🇩🇿 Algeria · Ancient city
Tigisis (Aïn el-Bordj)
Roman to Byzantine (1st–7th c. CE) · Numidian / Roman-Christian (Donatist/Catholic)
Episcopal twin-church city in Souk Ahras hills with schism basilicas.
🇹🇳 Tunisia · Ancient city
Sullecthum (Salakta)
Punic to Late Antique (5th c. BCE–7th c. CE; peak 2nd–4th c. CE) · Punic / Roman (Byzacena)
Punic-Roman harbour colonia on Salakta peninsula with catacombs and oil port.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Archaeological wonder
Ctesiphon (Taq Kasra)
Parthian to Early Islamic (c.120 BCE–800 CE; Sassanian vault 540 CE under Khosrow I) · Parthian / Sassanian (Persian) / Byzantine influence
Sassanian imperial capital complex (224–651 CE) on Tigris, Ctesiphon comprised Seleucia-Tisfun-Mahouza conurbation.
🇮🇱 Israel · Ancient city
El-Wad Cave (Mugharet el-Wad)
Middle Palaeolithic to Natufian (c.200 ka–9600 BCE) · Mousterian → Aurignacian → Natufian
Karst cave at the mouth of Nahal Me’arot, type site of the Natufian culture (excavated Dorothy Garrod 1929–1934). 4 m st...
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Fatehpur Sikri
Mughal 1571–1585 CE · Mughal (Akbar)
Mughal imperial city founded 1571 by Akbar as capital to honor Sufi Salim Chishti, combining Persian, Timurid and Gujarati-Rajasthani architecture in red sandstone.
🇮🇷 Iran · Tell
Haftavan Tepe
Kura-Araxes to Iron III (c.3000–600 BCE) · Kura-Araxes → Urmia ware → Urartian
30-m high mound near Khoy: massive Kura-Araxes burnished black-burnished, Urmia orange painted ware, Mitanni green-glazed cylinder seals, Urartian pillar hall, Sasanian church.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Alalakh (Tell Atchana)
Middle to Late Bronze Age (c.2000–1200 BCE; Level VII palace 1650–1600 BCE) · Amorite / Yamhad / Hittite / Mitanni
Bronze Age capital of Mukish kingdom in Amuq plain, Alalakh yielded Levels VII–0 (Middle–Late Bronze) with cuneiform archives of King Idrimi's inscription (statue autobiography), Yarim-Lim palace,…
🇮🇳 India · Ancient city
Chandraketugarh
Early Historic 400 BCE–12th c · Gangetic NBPW → Sunga–Satavahana → Gupta–Pala
Chandraketugarh — Early Historic port-city of Gangaridai (400 BCE–12th c CE) on Bidyadhari 35 km NE Kolkata, excavated 1957–68 Asok Datta. Ptolemy's Gange candidate, Wari western partner.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Larsa
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian · Sumerian/Amorite Larsa dynasty
Sumerian city-state that dominated southern Mesopotamia under King Rim-Sin (1822–1763 BCE) controlling 10–15 cities before Hammurapi annexed it, making Babylon supreme.
🇮🇳 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.
🇧🇩 Bangladesh · Temple complex
Mainamati (Shalban Vihara)
Early Medieval 7th–13th c CE · Buddhist Samatata Chandra dynasty
Mainamati-Lalmai ridge — Buddhist monastic city (7th–13th c CE) 8 km west Comilla, 18 major mounds (Shalban Vihara, Ananda Vihara, Kotila Mura) excavated 1955–73 F.A. Khan.
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan · Ancient city
Gonur Tepe
BMAC / Oxus Civilization 2500–1500 BCE (peak 2300–1700 BCE) · Bactria-Margiana / Oxus / Indo-Iranian
Fortified Bronze Age capital (2500–1500 BCE) of Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC, Oxus Civilization) in Murghab delta, discovered by Viktor Sarianidi 1972.
🇰🇭 Cambodia · Ancient city
Angkor Thom and the Bayon
Khmer Empire 1181–1243 CE (Bayon peak Jayavarman VII) · Khmer Mahayana Buddhist (with Shaiva syncretism)
Khmer capital city (late 12th century by Jayavarman VII) covering 9 km² walled square with Bayon state temple – 54 towers with 216 enigmatic smiling Avalokiteshvara faces blending Mahayana compassion…
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Ancient city
Kaminaljuyu
Classic · Maya/Andean
Kaminaljuyu — 200 mounds under Guatemala City.
🇹🇷 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…
🇵🇰 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.
🇮🇱 Israel · Ancient city
Munhata
Yarmukian to Ghassulian (c.6400–3500 BCE) · Yarmukian → Wadi Raba → Ghassulian Chalcolithic
Stratified Neolithic–Chalcolithic mound (5 m high) in the central Jordan Valley, excavated by Jean Perrot. Yarmukian Pot...
🇮🇷 Iran · Ancient city
Sagzabad
Iron Age II–III (c.1200–550 BCE) · Iranian Iron (Persian pre-history)
Qazvin plain Iron Age type-site: four-period red-slipped citadel with storeroom jars red-burnished late Bronze to Iron I transition, “Sagzabad Ware”.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Tell
Tell el-Muqdam South Suburb (Leontopolis South)
Hyksos to Saite-Persian (1700–343 BCE) · Hyksos / Egyptian (Leontopolite nome)
Hyksos-to-Saite suburb 600m south of Leontopolis with lion statues.
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Delos Archaeological Site
Archaeic to Hellenistic-Roman 9th c. BCE–69 BCE, sacred from Bronze Age · Greek (Ionian) to Hellenistic-Roman
Sacred island birthplace of Apollo - entire island is UNESCO open-air museum.
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan · Ancient city
Zar Tepe
Kushan to Sasanian (1st–5th century CE) · Kushan → Sasanian Kidarites
Kushan–Sasanian delta city in Surkhandarya — 15 ha shahristan mapped by multispectral remote sensing.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Antaeopolis (Qaw el-Kebir Temple Town)
Old Kingdom to Late Antique (2700 BCE–7th c. CE) · Egyptian (nome capital)
Nome capital Tjebu with Ptolemy IV temple 18-column pronaos on high tell.
🇯🇵 Japan · Ancient city
Heijō Palace (Heijō-kyō)
Nara Period 710–784 CE (with brief return 745–784) · Yamato / Nara Japanese (Ritsuryo)
Imperial palace of Heijō-kyō capital (710–784 CE) modeling Tang Chang'an, 1.2×1.6 km enclosure with Daigokuden audience hall, Suzaku Gate and Eastern Palace Garden ponds.