Khaganate → Karluks (Silk Road Buddhist-Christian-Manichaean)
Sogdian–Turkic Silk Road capital (c.6–12 c. CE) at Ak-Beshim in the Chu Valley — 35 ha walled shahristan (650×560 m) with Buddhist temple complex (two temples 50×30 m with clay Buddhas), Nestorian…
🇱🇦 Laos · Ancient temple
Vat Phou (Vat Phou and Associated Settlements)
Chenla (5th–8th CE) → Khmer Angkor Wat (11th–13th) → Lao Buddhist (13th+) · Chenla Khmer (Hindu Shaiva) → Angkor Wat Khmer → Lan Xang Laotian Buddhist
Khmer Hindu–Buddhist temple complex and ancient city (c.5th–13th century CE, Chenla to Angkor Wat period) at Phou Khao foot near Mekong in Champasak, Laos — UNESCO World Heritage 'Vat Phou and…
🇹🇳 Tunisia · Ancient city
Hadrumetum (Sousse)
Phoenician to Ottoman (1100 BCE–16th c; peak 2nd–4th c) · Phoenician / Punic / Roman / Early Christian / Islamic
Phoenician-tradition colonia under Sousse medina with 5.5 km catacombs, Virgil mosaic and Byzantine kasbah.
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe · Ancient city
Khami Ruins
Zimbabwe Culture Period IV (Late Iron Age; Khami Phase 1450–1683) · Kalanga (Torwa/Karanga) / Rozvi
Post-Great Zimbabwe Torwa capital 1450–1683 with 6 m checkerboard terrace walls on hilltop and Ming porcelain imports.
🇮🇷 Iran · Temple complex
Bishapur — Sassanid City and Anahita Temple
Sassanian Early (Shapur I–II, 241–379 CE) · Sassanian Persian with Roman–Palmyrene craftsmen (prisoners)
Shapur I 260 CE grid city by Roman POWs after Valerian capture — Anahita water temple, mosaics, Chogan gorge 6 reliefs.
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan · Ancient city
Navekat (Krasnaya Rechka – Ak-Beshim West)
Sogdian 6–8 c. → Karluks 8–9 c. → Qarakhanid 10–12 c. · Sogdian → Turkic Khaganate → Qarakhanid (Chu Silk Road)
Sogdian Navekat city (6–12 c. CE) at Krasnaya Rechka 18 km west Suyab — 20 ha shahristan with 3 m Buddha vs Suyab's khagan palace.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Tikal Mundo Perdido Pyramid 5D-87 (Lost World)
Preclassic to Early Classic (Mundo Perdido phase) · Maya (Preclassic Tikal)
Tikal’s earliest pyramid — Mundo Perdido 5D-87 — 30 m Preclassic E-Group astronomical pyramid 67 m base c.100 BCE, ancestor to Tikal’s dynastic pyramids.
🇱🇾 Libya · Ancient city
Old Town of Ghadames
Roman to Modern (19 BCE–present; medieval ksar 7th c CE onward) · Garamantine / Berber Ibadi / Arab / Ottoman
UNESCO saharan ksar Ghadames — whitewashed roof-terrace oasis fed by Ain Al Faras.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Ancient city
Afrasiab (Ancient Samarkand)
Sogdian 7th c BCE → Samanid 9th–10th c → Mongol 1220 CE · Sogdian Maracanda → Sasanian → Samanid Samarkand
Afrasiab — ancient Samarkand / Maracanda (7th c BCE–1220 CE) 3 km north Registan, excavated 1874–present by Vyatkin, Shishkina, Grenet.
🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Tipasa
Phoenician / Roman / Early Christian · Phoenician / Roman / Christian
Phoenician-Roman-Christian cape town with Great 7-aisle basilica (largest in Africa) and St Salsa martyrion.
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan · Ancient city
Navkat (Krasnaya Rechka)
Sogdian → Western Turkic → Karakhanid 6–12 c. CE · Sogdian–Turkic (Silk Road Sogdian colony, Nestorian–Buddhist)
Major Sogdian–Turkic Silk Road city (c.6–12 c. CE) at Krasnaya Rechka village in the Chu Valley — 45 ha shahristan (700×550 m, walls 10 m high), Buddhist monastery 30×25 m with 5 m Buddha,…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Palenque
Late Classic 226 BCE–800 CE (apogee 615–800 CE Early–Late Classic) · Maya (B'aakal / Palenque dynasty; Western Maya lowlands)
Maya Classic capital of B'aakal on Chiapas foothills with low jungle: Temple of Inscriptions (22 m pyramid with 69-step Hieroglyphic Stair recording dynastic history and Pakal's vault; Pakal the…
🇰🇪 Kenya · Archaeological wonder
Thimlich Ohinga
Late Iron Age (15th–19th c CE) · Luo (Bantu-Luo Nilotic) / Gusii
UNESCO Luo walled town Thimlich Ohinga — 4-m dry-stone walls enclosing hill settlement.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Archaeological wonder
Mitla
Postclassic 900–1521 CE (Mitla peak 1200–1520, Post-Monte Albán valley floor relocation) · Zapotec + Mixtec (Mixe-Zapotec, later Aztec tributary; Zapotec Lyobaa)
Postclassic Zapotec-Mixtec mortuary city and living palace center (900–1521 CE) abutting Monte Albán collapse population shift to valley floor: unparalleled geometric fret mosaic (grecas) facades…
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Ancient city
Sirsukh
Kushan 1st–3rd c CE → Gupta → Hepthalite 5th c · Kushan Gandhara (Taxila valley)
Sirsukh — last great city of Taxila (late 1st c CE–mid 5th c CE) 2 km NE Sirkap, Taxila valley, founded under Kushan Kujula Kadphises/Kanishka after 80 CE.
🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Djémila (Cuicul)
Roman (Trajanic to Byzantine; peak Severan 2nd–3rd c) · Roman / Berber / Christian
Mountain Roman ridge town at 900 m with Arch of Caracalla, Severan baths and finest polychrome mosaics.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
El Tajín
Early Classic to Epiclassic 600–1200 CE (apogee 800–1150, Veracruz Central tradition) · Classic Veracruz / Totonac (Gulf Coast, central Veracruz cultural tradition)
Classic Veracruz capital (600–1200 CE) famed for Pyramid of the Niches (365 niches – one per solar day – 18 m high with 365 + 7 step symbolism, seven-storey enclave temple), 17 ballcourts (most of…