🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Ephesus and Temple of Artemis
Archaeic Greek to Roman Imperial 10th c. BCE–3rd c. CE, Artemision 550 BCE · Greek Ionian then Roman
Roman Asian capital with Artemis Wonder remnant and Library of Celsus.
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan · Rock art
Saimaluu-Tash West Lake Shelf Petroglyphs
Saka to Qarakhanid · Saka, Wusun, Qarakhanid
Lake-margin boulder bar at the tarn below Saimaluu-Tash West cirque, a 400-m shoreline shelf with 180 panels on glacially-rafted quartzite.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Eridu Ziggurat — Abu Shahrain
Ubaid through Ur III (c.5400–2000 BCE, ziggurat Ur III Amar-Sin) · Sumerian (Eridu / Ubaid type-site, Ur III)
Eridu (Tell Abu Shahrain) is traditionally the first city of Sumer (King List) with an 18-level temple sequence from Ubaid small shrine (≈5400 BCE) to Ur III ziggurat of Amar-Sin.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Pergamon Acropolis
Hellenistic to Roman 283 BCE–3rd c. CE · Greek (Attalid) and Roman
Attalid citadel with world's steepest theater and Altar of Zeus frieze.
🇧🇴 Bolivia · Temple complex
El Fuerte de Samaipata Annex
Mojocoyas 300–800 CE to Inca 1450–1535 to Spanish 1600s · Chané-Mojocoyas to Inca (Andean-Amazon transition) to Spanish contact
Annex 60 m south of great rock table (220×60 m sculpted sandstone) at UNESCO El Fuerte de Samaipata (1998): terraced annex with 15 Inca-style niches, kallanka great hall 22 m long, and Chané jaguar…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Anu Ziggurat and Eanna Precinct of Uruk
Uruk Period (c. 4000–3100 BCE) → Jemdet Nasr → Early Dynastic; Anu ziggurat Late Uruk · Sumerian (Uruk)
Twin sacred precincts of world's first city Uruk (4000–3100 BCE): Anu District with White Temple ziggurat (21 m high limestone platform, U period) and Stone Cone Temple mosaic; Eanna District with…
🇮🇷 Iran · Hydraulic works
Shushtar Extension - Band-e Mizan
Achaemenid to Sassanian (5th c. BCE core; 260 CE Band-e Mizan by Valerian captives) · Sassanian with Roman engineering
Band-e Mizan – upstream regulator weir of Shushtar Hydraulic System (Khuzestan): 390m limestone weir across Karun splitting into Gargar canal (40 mills) vs Shatit, built 260 CE by Roman captives of…
🇩🇰 Denmark · Hillfort
Nonnebakken Viking Ringfort (Odense)
Viking Age (c.980 CE) · Danish Viking Age
Viking ringfort beneath Odense's former castle at Nonnebakken (Nuns' Hill), 120 m diameter with 13 m wide turf rampart, discovered by C14 and magnetometry under Odinstårnet lot.
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · Rock art
Tamgaly II North Outcrop Petroglyphs
Late Bronze to Saka-Wusun · Andronovo, Saka, Wusun
Isolated granite outcrop 600 m north of Tamgaly Main Gorge, a whale-backed ridge exposing 22 vertical panels with 180+ peckings contrasting valley-floor schist.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Ziggurat of Ur
Ur III (Neo-Sumerian) 2112–2094 BCE core; Old Babylonian veneer · Sumerian (Ur III)
Best preserved neo-Sumerian ziggurat: three-stage mudbrick massif 62.5 × 43 m base, 30 m high (reconstructed), built by Ur-Nammu (2112–2095 BCE) and Shulgi for moon god Nanna (Sîn), with three…
🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Pyramid of Meidum
Old Kingdom, late 3rd – early 4th Dynasty · Ancient Egyptian
Collapsing transitional pyramid built by Sneferu (or Huni) at the mouth of the Fayum: first straight-sided true pyramid attempt, originally seven steps encased to form 92 m true pyramid; outer casing…
🇮🇳 India · Archaeological wonder
Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka
Lower Paleolithic 100,000 BCE to Early Historic 1st c BCE (Mesolithic art 10,000–5000 BCE) · Early Indian hunter-gatherer to Mesolithic
Seven hills of Vindhyan sandstone with >750 painted rock shelters spanning Lower Paleolithic to Historical (100,000 BCE–1st c BCE), including Auditorium Cave with cupules and Zoo Rock.
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Nalanda Mahavihara
Gupta to Pala 427–1193 CE (peak 5th–12th c) · Bihar / Gupta-Pala Buddhist Mahayana
Iconic Buddhist residential university (5th–13th c CE) with Gupta to Pala brick viharas, stupas, chaityas and votive structures across 23 ha.
🇨🇳 China · Temple complex
Yungang Grottoes
Northern Wei 460–525 CE (Tanyao 460–465, later sinicized 471–524) · Xianbei Northern Wei Buddhist
45 major caves on 1-km sandstone cliff with 51,000 statues (460–524 CE) of Northern Wei before capital moved to Luoyang.
🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Nuri Pyramid Nu.1 (King Taharqa)
Napatan, 25th Dynasty, c.690–664 BCE · Kushite (Egyptianized Napatan)
Largest pyramid at Nuri (Nu.1) for Taharqa (c.664 BCE, 25th Dynasty), 52 m base, 40–50 m original height.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Teos Theatre Terrace — Dionysus Sanctuary Overlook
Hellenistic to Roman (300 BCE – 300 CE) · Ionian Teian with Hellenistic king patronage
Upper terrace of Technitai Dionysus sanctuary above theatre and harbour.
🇨🇳 China · Ancient city
Archaeological Ruins of Liangzhu City
Liangzhu Culture 3400–2250 BCE (county late Neolithic) · Liangzhu (proto-Chinese Yangtze)
Neolithic Liangzhu culture capital (3400–2250 BCE) on Yangtze, covering 14.3 ha walled city with 6.3 km rectilinear earthen walls, hydraulic system with three dams and 26 km artificial canals to…
🇱🇦 Laos · Temple complex
Vat Phou and Associated Settlements (Wat Phou)
Chenla to Khmer Empire 5th–12th c CE (peak 6th–12th c) · Khmer / Chenla Hindu (Shiva Lingaparvata)
Khmer linga sanctuary (5th–12th c) at foot of Phu Pasak sacred spring mountain, aligned 1.4 km axial processional causeway from Mekong baray to cliff-top shrine.
🇵🇰 Pakistan · Temple complex
Buddhist Ruins of Takht-i-Bahi
Gandhara Kushan 1st century BCE–5th century CE (peak 2nd–4th CE) · Gandhara Buddhist (Kushan patronage)
Gandhara Buddhist monastery perched 154 m above plain on rocky ridge, founded 1st c BCE and flourishing 1st–5th c CE Kushan.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Temple complex
My Son Sanctuary
Champa Kingdom 4th–13th c CE (peak 7th–12th c) · Cham Hindu (Shaiva, formerly Champa)
Champa Hindu temple valley (4th–13th c CE) with 70 red-brick Shaiva towers (kalan) along Thu Bon River, the longest continuous Hindu-Byzantine tradition in Vietnam.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Ancient city
Historic Centre of Bukhara
Samanid to Shaybanid 9th–16th c (settled from 1st c CE) · Samanid / Qarakhanid / Shaybanid Islamic (Persian)
2000-year-old Silk Road oasis city preserved as intact medieval Islamic townscape with 140+ monuments.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Calakmul Structure II
Late Classic · Maya
Massive Late Classic Maya pyramid Structure II at Calakmul (c.600 CE) 55 m high base 120×100 m, twin temples, burial of Yuknom Yich'aak K'ak.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Caral Pyramids
Early Horizon · Andean
Norte Chico pyramids at Caral (3000–1800 BCE) 6 monumental platforms 18–28 m high, Pirámide Mayor 153×109 m, oldest city in Americas UNESCO.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Pyramid
Pyramid of Queen Nubwenet
Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty, c.2320 BCE · Ancient Egyptian
Queens pyramid of Nubwenet, wife of Pepi I, far eastern row of Pepi I queens field. Side 21 m, height 21 m (equilateral section), limestone core with recut Tura casing fragments.