Capital: Did you mean...?

In the ninth century BCE, Gordium became the capital of the Phrygians, a Thracian tribe that had invaded and settled in Asia.

The inscription on this marble capital reads "May the God of Saints aid Master Heraklius". 6th to 7th century CE. From Beyazit, Istanbul, in modern-day Turkey. (Museum of Archaeology, Istanbul, Turley).

The half-palmettes on this column capital made from marble are ultimately derived from ancient Assyrian models. Stylization transforms its more recent Hellenistic predecessors. This specimen dates from the late 7th-early 8th century CE. (Aga...

An Ionic capital from a temple of unknown dedication at Metapontum, Magna Graecia, southern Italy. 480-470 BCE.

Ionic pilaster capital from the palace complex of Pella (Macedonia) which occupied the entire extant of the hill dominating the ancient city, Hellenistic Period (Pella Archaeological Museum).

This Ionian capital is made of limestone and dates from the second quarter of the 5th century BCE. It was found at Kerch, in Crimea, in the acropolis of ancient Panticapaeum. Panticapaeum was referred to as "Taurica" by the ancient Greeks...

One of the capitals of the 120 columns on the Lower Temenos of the Great Temple of Petra (Jordan). They were all decorated with heads of Asian elephants and are dated to the 1st century BCE or early 1st century CE.

Pyongyang (aka Pyeongyang) was the capital of several successive ancient Korean kingdoms. Located on the Daedong River in the north of the peninsula, the site was chosen by the legendary Dangun (Tangun), founder of the first Korean state...

Heiankyo (Kyoto), located in the centre of Honshu island, was the capital of Japan for over a thousand years and gave its name to one of the golden ages of Japanese history, the Heian Period (794-1185 CE). Built according to Chinese design...

Memphis was one of the oldest and most important cities in ancient Egypt, located at the entrance to the Nile River Valley near the Giza plateau. It served as the capital of ancient Egypt and an important religious cult center. The original...