This restored eighth-century palace is a shining example of ancient Umayyad architecture.

This exceptionally well-preserved ancient marvel also houses a small museum dedicated to Jordanian folk tradition.

This remnant of an ancient Persian city is considered to be the world's largest single-span brick vault arch.

A giant bisected onion dome remembers the Iraqis who died in the Iran-Iraq War.

Giant reed houses made in the marshes of Southern Iraq.

An ancient fortified mound raised over the millennia from settlements built one on top of the other.

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.

The central mosque of this Mali town is entirely built from mud.

A preposterously luxurious hotel with gold-plated iPads, Rolls Royce chauffeurs, and a staff that trains by watching "Downton Abbey."

Kuwait City's uniquely designed water towers look straight out of a retro sci-fi cityscape.

The oldest of its kind in the country, this tree sits where formerly enslaved people are said to have founded the city of Freetown.

Empty since 1989, now falling into ruin.

The world's largest church atop a political fault line.

Topless shrine of northern Ghana.

Rimmed by white crusts of salt on every edge, Lac Assal is one of the saltiest bodies of water in the world.

Scrap material from around Eritrea finds a new life at this outdoor market, where upcycling is a lifestyle.

Wander among hulking piles of rusted machinery left over from the Eritrean-Ethiopian War.

Eritrea's futuristic gas station is a nod to Italy's fascist history.

Every Friday, Sufi dervishes whirl around the tomb in a trance-like state as part of a sacred ritual called dhikr.

These Nubian pyramids are strange and unique, even by pyramid standards.

This museum in the famously blue neighborhood of Sidi Bou Saïd showcases a traditional Tunisian lifestyle.

An ancient Phoenician citadel once stood at the site where Queen Dido first landed, according to legend.

Some believe this abandoned Brutalist masterpiece inspired George Lucas's Sandcrawler.