Ruins No. 6 · Saturday, November 7, 2026

Where they stood

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

Nineveh

1TodayMosul, Iraq

2EraNeo-Assyrian Empire

3Sennacherib made Nineveh a truly influential city around 700 BC.

4A coalition including Babylonians, Medes and Scythians sacked the city in 612 BC.

5Layard unearthed Ashurbanipal's library here, with 22,000 cuneiform clay tablets.

1TodayKujalleq, Greenland

2EraNorse settlement

3Brattahlid was the estate of Erik the Red.

4Erik settled here in the 980s after being exiled from Iceland.

5The farm included a small church linked to his wife Thjodhild.

1TodayZaire Province, Angola

2EraKingdom of Kongo

3It was the capital of the Kingdom of Kongo.

4It was known as São Salvador from 1570 to 1976.

5UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2017.

1TodayFailaka Island, Kuwait

2EraSeleucid Empire

3Arrian wrote that Alexander named the island Ikaros.

4Its remains include a large Hellenistic fort and two Greek temples.

5Danish archaeologists began digging on the island in 1958.

1TodayAomori, Japan

2EraJomon settlement

3People lived here from about 3900 to 2200 BC.

4Its true significance emerged when work began on a baseball stadium in 1992.

5Six large chestnut pillars here are believed to have held a series of platforms.

Five new sites every day at midnight.