Where

When

Cave paintings at Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc

Cave paintings at Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc

Ardèche region of southern France | Artists of the Aurignacian culture

Read Morec. 32,000-30,000 BCE

Venus of Willendorf

Venus of Willendorf

Willendorf, Austria

Read Morec. 28,000-25,000 BCE

Ziggurat at Ur

Ziggurat at Ur

Tell el-Muqayyar, Iraq (near Nasiriyah) | King Ur-Nammu

Read Morec. 2100 BCE

Epic of Gilgamesh

Epic of Gilgamesh

Sumer/Babylonia (Iraq, Kuwait) | Sîn-lēqi-unninni and unknown Sumerian & Babyloninan poets

Read Morec. 2150-1400 BCE

The Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi

Sumer, Aakkad, Babylonia | Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan, Syria | Hriammurabi

Read Morec. 1770 BCE

Bronze Bells, Shang-Zhong Dynasty

Bronze Bells, Shang-Zhong Dynasty

China | Various Shang and Zhou Artists

Read More1600-256 BCE

rig veda

Rig Veda

Indian Sub-continent | Compiled by several generations of Indo-Aryan priests/philosophers

Read Morec. 1500-1000 BCE

Nok TerracottasNok Terracottas, Africa

West Africa | Various Nok Artists

Read More1500 BCE-500 CE

Egyptian Book of the Dead

Egyptian Book of the Dead

Egypt

Read Morec. 1500-30 BCE

Hatshepsut

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut

Deir el-Bahri, Egypt | Senenmut

Read Morec. 1479-1458 BCE

Lion Gate at Mycenae

Lion Gate at Mycenae

Argolis, Greece | Mycenaen Artists

Read More1250 BCE

homer

Homer

coast of Asia Minor | modern Turkey 

Read More1200-800 BCE

Enuma Elish

Babylonian Creation Story: Enuma Elish

Mesopotamia | Iraq, SE Turkey, E Syria | Unknown Mesopotamian poet(s}

Read Morec. 1000-300 BCE

Navajo Night Chant

Navajo Night Chant

Canyon de Chelly |now eastern Arizona in the Navajo Nation | The Navajo

Read Morec. 1000 BCE to Present

Olmec Heads

Olmec Heads, Mexico

San Lorenzo, Mexico | Various Olmec Artists

Read More900 BCE

Sappho

Sappho’s Poetry (fragments)

Greek island of Lesbos or possibly Sicily (where she may have been exiled for some time) | Sappho

Read Morec. 630-570 BCE

The Dao De Jing

The Dao De Jing

China | Laozi & others?

Read More600-late 400 BCE

Nasca Lines of Peru

Nasca Lines of Peru

Nasca Desert, Peru | Nasca people

Read Morec. 500 BCE-500 CE

Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian Wars

Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian Wars

Athens, Greece | Thucydides

Read More431-400 BCE

Sophocles

Sophocles’ Oedipus the King

Athens, Greece | Sophocles

Read Morec. 429-426 BCE

Myron’s Discobolus

Myron’s Discobolus (Discus Thrower)

Athens, Greece | Myron

Read Morec. 460-450 BCE

The Parthenon, Athens

The Parthenon

Athens, Greece | Iktinos, Kallikrates, and Karpion

Read More447-432 BCE

Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita

India | Ysasa

Read More400 BCE

Praxiteles’ Aphrodite

Praxiteles’ Aphrodite of Knidos

Yazıköy, Muğla Province, Turkey | Praxiteles

Read Morec. 360–330 BCE

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics or Poetics

Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics or Poetics

Athens, Greece | Aristotle

Read Morec. 334-323 BCE

Xunzi

The Xunzi

China | Xun Kuang (Xunzi)

Read More300-200 BCE

Agesander, et al’s Laocoön and His Sons

Agesander, et al’s Laocoön and His Sons

Rome, Italy | Agesander, Athenodoros, and Polydorus

Read Morec. 40–30 BCE

Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture

Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture

Rome, Italy | Vitruvius

Read Morec 40-19 BCE

Virgil’s Aeneid

Virgil’s Aeneid

Rome, Italy | Virgil

Read Morec. 30–19 BCE

Pont du Gard

Pont du Gard

Nimes, France | maybe Marcus Ulpsanius Agrippa (Augustus' son-in-law)

Read Morec. 19 BCE

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

Rome, Italy | Ovid

Read More1-8 CE

Seneca’s On Tranquility of Mind

Seneca’s On Tranquility of Mind

Rome, Italy | Seneca

Read Morec. 49-62 CE

Josephus’ The Jewish War

Josephus’ The Jewish War

Roman Empire | events described happened in Jerusalem, Judea (then part of Roman Empire) | Josephus

Read Morec. 75 CE

The Colosseum, Rome

The Colosseum, Rome

Rome, Italy | commissioned by Emperors Vespasion/Titus

Read More70-80 CE

Arch of Titus

Arch of Titus

Rome, Italy | maybe Rabirius (commissioned by Emperor Domitian)

Read Morec. 81 CE

Juvenal’s Satires

Juvenal’s Satires

Rome, Italy | Juvenal

Read Morec. 100–127 CE

Trajan’s Victory Column

Trajan’s Victory Column

Rome, Italy | probably Apollodoros of Damascus

Read More113 CE

The Pantheon

The Pantheon

Rome, Italy | commissioned by Emperors Agrippa/Hadrian

Read Morec 126 CE

Dhamek Stupa, India

Dhamek Stupa

Uttar Pradesh, India | Various Indian Artists

Read More500 CE

Star Ushak Rug

Star Ushak Rug

Turkey | Ottoman Artist

Read More1500-1450 CE