Ruins No. 5 · Friday, November 6, 2026

Where they stood

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

Antioch

1TodayAntakya, Turkey

2EraSeleucid Empire

3Seleucus I Nicator founded the city around 300 BC.

4The Book of Acts says followers of Jesus were first called Christians here.

5Armies of the First Crusade captured Antioch in 1098.

1TodayWest of Tripoli, Libya

2EraRoman Empire

3It began as a Phoenician trading post.

4The writer Apuleius was tried here on a charge of magic around AD 158.

5Its restored Roman theater has a three-story stage wall.

1TodayMombasa, Kenya

2EraPortuguese Empire

3The Portuguese built it between 1593 and 1596.

4Italian architect Giovanni Battista Cairati designed it.

5Omani forces took it in 1698 after a siege of nearly three years.

1TodayWadi ad-Dawasir, Saudi Arabia

2EraKingdom of Kinda

3It was the capital of the Kingdom of Kinda.

4It lay on an ancient caravan route through central Arabia.

5Excavators from King Saud University worked here from the 1970s.

1TodayHanumangarh District, India

2EraIndus Valley Civilization

3Its name means black bangles.

4A ploughed field here is among the oldest known, from the Early Harappan period.

5An earthquake around 2600 BC ended its Early Indus settlement.

Five new sites every day at midnight.