Adobe as a building material has been used since ages all over the world and especially in Mesopotamia and Egypt. The oldest known example which is still standing is the Granaries of the Ramasseum in Egypt. It has been built by Ramses II from the 19th dynasty, around 1,300 BC in a place called Western Thebes. It can still be seen a few kilometers from the western shore of the Nile, opposite Luxor.

In India, the oldest earthen building is Tabo Monastery, in Spiti valley - Himachal Pradesh. Built in adobes in 996 AD earth, it has withstood Himalayan winters since then.

Taos Pueblo in New Mexico is the oldest inhabited settlement in USA since more than 1,000 years.

Today, adobe is still being used all over the world and it has been widely promoted in Western USA; through building codes and standards.