Forgotten: The Non-Existing Existence (Ghost Towns)

Kalibangan, India

Kalibangan is located 210 kilometres from Bikaner, between the towns of Hanumangarh and Suratgarh. Kalibangan is an ancient Indus Valley civilization located in northern Rajasthan state, northwest India. The site has both pre-Harappan and Harappan remains, and the transition between the two cultures may be witnessed there. Luigi Pio Tessitori, an Italian linguist and indologist, found the Kalibangan site. He died at the young age of 32, yet he accomplished much in the field of Indian Prehistory. Dr. Amlanand Ghosh of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was the first to identify the Kalibangan Archaeological Site as Harappan, after which excavations began. He conducted the most extensive research on Kalibangan in 1951-55, followed by BB Lal and B K Thapar in 1961. According to radiocarbon dating, the Mature Harappan settlement at Kalibangan had to be abandoned approximately 2650 BC.

Timgad, Algeria

Timgad, located to the north of the Aurès massif in a beautiful hilly setting, 480 kilometres south-east of Algiers and 110 kilometres south of Constantine, is a prime example of a Roman military colony established from scratch. Trajan constructed the Colonia Marciana Traiana Thamugadi around 100 A.D., most likely as an encampment for the 3rd Augustan Legion, which was later quartered in Lambaesis. Timgad, with its Roman military camp, model town planning, and unique civic and military architecture, illustrates an important exchange of ideas, technologies, and traditions carried out by Rome's central power throughout the colonization of Antique Algeria's high plains. Further excavations of the city resulted in its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982. Many Timgad remnants still survive today, including its distinctive arch, known as the "Arch of Trajan," and its theatre, which still hosts the occasional concert.

Taxila, Pakistan

Taxila, in Pakistan's Punjab province's Rawalpindi district, is a sprawling serial site that contains a Mesolithic cave and the archaeological ruins of 4 early village sites, Buddhist monasteries, and a Muslim mosque and schools. Taxila flourished during the 1st and 5th centuries, ideally located on a branch of the Silk Road that connected China to the West. The archaeological sites of Saraikala, Bhir, Sirkap, and Sirsukh are unique in their ability to depict the emergence of urban settlements on the Indian subcontinent. The Bhir mound is Taxila's oldest historic city, and it was most likely founded by the Achaemenians in the 6th century BC. Another notable visitor was the 1st century BC neo-Pythagorean sage Apollonius of Tyana, whose biographer, Philostratus, described Taxila as a fortified city laid out on a symmetrical layout and compared it in scale to Nineveh, an old Assyrian city. In 1980, Taxila has designated a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Ani, Turkey

Ani, The City of Churches and Ghosts is located in the northeast of Turkey, 42 km from the city of Kars, on a secluded triangular plateau overlooking a ravine that forms the natural border with Armenia. This is the deserted, crumbling site of Ani, the once-great metropolis renowned as the city of a 1001 churches. Ani, which was founded more than 1,600 years ago, was located on multiple trade routes and expanded to become a walled city with over 100,000 citizens by the 11th century. The discoveries of explorers such as Ker Porter and Wilbraham laid the groundwork for Russian interest in this site for eastern Christianity. Russia supported a team led by Nikolay Yakovlevich Marr, a Georgian-born professor, to excavate the city in the 1890s. Marr's research, which lasted until 1917, succeeded in unearthing at least some of the city's glorious past. The collection of buildings was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage sites in 2016.

Tiwanaku, Bolivia

Tiwanaku is located on the Altiplano, near the southern beaches of Lake Titicaca, at an elevation of 3,850 metres, in the Province of Ingavi, Department of La Paz. Tiwanaku, the capital of a strong pre-Hispanic kingdom that ruled over most of the southern Andes and beyond, reached its zenith between 500 and 900 AD. Semi-underground Temple, Kalasasaya's Temple, Akapana's Pyramid, and Pumapumku's Pyramid Furthermore, structures like the Palace of Putuni and Kantatallita reflect the area's politicians and administrative authorities. Archaeological excavations were performed from 1978 through the 1990s by University of Chicago anthropologist Alan Kolata and his Bolivian counterpart, Oswaldo Rivera. Tiwanaku, often called Tiahuanaco or Tiwanacu, was a prominent pre-Columbian civilization noted for its remains near the southern coast of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. The main Tiwanaku site was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.