Best 4TH Century

The Nag Hammadi Library is a collection of thirteen papyrus codices discovered near Nag Hammadi in Upper Egypt in 1945. Written in Coptic and generally copied in the 4th century, the volumes preserve more than fifty works, including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and several texts assoc...

The Mogao Caves, also known as the Thousand Buddha Grottoes, are a network of 492 Buddhist cave temples located near Dunhuang in Gansu Province, China. Founded in the fourth century CE, the site was expanded extensively along the Silk Road trade routes until the 14th century. The caves contain a vas...

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a historic Christian basilica traditionally believed to mark the birthplace of Jesus. The original church was commissioned in the 4th century by Constantine the Great, with major rebuilds occurring under Justinian I in the 6th century. It is administered jo...

The Syriac Sinaiticus, also called the Sinaitic Palimpsest, is a manuscript containing an early Syriac translation of the four canonical Gospels. The Gospel text, generally dated to the late 4th or early 5th century, was erased and overwritten with a later religious text, but much of it remains reco...

The Lycurgus Cup is a fourth-century Roman glass vessel in the British Museum, made as an openwork cage cup depicting the mythical king Lycurgus entangled by vines. Its glass appears green in reflected light but red when light passes through it, an effect produced by minute particles of gold and sil...

The Nag Hammadi codices are a collection of late antiquity Coptic manuscripts discovered in 1906 near the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi. These texts, dating primarily to the fourth century CE, contain previously unknown Gnostic Christian writings. They represent a significant find for scholars studyi...

The Kizil Grottoes near Kucha, Xinjiang, are among the oldest Buddhist cave complexes in China, with murals dated from the 3rd to 8th centuries CE reflecting Serindian and Gandharan artistic traditions.

Constantine I, commonly called Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from 306 to 337 CE and became sole ruler of the empire in 324. He and Licinius issued the agreement conventionally called the Edict of Milan in 313, which established religious toleration and restored property confiscated from C...

The Codex Vercellensis Evangeliorum is a Latin Gospel manuscript traditionally dated to the 4th century and preserved at Vercelli Cathedral in northern Italy. Written on parchment, it contains the four Gospels in the Old Latin, or Vetus Latina, tradition that preceded Jerome's Vulgate. Although port...

Codex Tchacos is an ancient papyrus codex written in Coptic and generally dated to the 3rd or 4th century. It contains several early Christian texts, most notably the surviving Coptic version of the Gospel of Judas, a work known previously through hostile references by ancient Christian writers. In...

The Aksum Obelisk, also known as the Obelisk of Axum, is an ancient stele located in the city of Axum, Ethiopia. Carved from a single piece of granite, the 24-meter-tall monument is believed to date to the 4th century CE. It served as a funerary marker for ancient Aksumite elites and features archit...

The Codex Tchacos is an ancient papyrus codex written in Coptic and associated with texts from early Christian Gnostic traditions. Probably copied in Egypt during the third or fourth century CE, it contains several works, including the only known surviving manuscript of the Gospel of Judas. The dama...

The Mildenhall Treasure is a hoard of 34 pieces of late Roman silver tableware found in Suffolk, England, in 1942, dating to the 4th century CE and including the great Oceanus dish, one of the largest known Roman silver platters.

The Arch of Constantine inscription is a marble monument bearing Latin text located in Rome. It documents the fourth-century Roman Emperor Constantine I’s triumph. Specifically, it commemorates his victory against Maxentius at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312 CE. Historians and scholars studying...

The Via Latina Catacomb is a fourth-century underground burial complex discovered beside the ancient Via Latina in Rome. Its painted chambers contain both biblical subjects, including episodes associated with Abraham, Jonah, and Samson, and scenes drawn from Greco-Roman mythology and heroic literatu...

The Askew Codex is a Coptic manuscript, generally dated to late antiquity, that preserves the text commonly known as Pistis Sophia. Written on parchment and later acquired by the physician and collector Anthony Askew, it is now held by the British Library. The codex records an extended dialogue in w...

Pistis Sophia is a Coptic Gnostic work preserved in the Askew Codex, a manuscript generally dated to the fourth century and now held by the British Library. Its text presents extended dialogues in which the risen Jesus teaches his disciples, with Mary Magdalene serving as a particularly prominent qu...

Ligugé Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the Vienne department of France, founded around 361 by Saint Martin of Tours. It is recognized as the oldest existing monastery in the country, originating as a small monastic community before Martin became the Bishop of Tours. The site has been rebuilt mul...

The Devnimori Stupa is an ancient Buddhist archaeological site located in Gujarat, India, dating back to the 4th century CE during the Gupta Empire. Excavated in the early 1960s before the area was submerged by a modern reservoir, the site yielded significant religious relics, including a casket con...

The Arch of Janus is a rare, preserved four-way marble arch located in the Forum Boarium, the ancient cattle market of Rome. Constructed in the 4th century AD during the late imperial period, it features a distinctive quadrifrons design with four passageways on its sides rather than the standard sin...

The Arch of Janus is a quadrifrons, or four-faced triumphal arch, located in the Forum Boarium of Rome. Constructed in the early 4th century AD, the massive marble-clad structure features a central crossing vault and distinct niches on each facade. It is one of the few surviving quadrifrons arches i...

The Obelisk of Aksum is an ancient granite stele located in the city of Aksum, Ethiopia, dating to the 4th century CE. Standing approximately 24 meters tall, it is decorated with false doors and windows, representing the architectural and engineering achievements of the Aksumite Kingdom. The monumen...

Theodosius I was Roman emperor from 379 to 395 and the last emperor to govern both the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire before they were again divided between separate rulers. The Edict of Thessalonica, issued under Theodosius and his co-emperors in 380, endorsed Nicene Christianity as...

Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary is a cluster of abandoned and partially ruined Hindu temples in Quảng Nam Province, Vietnam, constructed between the 4th and 14th centuries CE by the Champa kingdom. The temples were dedicated to the worship of the god Shiva, known under various local names, and served as the religi...

Extensive Byzantine defensive walls encircling Thessaloniki, Greece, originally constructed in the 4th century and among the best-preserved in Europe.

The Baekje Historic Areas are a UNESCO World Heritage Site in South Korea comprising eight archaeological locations in Gongju, Buyeo, and Iksan. The sites preserve fortresses, royal tombs, palace remains, temple sites, and defensive structures associated with the later period of the Baekje kingdom,...

A Roman quadrifrons triumphal arch located in Carnuntum, Austria, built in the mid-4th century AD to honor Emperor Constantius II, serving today as a prominent freestanding ruin.

The Arch of Malborghetto is an ancient Roman quadrifrons arch north of Rome that was later converted into a farmhouse and stands along the Via Flaminia.