We've seen cities around the world ruined by radiation, pollution, political shifts, and depleted resources. At first glance, Zabbaleen looks like another set of modern ruins, a city crushed beneath our waste — a real-life version of Futurama's "Big Piece of Garbage."

But Zabbaleen is actually a thriving community built on the use and repurposing of waste. Residents of the city, which sits just outside of Cairo, collect trash from wealthier cities and use or reuse some 80 to 90 percent of it. Some of the waste is fed to livestock or burned for fuel; what can be repaired is fixed and sold. Much of their business consists of sorting and cleaning items and then selling them as scrap. Zabbaleen residents performed the service for the government, and now many waste management companies outsource their business to the city. But the citizens still live at poverty levels and amidst heaps and heaps of garbage.

Incredible ‘Garbage City' Rises Outside of Cairo [Inhabitat]

This is a statue of a priest of Isis, standing among fallen columns. Though this statue was pulled out of the water in the late 1990s, there are many other sculptures like these still underwater. This gorgeous art, along with the city's famed lighthouse, made Alexandria a favored tourist spot for Romans on holiday over 2,000 years ago.

Here's another glimpse inside Cleopatra's palace, where you can see the marble head of Roman princess Antonia Minor. The great buildings of Alexandria were destroyed by earthquakes, and then by encroaching waters. Photos via National Geographic.

Underwater Museum for Egypt Sunken Treasures? [via National Geographic] Thanks, Marilyn Terrell!