Best 3rd Century Bc
Carved from sandstone around 250 BCE during the Mauryan Empire, the Sarnath Lion Capital originally crowned one of the Ashoka Pillars at Sarnath. The sculpture features four Asiatic lions standing back to back atop a frieze of smaller animals. The site marks the location of the Buddha's first sermon...
The Terracotta Army is a collection of sculptural depictions of the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Discovered by local farmers near Xi'an in 1974, the figures date to the late third century BCE. The funerary complex contains over 8,000 life-sized terracotta soldiers, along with...
Ashoka was the third ruler of the Maurya Empire, reigning over much of the Indian subcontinent from about 268 to 232 BCE. After the destructive conquest of Kalinga, he publicly embraced Buddhist principles and promoted moral conduct, religious tolerance, public welfare, and nonviolence through inscr...
The Sri Maha Bodhi is a sacred fig tree (Ficus religiosa) located in the Mahamewna Gardens in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. According to historical and religious texts, it was planted in 288 BCE from a cutting of the original Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya, India, under which Gautama Buddha attained enlightenme...
The Dharmarajika Stupa is an ancient Buddhist monument located within the ruins of Taxila in Punjab, Pakistan. Traditionally believed to have been established by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in the 3rd century BCE, it is considered one of the earliest surviving stupas in South Asia. The site consists...
Shwe Modaw Pagoda is a Buddhist stupa in Bago, Myanmar, rising approximately 114 m (375 ft) in height. According to local tradition, the original pagoda was founded in the 3rd century BCE by merchants who enshrined relics of the Buddha given to them personally. The structure has been rebuilt and enl...
Qin Shi Huang was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first ruler to adopt the title emperor after conquering the rival Chinese states in 221 BCE. His government centralized administration and standardized forms of writing, weights, measures, coinage, and axle widths across the empire. He also or...
The Dharmarajika Stupa is an ancient Buddhist monument located in the archaeological complex at Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was originally constructed in the 3rd century BCE under the Mauryan emperor Ashoka, serving as one of many stupas built to enshrine Buddhist relics. Sarnath itself is rev...
Somawathiya Stupa is an ancient Buddhist monument located in the Polonnaruwa District of Sri Lanka, situated within the Somawathiya National Park. The stupa is traditionally believed to enshrine a left tooth relic of Gautama Buddha. Historical records attribute its construction to Prince Abhaya duri...
The Arco Etrusco, or Etruscan Arch, is one of the principal surviving gateways of the ancient Etruscan city walls of Perugia in Umbria, Italy. Its lower courses date to the third or second century BC and reflect Etruscan construction techniques using massive travertine blocks, while the upper portio...
