Places alexisbeardg Wants to Go

A shrine on the shores of the Tigris.

9th century Abbasid mosque, damaged in modern warfare.

Celebrated as a center of civilization, the remains of the ancient city have been nearly destroyed by greed, egoism, and war.

This archaeological site was the center of the extinct Yarmukian culture which developed the first roads and pottery in Israel.

As the Dead Sea continues to deplete, massive sinkholes open along its banks.

This "Jewish Sistine Chapel" was designed to reinvigorate Judaism's artistic legacy but was almost lost to misguided restoration.

Neighborhood in Jerusalem is home to the ultra-orthodox haredim.

The bluer than blue waters in these natural Israeli caves are reached via the world's steepest cable car.

These numerous Israeli caves were dug out over hundreds years for reasons ranging from hideouts to burial sites.

A Biblically notable site over the ruins of an ancient city that is now a protected World Heritage site.

This daunting 1st century fortress was purportedly the site of one of the most dramatic revolts of the Jewish-Roman wars.

A massive, heart-shaped, wind-carved crater in the middle of the Israeli desert.

Submerged ruins of a Neolithic coastal settlement, where houses, wells, graves and skeletons have been unearthed.

The home of the Dead Sea Scrolls is an abstract modernist dream.

The world's oldest map of the holy land gives us a fragmented glimpse of the layout of biblical nations.

A bathhouse from the second Islamic Caliphate decorated with frescoes of constellations, pleasure gardens, and naked ladies.

The most gigantic, swoony, intimidating trio of fingers in all of antiquity.

Gladiators battle and chariots race daily in the ruins of a once-great Roman city.

A more chill but no less fascinating version of the famous ancient archeological site.

An imposing Omani fortress surrounded by date palm trees.

This fortress sits atop a centuries-old well system.

A 19th-century fortress and collection of artifacts offer a tour of Saudi history.

Within the Saudi Arabian desert lies a 2,000-year-old ghost town made of stone and mud.

Village of slate houses, built on a white marble outcrop.