Trivia : The Oldest High-rise Buildings in the World

Ancient skyscrapers of Shibam

Throughout history, there had been recorded construction of high-rise structures e.g. the biblical Tower of Babel, the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Pyramids of Giza and the more recent Tower of Pisa (the last two mentioned are still in existence). But these structures were either a tower or a monument, an observatory or a lighthouse. How about high-rise residential buildings?

Are high rise buildings and skyscrapers development or innovation that started only during the twentieth century? Definitely not. Here's the proof :

Below are pictures of the still existing high-rise (skyscrapers?) building of Shibam in Yemen. These high-rise buildings are made of mud and rise as high as 100 feet (30 meters). The city of  Shibam is said  to be in existence for 1,700 years  and its high-rise buildings were built in the 16th century.

The Walled of City of  Shibam  is a UN World heritage site.

The Walled City of Shibam

Over 500 years old high-rise mud buildings of Shibam

Mud buildings of Shibam

Source :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibam

http://www.yemag.com/discover-yemen/the-world’s-first-skyscrapers.html