NATGEOTRAVEL.COMROBE
RT
HA
RDING/ALAMY^ (
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TWOMBLY(ILLU
STRAT
ION)Ornamentation
reaches rare
heights at
Meenakshi
Amman Temple
in South India.ARCHAEOLOGY
’
3
Egypt
North of Luxor, the
Hathor temple, dating
from the Ptolemaic
period, honors the
namesake sky goddess.
Over centuries, soot
collected on the ceil-
ing, but in recent
decades, conservation-
ists have uncovered
lavish paintings. “You
can see how vibrant
the temple would have
been,” Parcak says.Sarah Parcak takes
archaeology out of this
world—to some 400
miles above Earth. The
National Geographic
explorer and winner
of the 2016 TED Prize
scours satellite images,
including drone data
and declassified spy
photos, in search of
buried treasures such
as individual tombs or
entire cities. In her new
book, Archaeology
from Space, she reveals
her findings across
five continents. Citizen
scientists can lend an
eye to her efforts by
scanning images on
globalxplorer.org. Here
she shares three of her
favorite sites to see
from the ground.
—Katie KnorovskyTreasure
HuntingMeet more National
Geographic–funded
explorers at national
geographic.org/
explorers.2
Italy
According to Parcak,
no exploration of Rome
is complete without a
day trip to the nearly
2,000-year-old harbor
of Portus and the
even older seaport of
Ostia Antica. Offering
a counterpoint to the
monumental scale of
the Forum and the
Colosseum, these
lesser known ruins—
think temples, shops,
baths, and brothels—
give a glimpse into
daily life and into
ongoing excavations.1
India
Immerse yourself in
Hindu culture among
the thousands of
temples that dot the
state of Tamil Nadu,
on the southern tip
of the subcontinent.
“Visit in August, during
monsoon season, for a
great sense of temple
ritual,” Parcak says.
Anchor your tour with
a visit to Madurai’s
Meenakshi Amman
Temple, with its ornate
facade of painted stat-
ues depicting animals,
deities, and demons.