As the Present Now Will Later Be Past Quiz

Located on the banks of the Nile River, about 700 km (435 mi) south of Cairo, Luxor has often been described as the world's largest open-air museum. The modern city, on the east bank, contains the ruins of Thebes, the capital of Upper Egypt during the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom - notably the monumental temple complexes of Karnak (a detail of which is shown in the photo) and Luxor. A vast necropolis, which includes the famed Valley of the Kings and the massive Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut, lies across the river. The extensive site was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 as Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis.

Dedicated to Amun, the patron deity of Thebes, the Karnak temple, the oldest of the two, was founded around 1970 BC: its construction, however, was completed centuries later, during the Ptolemaic Kingdom (305-30 BC). The Luxor Temple, on the other hand, was not dedicated to any specific deity, but rather to kingship itself; it was built around 1400 BC, during the reign of Amenhotep III (also known as Amenophis III). Both these magnificent complexes - among the largest religious buildings ever constructed - represent the highest point of Ancient Egyptian architecture. The tombs of the Valley of the Kings and the nearby Valley of the Queens date from 1500-1000 BC.

The archaeological site of Knossos lies 5 km (3.1 mi) southeast of Heraklion, the capital of the Greek island of Crete. Knossos was a major centre of the Minoan civilization, which flourished on the island during the Bronze Age. Though the earliest settlement on the site dates from around 7000 BC, the first palace was built after 2000 BC, and rebuilt around 1650 BC after being destroyed by an earthquake. The new palace (along with those built in other locations such as Phaistos, Zakros and Malia) was an impressive building with a distinctive structure: living quarters and other spaces were positioned around a central courtyard, probably used for public ceremonies.

The palace of Knossos - also known as Palace of Minos, the mythical king of Crete who gave his name to the civilization - was the largest and most sumptuous of these residences, boasting modern conveniences such as toilets and a drainage system, as well as magnificent frescoes that have contributed to our knowledge of the people who lived there. Many iconic artifacts were found in the ruins of the palace, which was probably destroyed by a fire and abandoned around 1350 BC: among them, the Bull-Leaping Fresco, the figurines of the snake goddess, and the Linear B tablets. British archaeologist Arthur Evans, who conducted extensive excavations on the site in 1900, was responsible for the controversial reconstruction of much of the palace - including the north entrance that can be seen in the photo.

The Minoan Palatial Centres were designated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in July 2025, after having been on the Tentative List since 2014.

The Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, is located in the Lintong District of Xi'an, the capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi - also one of the Four Great Ancient Capitals, formerly known as Chang'an. The extensive tomb complex, built over a period of 38 years (246-208 BC), lies beneath a pyramid-like mound. While the chamber containing the emperor's coffin has not yet been excavated, the surrounding necropolis is globally famous for the Terracotta Army that was placed at some distance, on the tomb's eastern side, to stand guard over it.

The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 by a group of local farmers while digging a well. Three excavations conducted between 1974 and 1976 revealed thousands of terracotta statues of warriors and horses, as well as weapons and wooden battle chariots. Other figures, as well as a wealth of artifacts, have been found in other parts of the necropolis, and are on display in the museum that has been built over the area. A hangar-like, roofed structure was built to enclose the largest of the three pits (a detail of which is shown in the photo). The mausoleum was designated as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and is now one of China's most visited attractions.

Petra ("The Rock") is the Greek version of the Arabic name Al-Batra given to the ancient city of southern Jordan known to its original inhabitants as Raqmu. Probably built in the 5th century BC, the city became the capital of the Nabataean Kingdom, as well as a major trading hub thanks to its strategic location near the incense trade routes. Petra was annexed to the Roman Empire in 106 AD, and for a time flourished under Roman rule. However, in the early Middle Ages it went into a decline, and its location was lost until the 19th century - when, in 1812, it was rediscovered by Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhard.

Petra is also known as the Rose City because of the reddish hue of the sandstone in which its buildings are carved. Many visitors now approach the city from the east, through an entrance leading through a narrow gorge named Siq ("shaft"). The city's architecture is a unique blend of styles - prime examples being the magnificent buildings known as the Treasury and the Monastery (shown in the photo), both dating from the 1st century AD. Other noteworthy structures that can be admired in Petra are the Royal Tombs, the theatre, and the Pool and Garden Complex. Often featured in adventure and fantasy films, Petra was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.

Founded by the Oscans in the 8th century BC, Pompeii was inhabited by various peoples (including the Greeks) before it became a Roman colony in 89 BC. It quickly grew into one of the most prosperous cities in Italy, a major trading hub and cultural centre noted for its sumptuous villas and majestic public buildings. All this lasted until the fateful eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the autumn of 79 AD, which buried the city and the nearby centres of Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis under a thick layer of volcanic ash and pumice. At the time, Pompeii had an estimated population of 20,000: though it is believed that the majority of its residents managed to escape, a large number of bodies have been found in the impressively well-preserved ruins of the city.

Forgotten for many centuries, the remains of Pompeii were rediscovered in 1592 by architect Domenico Fontana while digging an underground aqueduct. Excavations began in earnest in the mid-18th century, and are still ongoing - constantly adding to our knowledge of the everyday life of its inhabitants. The archaeological site, located just south of Naples, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy and Europe, attracting millions of visitors every year. Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, Pompeii and the other cities buried by the eruption offer a unique snapshot of life in an ancient Roman city - such as the paved street flanked by sidewalks shown in the photo. Pompeii is justly famous for the magnificent frescoes decorating its patrician villas, as well as the graffiti that have been found on its walls, which are invaluable testimonies of the colloquial (Vulgar) Latin spoken at the time.

Also known as Yasodharapura, Angkor was the capital city (the meaning of its name) of the Khmer Empire, which flourished in present-day Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia from the early 9th century to the mid-15th century AD. The city was founded by King Yasovarman I in the late 9th century, and greatly expanded by its successors, in particular Suryavarman II, who built the majestic temple of Angkor Wat, dedicated to Lord Vishnu, between 1113 and 1150. At its peak, Angkor covered an area larger than present-day Paris, and boasted a complex infrastructure system - in particular a network of canals for irrigation of the rice fields on which the population depended for food. The city is believed to have collapsed in 1431, when it was invaded and sacked by the Ayutthaya Kingdom (based in Thailand), though it was not completely abandoned until some time in the 17th century.

Shrouded by thick jungle, Angkor was rediscovered by European archaeologists in the late 19th, which led to the forest being cleared away and repairs being done to consolidate the structures. Extensive restorations have been conducted on the site since the end of the Cambodian Civil War in 1975. The large number of visitors received by Angkor every year (around 2 million) contributes much-needed financial assistance to conservation efforts, while also creating a number of problems. This huge archaeological site - inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1992 - is also an important religious site for Theravada Buddhism, which is Cambodia's official religion. The silhouette of Angkor Wat is depicted on the Cambodian flag.

Located in Mexico, in the north of the Yucatán Peninsula, the city of Chichen Itza ("at the mouth of the well of the Itza") is probably the most famous of Mayan archaeological sites, as well as one of the largest. Established towards the end of the Late Classic period (500-830 AD), the city developed into a major economic, political and cultural centre in the Terminal Classic period (830-950). Its prominence lasted well into the Early Postclassic period (900-1200); it may have still been inhabited at the time of the Spanish conquest of Yucatán in the mid-16th century. Chichen Itza is characterized by a great variety of architectural styles, which reflects the diversity of its population and its cultural and economic preeminence.

After centuries of oblivion, Chichen Itza was rediscovered by American explorer John Lloyd Stephens, whose writings on the Maya civilization inspired other European and American travellers to visit the ruins of the city. Inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1988, and now the property of the federal government of Mexico, Chichen Itza is one of the country's most visited archaeological sites. Its most famous buildings are the majestic Temple of Kukulcán (also known as El Castillo), a stunning step pyramid, and the observatory temple in the photo, known as El Caracol ("The Snail") because of its distinctive shape. Another impressive feature of the site is the Cenote Sagrado ("Sacred Cenote"), a natural sinkhole that was a holy place of pilgrimage and human sacrifice for the ancient Maya people.

Mesa Verde (Spanish for "green table") National Park is located in Montezuma County, in southwestern Colorado. Established in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt, the park is the largest archaeological preserve in the US, with over 5,000 sites containing structures (including many cliff dwellings) built by the Ancestral Pueblo people between the mid-8th century and the mid-13th century AD. However, the area (which, as its name implies, is dominated by a flat-topped elevation) was inhabited for thousands of years by various populations - notably the Basketmaker culture from which the Ancestral Puebloans later developed. Mesa Verde was abandoned in the late 13th century due to a combination of social unrest and severe droughts, which drove its nearly 20,000 inhabitants to the south (present-day New Mexico and Arizona).

As was the case with other well-known archaeological sites, Mesa Verde was rediscovered in the 19th century. In the 1870s, the findings of photographer William Henry Jackson and geologist William H. Holmes led the way for systematic archaeological exploration of the area. Mesa Verde National Park was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978. Its most significant site, the iconic Cliff Palace shown in the photo, is a multi-storied cliff dwelling built of sandstone, mortar and wooden beams over 700 years ago. Believed to have been home to around 100 people, it contains 150 rooms and 23 "kivas", round underground rooms that were used for ceremonial purposes.

The imposing ruins of the city of Great Zimbabwe are located near Masvingo, in the south-eastern part of the Southern African country of Zimbabwe (which was named after the site). In the Shona language, Zimbabwe means "houses of stones", a very apt name for a place that is known for its impressive stonework. Established in the 11th century AD, Great Zimbabwe was built over a period of 300 years. It became the capital of the eponymous kingdom in the early 14th century, and and at its peak was home to at least 10,000 people. With its strategic location that allowed it to dominate the trade routes leading to the Indian Ocean, Great Zimbabwe thrived until the early 15th century, when it went into a decline and was eventually abandoned in the 17th century.

Rediscovered by Europeans in the late 1860s, the remains of Great Zimbabwe became the object of an unpleasantly racist controversy in the early 20th century, when the colonial government of Rhodesia refused to admit that the site had been built by Black Africans. However, these African origins have been universally accepted since the 1950s. The site of Great Zimbabwe - inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1986 - covers a large area, at the centre of which stands the Great Enclosure, consisting of an inner and an outer wall, with the distinctive Conical Tower (in the photo) situated between the two walls. Built of skillfully-shaped stones without the use of mortar, the Enclosure is believed to have contained the residence of the King of Great Zimbabwe.

One of the world's most iconic and popular archaeological sites, Machu Picchu ("old peak" in Quechua) is also a relatively recent one, as the Inca citadel was founded in the 1420s, about a century before the Inca Empire fell to the Spanish conquistadores. Located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru, the citadel stands on a mountain ridge at an elevation of 2,430 m (7,970 ft) above sea level, dominating the Urubamba Valley, also known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. Though there are no written records dating from that time, Machu Picchu is believed to have been inhabited from 1420 to 1532. The current consensus among scholars is that it was established as a private royal retreat by Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui, the founder of the Inca Empire, and had a population of about 750, most of them servants and religious specialists.

Abandoned about a century after its foundation, Machu Picchu was overrun by vegetation and forgotten by almost everyone. It was rediscovered by American explorer Hiram Bingham in 1911, with the help of a local guide. In 1981, the site and the surrounding area - rich in endemic flora and fauna - was declared a Historic Sanctuary by the government of Peru; the designation as UNESCO World Heritage Site came two years later. Visited by a growing number of tourists every year (which poses a number of challenges), Machu Picchu is famous for its dramatic natural surroundings and its classical Inca architecture, characterized by the use of polished block of stones cunningly fitted together without mortar - as can be clearly be observed in the photo.