Timurid Empire

Ming dynasty明

The brick-faced Great Wall that most visitors photograph near Beijing is largely a Ming creation, built two thousand years after the wall of the first Qin emperor and along a different line.

MuiscaMuysca

A small gold raft found near Bogotá, showing figures around a chief, is thought to depict the Guatavita gold-dust ceremony.

Aztec EmpireMēxihcah

Tenochtitlan fed itself from chinampas: plots built up from lake mud and reeds in the shallows, held in place by willow trees planted along their edges. They are often called floating gardens, but they never floated.

Crown of Aragon

Barcelona had a Consolat de Mar, a court for maritime trade, from 1347. Its seat, built in the late 14th century, was used until 1714.

Ethiopian Empire

Ethiopia's emperors traced their line to Menelik I, said to be the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, and the 1955 constitution declared that the emperor descended from him without interruption.

Delhi Sultanate

The Alai Darwaza, a gate built in 1311 beside the Qutb Minar, is described by UNESCO as a masterpiece of Indo-Muslim art.