The Kandariya Mahadeva Temple at Khajuraho, built in the 10th century AD, replicating a Himalayan peak associated with the gods.
The temples of My Son attest to the historical spread of Hinduism beyond India; built by the Cham people, only 25 of the original 70 survive due to nature and conflict.
Ta Prohm crumbled after the Khmer Empire collapsed in the 15th century. The ruins of the city of Angkor were not rediscovered until 1838.
The Taliban's 2001 demolition of Bamiyan's Buddhas reflected their fundamentalist rejection of pre-Islamic history and the prohibition of idols in Islam.
Some of Bagan's 2,230 surviving Buddhist temples in Myanmar, initiated by local rulers in 1057, endured until 1287.
Al-Khazneh, actually a mausoleum, adorned with likely depictions of Al Uzza, a Nabatean goddess linked to Egyptian Isis, Roman Venus, and Greek Aphrodite.
Once a vibrant cross-Arabian trade hub for frankincense and spices, turned into a deserted ghost town after Rome's conquest in AD 104 altered trade routes.
Established as the Christian Armenian capital in AD 961, abandoned in the 18th century near Turkey's border with Armenia, it withstood a 1955 storm and 1988 earthquake.
Al-Bagawat, near Kharga Oasis, boasts early Christian tombs (4th to 7th centuries AD) adorned with biblical frescoes, and although inactive since the 11th century AD.
Meroë's three black-stoned pyramids, remnants of Nubia's historical might, rivaling Egypt, some damaged by European fortune-seekers, include temples for the deceased at their bases.