🇸🇩 Sudan · Pyramid
Soleb
New Kingdom, 18th Dynasty, ~1380 BCE · Ancient Egyptian (imperial Nubia) and Napatan
Largest Egyptian temple in Nubia (Amenhotep III, c.1380 BCE), 135 m long, with Napatan pyramid cemetery.
🇮🇷 Iran · Pyramid
Ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil
Elamite Middle Elamite (1344–1300 BCE) · Elamite (Middle Elamite)
Largest Mesopotamian-related ziggurat outside Mesopotamia: Elamite holy city Dur-Untash by King Untash-Napirisha (1344–1306 BCE) for god Inshushinak.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Ancient city
Uxmal
Late Classic to Terminal Classic 600–1000 CE (apogee 800–950, Puuc apogee 850–925) · Maya (Puuc tradition, Northern Maya lowlands)
Greatest Puuc architectural city of northern Yucatán (600–950 CE) with veneer mosaic stonework, Puuc columns, Chac masks and lattice façades: Pyramid of the Magician (Adivino, 35 m high, oval…
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Luxor Temple
New Kingdom to Greco-Roman (c.1400 BCE–300 CE; main 1390–1225 BCE) · Egyptian New Kingdom / Roman / Islamic layer
New Kingdom temple built by Amenhotep III (1388–1350 BCE), Tutankhamun, Horemheb and Ramesses II on Nile east bank.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Ancient city
Xanthos-Letoon
Bronze Age to Byzantine (peak Classical Lycian 6th–4th c. BCE and Roman) · Lycian (Anatolian Indo-European) → Persian satrapy → Hellenistic → Roman
Lycian capital Xanthos and marsh sanctuary Letoon — trilingual stele solved Lycian.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Naranjo (Sa'al) Pyramids
Maya Classic (Late Classic apogee) · Maya (Sa'al kingdom)
Classic Maya capital Sa'al (Naranjo) hilltop city: 32 m triadic Acropolis pyramid, hieroglyphic stairways of Lady Six Sky's wars with Tikal/Calakmul 500 BCE–950 CE.
🇮🇩 Indonesia · Pyramid
Borobudur Pyramid Temple
Sailendra / Mataram Kingdom Late Classical 780–840 CE · Javanese Sailendra (Mahayana Buddhist)
9th-century Mahayana Buddhist stepped pyramid-mandala: 122 × 122 m base, 35.4 m high (originally 42 m with umbrella), 9 platforms (6 square 3 circular) crowned by central stupa 72 perforated stupas…
🇮🇷 Iran · Temple complex
Takht-e Soleyman — Throne of Solomon and Azargoshnasb Fire Temple
Sasanian Empire 224–651 CE (peak 5th–7th century) → Ilkhanid 13th century reuse · Sasanian Zoroastrian → Ilkhanid Mongol Islamic palace phase
Sasanian Great Fire temple on a 120 m artesian lake — shahs' coronation sanctuary, later Ilkhanid palace.
🇻🇳 Vietnam · Ancient city
Complex of Hue Monuments
Nguyen dynasty 1802–1945 · Vietnamese (Kinh) Nguyen
Nguyen dynasty capital (1802–1945) and last imperial city of Vietnam inside 10 km vauban-style citadel (Kinh Thanh, 1804–1832, 2.5×2.5 km square with 4 m thick bastioned walls copied from French…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves
Gaochang to Yuan 500–1300 CE · Uyghur Buddhist (ancient Uyghur–Tocharian)
Turpan depression Uyghur Buddhist cliff with 77 donor-portrait caves below sea level.
🇷🇺 Russia · Ancient city
Derbent — Naryn-Kala Citadel and Double Walls (Caspian Gates)
Caucasian Albania to Sasanian to Islamic (c.100 BCE–19th c.; peak Sasanian 6th c.) · Caucasian Albanian → Sasanian Persian → Khazar → Arab → Shirvanshah → Russian
Sasanian 3.6 km double-wall Caspian Gates with Naryn-Kala citadel sealing Caucasus passage.
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Tikal Temple VI (Temple of the Inscriptions)
Late Classic (Tepeu 2) · Maya (Tikal dynasty)
Tikal Temple VI — 12 m pyramid with 12 m roof comb bearing 180-glyph history text of Tikal 766 CE, SE causeway terminus.
🇵🇪 Peru · Archaeological wonder
Chankillo — Second Thirteen Towers Sector
Early Horizon–Early Intermediate Casma Sechín 250–200 BCE · Casma/Sechín (Punkurí tradition)
Second Thirteen Towers line 400 m east of famous solar observatory, with observing building and bastions.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Uxmal – Pyramid of the Magician
Late Classic to Postclassic Puuc (600–1000 CE) · Maya (Puuc)
Iconic rounded-corner Puuc pyramid 40 m high with oval base 46 × 37 m, steep west stair 150 steps at 60°, five superimposed temples (Temple I-V) built over 600 years: Chenes then Puuc.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Palenque Temple of the Inscriptions
Late Classic Maya (675 CE completion; tomb 683 CE interment) · Maya (Palenque Baakal)
Late Classic Maya 27.2 m high 8-step pyramid-temple (600×675 CE) housing only Mesoamerican pyramid tomb comparable to Egyptian: hidden stair 66 steps descending inside to sarcophagus chamber of Pakal…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Kizil Caves (Bezeklik precursor)
Six Dynasties to Tang ~300–800 CE · Tocharian Kuchean Buddhist with Gandharan influence
Kucha's 236 lapis-blue Jataka caves - China's earliest Buddhist grottoes on the Silk Road.
🇵🇪 Peru · Pyramid
Pachacamac Pyramids
Lima 200–600 → Wari → Ichma 1100–1470 → Inca 1470–1533 (pyramids Ichma period) · Lima → Wari → Ichma → Inca
Pan-Andean oracle sanctuary 200–1533 with 17 ramp pyramids (Huaca del Sol Inca? Not, Pachacamac pyramids): large stepped terraces with central ramp (Ichma style 1100–1470), Inca Temple of the Sun 30…
🇬🇹 Guatemala · Pyramid
Uaxactún Group E Observatory (E-Group)
Middle Preclassic to Late Classic (1000 BCE–900 CE; E-Group 600–300 BCE) · Maya (Preclassic then Tikal sphere)
Type-site of Mesoamerican E-Group solar observatory: western radial pyramid E-VII (Late Preclassic 500 BCE) aligning via three eastern platforms to sunrise solstices/equinoxes, deliberate horizon…
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Heraion of Samos
Archaic to Roman ~900 BCE–300 CE · Samian Greek (Ionian)
Polycrates' 109 m giant Ionic Heraion - largest attempted Greek temple on Samos plain.
🇬🇷 Greece · Temple complex
Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
Classical 429–400 BCE · Ancient Greek Arcadian (Phigalian)
Iktinos' mountain Apollo temple mixing all three orders with earliest Corinthian capital.
🇲🇽 Mexico · Pyramid
Los Guachimontones (Teuchitlán Tradition)
Late Formative–Early Classic Teuchitlán 350 BCE–400 CE · Teuchitlán tradition (Western Mexico)
Mesoamerica's only circular pyramids: nine concentric guachimontones with shaft tombs and Tequila volcano obsidian.
🇹🇷 Turkey · Temple complex
Mount Nemrut (Nemrut Dağı)
Hellenistic Commagene (c.62 BCE under Antiochos I Theos) · Commagenian (Armenian/Greek/Persian syncretic) Hellenistic
Hierotheseion (tomb-sanctuary) of Antiochos I of Commagene (69–34 BCE), Nemrut Dağı tops 2,150 m peak with 50 m tumulus of crushed rock surrounded by three terraces bearing 8–10 m colossal seated…
🇨🇳 China · Rock-cut
Bingling Temple Lower Grottoes — Liujia Gorge Yellow River Cliffs
Western Jin to Yuan (300 – 1300 CE) · Buddhist Hexi nomad to Tang imperial
Lower cliffs with 420 CE earliest inscribed cave 169 of 169 caves at Liujia Reservoir.
🇪🇬 Egypt · Temple complex
Karnak Temple Complex
Middle Kingdom to Ptolemaic (c.2000 BCE–100 CE; major phase New Kingdom 1550–1070 BCE) · Egyptian Pharaonic (Middle Kingdom to Greco-Roman)
Largest temple complex in Egypt – 200 acres built over 1,500 years from Senusret I (1956 BCE) to Romans.