On that note; strange is it not that all paintings from the turn of the 18th to 19th century *always* depict cities in ruins? Covered in plant life and soil, rubble everywhere, and of course people wearing drapery and torn clothing wandering around aimlessly - refugees stumbling upon the lands of those who came before.

If these photos are truly depictions of ancient times, 2000 years ago, why such poor maintenance back then? Weren't these buildings recently built? Why so much foliage? Why is it all destroyed?

One could only conclude that these paintings are depictions of the present time when these paintings were created, in the early 1800s (and late 1700s). Those people wandering around are only 200 hundred years old.