Slum Settlement Filled With Mountains of Garbage.

One of its engravings is believed to be among the first representations of medical and surgical instruments.

Egyptian treasure trove of fossils documenting the whale's transition from land mammal to sea creature.

In Egypt's expanding metro area, many of the neighbors are dead.

These Egyptian statues have survived for 3,400 years and were an acoustic wonder of the ancient world.

This ancient structure is widely thought to be the oldest intact pyramid in the world.

The massive cave church of Cairo's Zabbaleen community is one of the largest Christian churches in the Middle East.

An endless sea of white conical domes.

Ozymandias’ time-keeping temple.

An ancient instrument used to measure the waters of the Nile so Egyptian farmers would know whether to expect famine or flood.

Located near Cairo's El Korba district, the abandoned mansion continues to inspire mystery and rumor throughout the city.

The abandoned palace stands as a wounded but proud beacon of Afghan hope.

Highly unusual subterranean stupa and adjacent cave monastery.

A sobering museum dedicated to landmines and the personnel working to remove them from Afghanistan.

Splashes of blue in an otherwise monotonous lunar landscape.

Once an impressive link to Afghanistan’s Buddhist past, now a sad reminder of intolerance towards other cultures.

This magnificent blue mosque in Afghanistan is surrounded by thousands of white doves.

A Museum of Psychiatry in a still-operating mental institution.

This fairytale castle was built as a show of power but was nearly torn down thanks to its history of torture.

The patron of this extravagant Art Nouveau confection insisted that nothing less than a boat should project from its facade.

Most prolific publishing house in the 1600s open to the public.

Rare wooden escalators lead deep down into an otherwise staggeringly monotonous tiled tunnel.

A fascinating and enormous collection of natural history exhibits stained by a dark colonial legacy.

The "stairway to heaven" lookout tower was built to resist weather, arson, and the laws of physics.