Ruins No. 9 · Tuesday, November 10, 2026

Where they stood

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

Khajuraho

1TodayChhatarpur District, India

2EraChandela dynasty

3The Chandela dynasty built most of its temples, chiefly around the 10th century.

4About 25 of the 85 temples recorded by the 12th century survive.

5Local guides led British surveyor T. S. Burt to the temples in the 1830s.

1TodayCampania, Italy

2EraRoman Empire

3Mount Vesuvius buried it in 79 AD.

4Pliny the Younger's letters describe the eruption.

5Giuseppe Fiorelli devised injecting plaster to recreate the forms of its victims.

1TodayCayo, Belize

2EraClassic Maya

3Altar 21 at Caracol records the defeat of Tikal in 562 AD.

4Its Caana pyramid, at about 43 meters, is among Belize's tallest structures.

5Aerial lidar in 2009 mapped Caracol's terraces and causeways under the forest.

1TodayEl Djem, Tunisia

2EraRoman Empire

3Its huge amphitheater could seat about 35,000 people.

4Gordian I was proclaimed emperor here in AD 238.

5The amphitheater was used as a fortress in later centuries.

1TodayAl-Hiba, Iraq

2EraSumerian city-states

3The Stele of the Vultures records its victory over rival Umma.

4Its ruler Gudea commissioned many diorite statues of himself.

5Urukagina of Lagash is known for early legal reforms.

Five new sites every day at midnight.