🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Kawa
Napatan–Meroitic (683 BCE–350 CE) with New Kingdom predecessor · Kushite (Napatan/Meroitic) with Egyptian Pharonic legacy
Napatan holy city of Gematen (Kawa) with Taharqa's Temple T (683 BCE) and pyramid cemetery.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Tepe Gawra — High Temple Platform (Ubaid-Uruk Terrace)
Ubaid to Early Dynastic (5000–2500 BCE), High Temple Late Uruk 3500 BCE · Halaf-Ubaid-Uruk (Northern Mesopotamian)
Tall stratified tell 20 m high near Mosul, with Halaf-Ubaid to Early Dynastic sequence including the monumental High Temple terrace (Late-Uruk, c.3500 BCE) — mudbrick podium 11x10 m with niched…
🇧🇿 Belize · Pyramid
Altun Ha — Temple of the Masonry Altars (Belize)
Preclassic to Postclassic (400 BCE–1000 CE) · Maya (Belize coastal lowland)
Quintessential Classic Maya trade capital (400 BCE–900 CE) on Belize coastal plain 50 km north of Belize City, built on 6 m artificial elevation.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Dzibilchaltún
500 BCE–1542 CE (Preclassic through Postclassic to Contact; apogee CIassical 600–950) · Maya (northwestern Yucatán, Dzibilchaltún polity)
Northern Maya lowland megasite spanning 17 km² (largest in Yucatán by area, 8,400 structures, 1,300 vaulted buildings) occupied extraordinarily from Middle Preclassic 500 BCE to Conquest ~1542 CE…
🇵🇸 Palestine · Ancient city
Herodium
Late Hasmonaean to Byzantine (3rd c. BCE Mount — Herodian peak 23 BCE–4 BCE) · Herodian (Judaean client of Rome) → Zealot → Roman → Bar Kokhba → Byzantine monastery
Herod's artificial volcano citadel with 350 m pool-garden and recently discovered royal mausoleum.
🇧🇿 Belize · Pyramid
Caracol — Caana (Sky Palace) Pyramid (Cayo District, Belize)
Preclassic to Late Classic (550 BCE–950 CE) · Maya (Mountain Cow lowland–highland)
Apex of Belize's largest Maya city (550 BCE–950 CE, Classic peak 562–800 CE) covering 200 km² and defeating Tikal in 562 CE (Altar 21).
🇮🇷 Iran · Tomb
Marlik Tepe
Late Bronze Age I–II (c.1500–1000 BCE; peak 1300–1100 BCE) · Caspian highland Amarlou/Gilan local — Amardian? (pre-Median); strongly Iranian plateau but northern forest littoral
53-tomb Gilan gold necropolis with winged-bull rhyta and Marlik Gold Cup — Mycenae of the Caspian.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Sesebi
New Kingdom, 18th–19th Dynasty, ~1345 BCE · Ancient Egyptian (Amarna and Ramesside)
Akhenaten fortified temple-town on Nile west bank (c.1345 BCE), 200×100 m fortress with Aten temple.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
El Rey (Cancún) Maya Port Town
Late Postclassic East Coast (1200–1520 CE, occupied to contact) · Maya (East Coast – Ecab / Cuchbalam)
Postclassic coastal town (1200–1520 CE) directly in Cancún Hotel Zone at km 18 on barrier island between Nichupté Lagoon and Caribbean: ~40 platforms, colonnaded halls and Pyramid Structure 2 (9 m…
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Olba and Diocaesarea (Uzuncaburç)
Hellenistic to Byzantine (c.300 BCE–600 CE) · Seleucid priest-kings → Isaurian → Roman Cilician
Priest-kingdom Olba with colossal Zeus temple (five columns 11 m) and Diocaesarea colonnaded sacred way.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Ancient city
Go Thap (Óc Eo–Funan)
Óc Eo 100 BCE–300 CE → Funan 200–600 CE → Chenla 600–800 CE → Khmer influence 800–1200 · Óc Eo–Funan (pre–Angkorian Mekong hydraulic with Indianization)
Mekong Delta Óc Eo–Funan secondary city (100 BCE–600 CE) at Go Thap Tháp Mười — 400 ha with Vishnu Garuda and 20 km canal to Oc Eo.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Huaca La Florida — Rímac Valley U-Temple
Initial Period, c.1800-1000 BCE (Preceramic U-temple) · Andean (Initial Period, Rímac–Chillón tradition)
Huaca La Florida in Collique hills north Lima: U-shaped pyramidal temple 350 m long, 40 m deep platform, 15 m high, with central court and lateral wings forming U open to east.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Tell Harmal (Shaduppum) — Old Babylonian Ramp Mound & Temple Platform
Old Babylonian (Isin-Larsa) 1950–1750 BCE · Babylonian (Isin-Larsa)
Old Babylonian fortified administrative town (c.1900–1750 BCE, Isin-Larsa to Hammurabi era) now Tell Harmal on Baghdad's eastern edge, dominated by central 25x25 m raised temple platform (ziggurat…
🇧🇿 Belize · Ancient city
Xunantunich
Preclassic 1000 BCE–1000 CE (El Castillo apogee 600–890 CE; top frieze 770–830) · Maya (Mopan Valley, rival of Naranjo and Buenavista del Cayo)
Hilltop Classic Maya center with spectacular El Castillo (40 m high pyramid with east stucco frieze 7.5 m long of 30 human figures, sun gods and jaguars) visible 8 km on Mopan River valley ridge;…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Bonampak
Late Classic 580–800 CE (mural phase 790–800 CE) · Maya (Usumacinta Basin, dependent of Yaxchilán under Shield Jaguar III)
Small Usumacinta tributary Maya center (~1.5 km²) world-famous for Temple of the Murals (Structure 1): three vaulted rooms with 110 m² of brilliantly preserved frescoes (c.790 CE ‘1000-year pigments’…
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Yaxchilán — Structure 33 Pyramid and Great Plaza (Chiapas, Mexico)
Late Classic Maya (600–900 CE) · Maya (Usumacinta)
Spectacular Classic Maya riverine city-state on Usumacinta south bank (350–800 CE), rival of Piedras Negras, known for lintel carvings of bloodletting.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Rock-cut
Kara Tepe (Termez)
Kushan 50–350 CE → Sasanians 350–400 CE · Kushan Buddhist (Gandharan–Termez school)
Kushan rock-cut cave monastery (50–400 CE) at Kara Tepe NW Termez — 20 caves and Kharosthi–Brahmi–Bactrian trilingual on Amu Darya.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Harbetsuvan Tepesi
Pre-Pottery Neolithic A–B · Taş Tepeler PPN
Tektek summit acropolis with round terrazzo building and T-pillars, 7 km from Karahan Tepe.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Nakbe Structure 1 Pyramid (Kan Mirador)
Late Preclassic (Mirador Basin Preclassic) · Maya (Preclassic Mirador)
Preclassic 400 BCE giant triadic pyramid Structure 1 at Nakbe — 45 m high Mirador Basin predecessor to El Mirador, earliest Maya monumental pyramid.
🇯🇵 Japan · Temple complex
Asukadera (Hōkō-ji)
Asuka 593–710 CE (Suiko–Jomei) · Asuka Buddhist (Baekje immigrant artisan school → Japanese)
Asukadera (Hōkō-ji) — first full Buddhist temple in Japan (596 CE) at Asuka, founded by Soga no Umako with immigrant Baekje artisans (Koreans) per Nihon Shoki.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
El Purgatorio (Huaca Fortaleza) — Max Andean Pyramid (Casma Valley, Peru)
Late Moche to Middle Horizon / Early Intermediate (600–900 CE dominant) · Casma (Sechín) culture, Moche substrate
Largest single adobe structure in Peru and largest pyramid by volume in the New World — 270 m long, 180 m wide, 30 m high truncated pyramid (4 platforms stepped) dominating Casma plain, debated Late…
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Garagay Polychrome Pyramid — Lima
Formative, c.1400-500 BCE (Early Horizon, Cupisnique–Chavín) · Andean (Cupisnique / Chavín)
Garagay in San Martín de Porres district, Lima: three-platform U-temple (central pyramid 28 m high, 100×80 m) with sunken circular court, atrium with polychrome painted reliefs (3.
🇯🇵 Japan · Temple complex
Hiraizumi (Chūson-ji)
Heian–Kamakura 1087–1189 CE (Fujiwara Ōshu) · Northern Fujiwara (Ōshu) — Frontier Pure Land Buddhist
Hiraizumi — northern Fujiwara capital (1087–1189 CE) 35 km south Morioka, Iwate Hiraizumi, excavated 1950s–2010s.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Kawa Temple T — Taharqo Sanctuary
New Kingdom to Meroitic, 1550 BCE–400 CE (major Taharqo 680 BCE) · Ancient Egyptian / Kushite (Taharqo, 25th Dynasty)
Kawa (ancient Gem-aten) on east bank between 3rd-4th Cataracts: Taharqo's massive Temple T (Amun) 40×80 m with 12-column hypostyle, built over Tutankhamun shrine (reused talatat).