Ruins No. 1 · Monday, November 2, 2026

Where they stood

The day's five sites and where they are today.

Terracotta Army

1TodayXi'an, China

2EraTomb guards of Qin Shi Huang

3Farmers digging a well found the first figures in 1974.

4The figures were buried with the first Qin emperor in 210 to 209 BC.

5The pits are estimated to hold more than 8,000 soldiers, plus horses and chariots.

1TodayZhenglan Banner, China

2EraKublai Khan's summer capital

3Kublai Khan's adviser Liu Bingzhong laid out the city in the 1250s.

4Ming forces sacked it in 1369 and the city was abandoned.

5Coleridge dreamt of it under opium and began writing his poem Kubla Khan in 1797.

1TodayTigray Region, Ethiopia

2EraKingdom of Aksum

3King Ezana adopted Christianity here in the 4th century.

4Italy took one of its stelae to Rome in 1937; it came back in 2005.

5Its kings minted their own coins in gold, silver and bronze.

1TodayArarat Province, Armenia

2EraArtaxiad dynasty

3King Artaxias I founded this capital around 176 BC.

4Plutarch and Strabo say Hannibal helped plan the city.

5Roman general Corbulo burned it in the AD 50s.

1Todaynear Marvdasht, Iran

2EraAchaemenid and Sasanian

3The rock-cut tomb of Darius I is carved into the cliff here.

4Three other Achaemenid kings are believed to be buried beside Darius I.

5A Sasanian relief shows Shapur I's triumph over Roman emperors.

Five new sites every day at midnight.